Chiangmai Night Bazaar

If you are a shopaholic, Thailand is the place to go!  The country abounds with markets from one end to the other where you can always find a variety of products from cheap touristy trinkets to high-quality hand-crafted items.  The Chiangmai Night Bazaar is one of the many locations in this city to find great stuff for great prices.  Don’t get it confused with the two other large, weekly markets that spring up in the city; the Saturday Walking Street which occurs every Saturday evening on Wualai Road which begins just outside of Chiangmai Gate and the Sunday Walking Street which runs on Sunday evenings from Tapae Gate up to the center of the old city. Both these markets have an abundance of local handcrafts and foods of every kind.

How to Find It

Getting to the Chiangmai Night Bazaar is easy!  Any songthaew or tuk tuk driver will know what you are talking about if you say you want to go to the night bazaar or night market. It’s also easy to walk there from the main gate in the old part of town (Tapae Gate).  It takes 10 or 15 minutes if you decide to walk.   Head down Tapae Road away from the  old part of town until you get to Chang Klan Road and then turn right.  By the time you get to the intersection, it will be easy enough to spot the bazaar set up along both sides of the street.

Bargaining

There is a huge assortment of stuff available; some good, some not so good.  If you want something specific, do a little research before you arrive so that you have an idea of what to pay.  Bargaining is a must and you can easily offer at least half the asking price for many things.  You will soon be able to tell if the seller is willing to budge on price.  Here is my short list of market bargaining tips;

1) Try not to inquire about a price unless you are actually interested in buying something. Vendors get upset when you ask about prices but then won’t even try to wheel and deal!

2) Stay serious.  Appear upset with the asking price and give the impression you think it is way too much.  At the same time, you should have a good time bargaining with the seller.  It can be a lot of fun but takes experience to become good at it!

3) Your offer is always going to be counter-offered.  How much you are willing to pay is up to you.  i.e. 100 baht -> you offer 50 baht -> he says 80 baht -> you offer 60 baht… and so on.  Usually, you will end up half-way between his asking price and your original offer!  The more hard-assed you are, the better you will do!

3) Don’t be afraid to start walking away.  You will either be called back or you will soon realize that the price is not going any lower.

4) Last but but not least, don’t get ridiculous.  Wasting your time and their time over a couple of dollars is not worth it. This can be a lot of money to a vendor but for most foreign buyers, it is negligible.

What you see is not what you get!

The Chiangmai Night Bazaar covers a huge expanse of ground.  It is not only what you see on the street. The night bazaar is really a huge number of smaller markets spread out throughout this city block to make one huge market. It’s easy to just stroll down Chang Klan Road and miss a lot of the action happening off to the side. If you take any of the side alleys, you will find many more vendors, artists, food stands, bars, massage stands and more.  The largest part of the bazaar is actually behind the buildings that line the street as well as the actual Night Bazaar building itself.

The Night Bazaar also has a large assortment of food vendors located in the large hidden areas. You have to purchase coupons (available in 5, 10 and 20 Bhat) from a stall located either end of the food shops then purchase food using those coupons. Any you don’t use will be refunded, but only on the same day. There are a lot of choices of relatively inexpensive food and drink, and the quality is great.

With shopping, eating and drinking, It will take at least a couple of hours to look around so plan on staying for most of the evening!

Overview

Chiangmai Night Bazaar
Chang Klan Road
Free
Open nightly beginning around 6:00pm and packing up around 11:00pm