I found this market is the best place to find creative souvenirs, locally designed clothing as well as other creative everyday items at a reasonable price.
Chatuchak Weekend Market is renowned among the locals as a place to sell creative stuff for a long time.
From handcrafts jewelry, decorations, arts, old books, crafted aromatherapy products as well as the locally designed clothing, all can be found here.
It has been over 10 years since my last visit to this market. Shops inside the market have changed a lot. But overall I can feel the ‘spirit’ and the identity of the market is still there.
You can walk along the main street of this market from the entrance and on both sides of the street are filled with shops as well as inside the small alley between shops.
The vibe of this market is really cozy and warm-welcome.
Shops there are arranged in a loose zoning. This means even if you are walking in the zone of clothing, it could be a mix between clothes shops, food, aromatherapy, jewelry, toys, handcraft, etc.
For some specialized items like arts, I found these shops are usually zoned together at the same place, which is great to navigate if you are specifically looking for it.
There are also rest spots around for you to buy water or soft drinks as well as enjoy a live music performance on the street after walking for a while.
You will not feel that the market is rushing you to buy something, but rather enjoy walking along the street without getting bored.
The market is trying really hard to keep the ‘spirit’ of the market by not filling the market with too many places that sell alcohol, which is what I really like about this market.
It does not give a feeling of ‘touristic place’ with loud music and drunk people everywhere, even though there are many tourists flooding into this market the whole day!
Speaking about items you can find here, below are items I found worth buying at Chatuchak Weekend Market.
Designed clothings and accessories
Of course, a t-shirt with a creative design or an elephant pants are what you can definitely find here.
I did explore the market twice and so far I found each shop has its own design, even a simple t-shirt can be different from shop to shop.
Apart from those ‘popular’ clothing for the masses, there are many shops which offer their own label and style.
Designed jackets in Japanese style for example, is a very eye-catching shop that everyone has to stop by for such unique designs.
Creative bag shop made from recycled cement bulk or starbucks paper bags. This is super creative and definitely you should stop by and take a look.
Nice costume jewelry with nice designs are everywhere.
There is a lot more to see and I highly recommend you to come here and see it yourself.
Local wickerwork
Here you will find creativity to create many furniture pieces from wickerwork.
There are several shops across the market that offer this kind of thing, from a laundry basket to a nice lamp.
Creative souvenirs
Souvenirs here also come with design.
Nice magnets, small elephant dolls or post cards, here you can find your favorite one with a good price.
Crafted aromatherapy products
This is what I like the most. There are many great brands that start their business from a small shop here and later become a big brand.
Karmakamet, for example, is one of my favourite Thai aromatherapy brands. From a small essential oil shop with high expertise of sourcing ingredients from around the world, nowadays Karmakamet offers holistic aroma therapy products with its unique experience.
I highly recommend you to try and buy some products you like. The price is also very friendly I can say.
Phutawan is another chain with great quality of product. You will see their shop at every corner of Chatuchak Weekend Market!
Art pieces
Chatuchak Weekend Market is one of the very first markets in Bangkok that offer a nice piece of art for your home decoration.
These nice galleries across the market create the ‘spirit’ of this market.
There is a specific zone dedicated for arts, which is around the corner of the market near Mixed building.
Here you can find many art galleries where you can buy your paintings for your own use.
Opening hours
Chatuchak Weekend Market is open from Friday until Sunday, 05:00 until 18:00.
Entrance fee
0 Baht. There is no entrance fee to enter Chatuchak Weekend Market. However, restrooms around the market charge 5 Baht per person per time. Better to spare some coins as well.
How to get there?
There are many ways to go to Chatuchak Weekend Market.
- MRT
This is the most convenient way to go to Chatuchak Weekend Market. Get off the train at MRT Kamphaeng Phet and use exit no.2. Here you will arrive exactly at the Chatuchak Weekend Market.It is very easy to get confused with the MRT Chatuchak Park station. If you go to this station by mistake, you will arrive at Chatuchak park which is located at the other side of the Chatuchak Weekend Market. In case you have to walk back to the Chatuchak Weekend Market for around 400 meters.
- BTS Skytrain
If you come from a hotel inside Bangkok commercial area like Siam, Ratchaprasong, Prompong or Silom, this is a convenient way to go to Chatuchak Weekend Market.
Get off the train at BTS Mo Chit station. Here you will arrive at the Chatuchak park. Similar to when you mistakenly take the MRT to MRT Chatuchak Park station, you have to walk for about 400 meters to arrive at the Chatuchak Weekend Market. - TukTuk/Taxi
In case you do not want to use public transportation, you can always take a TukTuk or Taxi. However, the driver may offer or charge you an overpriced rate but you can always negotiate for a lower price. It is better to negotiate first before entering the vehicle.
