Chatuchak Weekend MarketChatuchak Weekend MarketChatuchak Weekend Market is located on Yan Paholyothin Road, parallel to Klong Bang Su. It is officially open on Saturdays and Sundays from 9am to 6pm. The market is semi-organized according to the item being sold by shops. Each section has a number, although the numbers are not necessarily in order. The colors on the map below are in an attempt to give some sense to the general layout. The different colors indicate that at least 75% of the goods in that section are similar. There are sections of clothing (new and used), fresh produce, antiques, Thai handicrafts, plants, animals and noodle stands.
MAP: Pink indicates areas with fresh produce, purple indicates
areas with clothing, brown indicates areas with antiques, orange indicates
areas with Thai handicrafts, green indicates areas selling plants, blue
indicates areas where animals are sold and the purple around the outside
is parking.
Location
Chatuchak is in a very primal location that allows easy access from almost anywhere in the city. The Market, although it is located far north of the central city, is near several types of public transport. Chatuchak is within walking distance of the Northern Bus Terminal. The Railroad lines run close to its property, as does a major klong, or canal. Chatuchak is also surpassed by the Vibahvadi Rangsit Expressway. However, only a single access road leads to the parking lot, resulting in large traffic jams.
The Market Layout
Chatuchak Weekend Market consists of semi-permanent and permanent stalls, which the traders rent on a monthly basis. The cost of the stall depends on the size of space rented, however most are relatively expensive. Some shops have been present for five to ten years in the same stall. The stalls have metal gates in front that can be pulled down during hours that the market is closed. The lanes, open to pedestrians and delivery carts, are laid out in a grid pattern and are very narrow and uneven in width. Two drains run on either side of a lane which are sometimes covered by a grate when leading to the shop entrance, but most likely, the shoppers simply have to watch their steps. During peak hours from one to three in the afternoon, the narrow lanes become very crowded and hot, especially in the popular areas of pottery and trinkets on the west side, and during the peak tourist months of December through February.
The Hawkers
Chatuchak Weekend Market is open only on Saturdays and Sundays. Traders often arrive at the market around foue in the morning to turnover goods to the shopkeepers. During the working week, the traders often head to other parts of the country to restock their wares. The sellers of handicrafts and Traditional Thai basketry and fabric specifically travel north to the city of Chiang Mai, often to sell at night markets there during the week. During the day some of them work a second job. Other traders simply take time off during the week, especially food hawkers who profit enough on the weekend.
Use of Space
Chatuchak is a traditional market in the sense that the market is used as a place for quite a number of other functions than simply selling and buying goods. Within the confines of the marketplace, many social interactions take place. People often sit in their stall, while making the good that they are selling. This is especially true of Hmong women, who will barter and embroider at the same time. There are also people watching T.V., talking with friends or other hawkers, cooking, eating, babysitting, children playing games, playing musical instruments, or sleeping.
Why is Chatuchak a Periodic Market?
Usually periodic markets exist to allow the trader to be in each town on market day, therefore reducing the distance people have to travel to larger towns to obtain goods. However, Chatuchak is located in the city and therefore accessible to a high density population. So why is it only open on the weekends?
There are several possible answers to this question. It could be periodic
to give the traders a chance to travel north to be a middleman as they buy
more goods to sell at the market. It could be periodic because the market
is a secondary function in most of the trader's lives. Or, because when
the market is only open on two specified days, the agglomeration of vendors
and concentrated selling times is much more profitable. Also, in a city,
people are unable to shop Monday through Friday when a market is only open
the same hours that they work. This conflict led to the concept of weekend
markets and night markets. Finally, Chatuchak could be periodic by tradition.
Thailand was never colonized and therefore periodic market days were never
expanded upon with the influence of capitalism.
Other choices:
Markets in General