Suan Lum Night Bazaar

Bangkok has perhaps one of the largest numbers of markets of any city in the world. From Chatkuchak to Koh Kred village in Nanataburi to the Suan Lum night bazaar there are a huge variety of ways for you to shop and spend your money in Bangkok.

Suan Lum has always been one of my favorites for several reasons. It is clean and pretty well organized with most of the stalls being laid out in a checkerboard fashion. In addition to the shops there are some very good restaurants where you can relax and have a nice snack or meal while you recharge your batteries. It is held at night which makes it a bit cooler and the lights around the shops and restaurants can make it quite lovely. Yes, it may be a bit more expensive, but if you bargain well this isn’t a huge concern. You can still keep the prices low compared to the major tourist areas on Sukhumvit and Silom.

Suan Lum is located at the intersection of Rama IV and Wireless/Sathorn Roads, opposite Lumphini Park at the Bangkok Metro’s Lumphini station. Lumphini Boxing Stadium is right outside the entrance of Suan Lum, this is where muay thai matches are held Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays in the evenings. You could easily spend a whole day in the area starting in Lumphini Park, moving to Lumphini Boxing Stadium for a muay thai match and then having dinner and some shopping at Suan Lum after the sun goes down.

People watching at Suan Lum is always fun since you’ll find a diverse mixture of people there from Khao San Road backpackers to expats to local Thai’s just done with work or school. The restaurants are a bit removed from the hustle of the market itself and sitting on the patios with a cold beer watching the crowd can be a good way to pass an hour or so.

You’ll find a variety of restaurants here; German, Italian, Thai and even Mexican cuisines are represented. In the market itself you’ll find creative gifts, trendy home items, clothing/jewelry boutique shops by local designers, packaged dried fruits, as well as a few stalls selling the usual market CD’s/clothing. The market is open daily from 6:00pm until midnight. Come early, have dinner, take a ride on the Big Wheel, ‘La Roue de Paris’, do some shopping and then head off to one of the many Silom Road nightclubs.

Suan Lum was supposed to close in April of 2007 which I think is a shame since this was one of the best night markets in Bangkok or anywhere else. The land it is on is being planned for a new development that will consist of office buildings, a retail and entertainment complex, as well as a residential development by the owners, Crown Property Bureau. Currently there are still some shops there and no idea when they will close shop permanently, but if you have the chance stop by Suan Lum before this great night market is gone forever.

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