“I was an adventurer, but she was not an adventuress. She was a ‘wanderess.’ Thus, she didn’t care about money, only experiences – whether they came from wealth or from poverty, it was all the same to her.”
-Roman Payne
So this is how it begins… I came up with the crazy idea to start a blog, help local artisans, and share the products with you about 2 days ago. Today I’m dragging my husband out to explore the largest market in Bangkok. This is the one you read about on all those other travel blogs. Just Google it and you’ll be immersed in pictures and critiques of all types. In this post I’ll describe Chatuchak Market and then talk about where I went wrong right away.
Chatuchak Market (also called Talaat Jatujak or JJ by the Thais) the most famous market for souvenirs in Bangkok if not all of Asia. With thousands vendors selling everything from live fish to hand-carved life sized teak wood horses (pics of those in another post) most visitors are overwhelmed and immediately lost. While many tourists find everything they want, many wander for hours before giving up empty-handed. Having a local to help you through it is priceless, as is having multiple trips to explore. This is probably my 10th trip to the market, so I am becoming more and more familiar. With this new enterprise, I plan to be a much more frequent visitor!
Warning: Even though the market covers a large area and the shops are well set-up, you have to be aware that it is extremely crowded on weekends.
Getting there: The market is just next to (south of) the Chatuchak Park. This puts it within easy walking distance from the Mo Chit BTS station and Chatuchak Park MRT subway station. If you planning to take a taxi, just say: “Suan Jaktuchak”. I’ll leave the Bus lines out of it, since I don’t see many of my readers using that mode of transport…
Products: Chatuchak Market has the best variety of souvenirs in Asia. While a lot of them are mass produced either in Thailand or China (more on that later), there are also some great small artisans who sell their wares. I will try and highlight those here. The variety is truly amazing, handicrafts, souvenirs, clothing, pottery, furniture, lamps, books, paintings, arts, pets, plants and much more. The market opens from 9:00am-6:00pm on Saturday and Sundays, some don’t close until sunset.
In addition, if you’re local, the Garden Plants section is also open every Wednesday and Thursday from 7.00am to 6.00pm. Post on that coming soon!
Pro Tip: On Friday the market is open for wholesalers…but there is no issue with doing your own personal shopping. This will help you avoid the weekend crowds!
OK, so those are the details….now, what happened on my “first trip” (as a business woman)
Steve and I headed out to the market on a Sunday morning. We used the BTS and exited at Mo Chit station. The signs led us straight to the market (they’re all in English) and we started looking around. I was very excited to make some of my first purchases and snap some pictures for the blog. I knew there were a lot of killer deals to be had, I just had to find them!
We walked around for all of 5 minutes when my usual inability to delay gratification kicked in. I found some cute scarfs, pillow cases, and purses and began to haggle…ok, Steve began to haggle because I really don’t like doing that. But practice makes perfect and I’m better already! You will eventually see the scarfs pillow cases and purses in the STORE, and they really are cute, but let me tell you that these really aren’t what WaM will be all about. The scarves, pillowcases and purses, while made in Thailand, are found everywhere and it was hard to track down exactly where they were produced. I’m still selling them, because I like them, but I will probably not continue a relationship with the artisan (because I can’t find them!)
Beyond my inability to resist cute pillowcases, I also didn’t do a very good job of shopping around. Walking 20 yards in any direction I could have found 2 or 3 more vendors selling the same or similar things. I could have priced them out better and/or realized that they really weren’t that unique. While I didn’t get a bad deal by American standards (I probably overpaid by a dollar or two), in JJ market I may as well have lost my shorts!
Here is where I would usually provide a back-story on the artisan or how they came to be in JJ market/wherever they are selling…but this is a lesson learned. (and I still got some cool stuff!)
So where to go from here? The only solution was to keep shopping…stand by for JJ trip part two and three, where we meet a Chiang Mai girl selling scarves and a South Thailand girl selling jewelry in the big city… (And buy a lot of scarves and jewelry for you!)
See that awesome stuff created by local artisans HERE!