Thailand 05 Chiang Mai Markets

There are quite a number of markets in the city. We had opportunities to spend time in 3 notable ones: The Evening Bazaar, The Walking Street Market, and the Warorot Market.

On our second night we walked a few blocks to the very famous Evening Bazaar. Here, on a very busy main street in the middle of town, this market dominates both sidewalks for about 8 blocks. It opens at dusk and closes around 10 PM. The vendors quickly set up and take down their stalls every day. Almost anything you can consider is available here, particularly for tourists. There are two particularly intriguing venues that can be seen here. One is an area where artists draw life-like sketches of people directly from photos to canvas. They are very talented and draw quite rapidly. The other is a large fish tank containing dozens of a particular type of small fish called Garra that are excellent de-scalers of feet and legs. Customers dip their legs in the tank and are immediately "attacked" by the fish who begin to nibble away at the exposed flesh. The end result is that a microscopic layer of skin is efficiently removed.

The Walking Street Market runs only on Sunday Evenings and is located in the old-town section of the city. Here again there are many stalls selling much of the same things as the Night Bazaar but with a greater emphasis on handicrafts and a greater variety of snack food as well as little restaurants. It has become as famous as the Night Bazaar.

The Warorot Market is adjacent to the Chinatown section of the city and has a greater emphasis on raw food ranging from fruit, vegetables, fish, and meat. It is open all day and unlike the other markets mentioned above is in a immense three story building. It's an amazing place and like all the markets it was mobbed with people but most of the customers were not tourists.

To see pictures taken at these markets, click here.