Chatuchak weekend market

Ten subway stops from The Guesthouse was Bangkok’s famed Chatuchak Weekend Market, a bargain-shopper’s paradise featuring 10,000 vendor booths spread over 28 acres. (Other transliterations of Chatuchak are Jatujak, or JJ Market.)

Up earlier than most roosters, Catfish and I started the day by cashing in our remaining traveler’s cheques, and then unintentionally offending our gustatory buds with some incredibly tasteless and overpriced hot beverages from a Thai clone of a big American coffee chain.

After binning most of our drinks we vowed to never again patronize any cafe in Thailand that aspires to be American. And, of course, once we passed through the Market’s front gates we couldn’t swing a scorpion by its tail without hitting a sidewalk coffee jock serving up far superior product at a quarter of the price.

I noticed more Thais than farang at Chatuchak, and the crowds really picked up around 10:30. By 11:00 Catfish and I were fading, so we got some food and water and rested our sore feet and overstimulated brains.

Inching through aisles that were more congested than an asthmatic in a smog sauna, we saw tons of mass-produced junk, but there were also numerous artisan crafts and paintings for sale. A woman was making miniature replica dragons, cats, and snakes from flexible wire and hemp rope, truly amazing work. A few guys were painting sneakers and T-shirts.

Near the horticulture section Catfish and I met a happy young man who was selling limited-run silk screened T-shirts. I slipped on a medium-sized shirt and felt a hand slip onto my chest.
“Large size for you!” the young man laughed.
I was surprised but not offended.

The T-shirt was black with purple Thai writing, and the young man showed me a local nudie mag that featured a similarly-stylized font.
“How much do you want for this magazine?”
“Oh!” he laughed again, “Not for sale. Only sell T-shirts.”