Last Monday we decided to make a trip to Chatuchak Market to look for some plates and props for photographing the dishes for my weekly articles.

We took a taxi there as we were late and wanted to maximise our time at the place billed as the largest market of its type in the world.

Well, when we got there the place was closed. The sign said “Chatuchak Weekend Market”, and I guess they meant it. Whilst some stalls may open during the week (I’m guessing), Monday was probably the worst day to try, coming immediately after the hectic weekend.

So we walked up the road to see what was there on the periphery. We came to a similar looking area, which we were told is Chatuchak Plaza. A lot of the stalls were closed, but there were enough open to occupy us for a couple of hours, and it did make the trip worthwhile at least.

Most stalls were selling gifts, artworks, antiques (or replicas, I’m no expert), soft furnishings, home decorations, brassware, furniture, and stoneware, plus a gardening and pets section.

Bargaining was definitely required, although in at least one instance the price quoted was so ridiculous we just walked away.

We first bought a Wooden Sauce Caddy for 150 baht (under $5). At the price, it really seemed good value for money, and the colour and finish match our dining table perfectly.

 We next went to an area where there were about 3 shops selling soft furnishings open. We bought 3 covers for the throw cushions on our sofa. At 500 baht (about $15) for 16″ x 16″ size, they were definitely more expensive than the last lot, but the difference was these were Thai Silk. There were many designs and colours; left is an example of the design we picked.

Next door to that shop was another that had a beautiful table runner on display.

I have always wanted one for our dining table, and when I saw the striking design and colour, I fell in love with it immediately.

Below you can see the detail in close-up.

For 200 baht (about $6), I thought it was just excellent value for money.

The last stop was a shop selling stoneware. We wanted to get plates for the food photographs from there.

In any event we found a circular plate that was quite striking. We browsed a few other items there. We did see a very unusual noodle bowl but unfortunately this one did not have a base plate to go with it, unlike all the others.

We did however see a nice rectangular plate, which we bought. We paid 580 baht for the 2 (about $17).

Done with the shopping, and still early, we decided to go to the Villa Supermarket in Thong Lo. We took the MRT (subway) to Sukhumvit. I must say that after the heat and sweat of Chatuchak Plaza, the cold subway cars were a real shock to the system. It took me a while to adjust and feel comfortable.

From Sukhumvit we took the BTS Skytrain to Thong Lo station, then a cab to the supermarket. We bought the ingredients needed for Garithes Yiouvetsi, which we had for dinner that night.

You can see the rectangular plate in use in this weeks article “Garithes Yiouvetsi - Greek Baked Prawns”. I am not terribly good at visualising things in use, unfortunately, so I must say I was pleased with how this plate looked with the prawns and garlic bread on it.

All told, a rather good day. 

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 24th, 2008 at 7:20 pm and is filed under Bangkok, Chatuchak, Food Photography, Shopping, Thailand. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.