FROM MARKET TO MALL

#SHOPPING #MARKETS

Whether you’re visiting the mega malls of Bangkok, the floating markets of Ratchaburi, or the walking streets of Chiang Mai, you won’t leave Thailand empty-handed.

HERE ARE IMPRESSIVE markets all over Thailand. Whether visiting a floating market or night market, practice your bargaining skills and get T lost in the maze of stalls. On the opposite end of Thailand’s shopping experiences are the high-end malls. Selling everything from fashion and accessories to electronics and home décor, many also have RIGHT, FROM TOP: Colourful and entertainment precincts, with chaotic, Chatuchak Market has over 8,000 stalls © Joyful;/Shutterstock; spanning eight floors with more than 2,500 retail outlets, Bangkok’s live shows and theme parks. Either way, you’re bound MBK Centre is one of the largest shopping malls to find everything you want, in Asia © Kriang Kan/Shutterstock and plenty you didn’t know ICON: Coins © Ben Davis/Noun Project you were looking for.

5 VERY SPECIAL THAI SHOPPING EXPERIENCES

1. Cicada Market, in Hua Hin, is a sophisticated blend of traditional and contemporary arts and crafts, boutique fashion and a real taste of Thailand, with street food from all over the country as well as live entertainment. It has four sections: Art a la Mode, Art Indoors, Art of Act and Art of Eating.

2. Asiatique The Riverfront, on the banks of the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, is both a night bazaar and a mall, with more than 1,500 boutiques and 40 restaurants. Enjoy a ride on the carousel or ferris wheel, and in the evening, have dinner on a tall ship or watch a live cabaret show.

3. Chatuchak Market in Bangkok is one of the largest and craziest markets you’ll ever visit, with some 8,000 stalls tucked into the narrow sois (lanes) selling everything from vinyl records and beads to suits of armour and artifacts, and attracting 200,000 shoppers each weekend.

4. Talad Rom Hub Market in Samut Songkhram is located alongside the railway line at Mae Klong Railway Station. It’s an amazing sight to see vendors collecting their goods and closing their umbrellas as the trains approach, and setting them back up when they pass.

5. Damnoen Saduak Floating Market in the Ratchaburi Province is a glimpse of the traditional floating market of yesteryear. In the past, daily commerce mostly occurred on the rivers and canals (or khlongs) of Thailand, so much so that European visitors nicknamed the country the ‘Venice of the East’.