Wandergliding: Chatuchak Weekend Market

October 19^th, 2024

Back in June, I saw a BBC news article about a fire in the Chatuchak Weekend Market that killed over 1000 animals due to an electrical fire. Super sad. Having now arrived in Thailand and seeing how the chaotic collection of electrical wires run from pole to pole, it’s not surprising that a fire broke out (I already posted a photo of the crazy wiring in a previous post). That aside, and even though I wasn’t planning on buying anything as I’m travelling light, I figured it was worth checking out this massive market.

Like visiting the temples, it made sense to go early to avoid the crowds and the heat. Once again, the metro made it easy to get there and I arrived around 10 am. There are around 15,000 stalls divided into 27 sections. It was actually more established than I expected with a contiguous roof over most of it, which made sense as Bangkok receives a fair amount of rain.

One of the entrances to the massive market:

One of the seemingly endless hallways:

And yet another one...

I wandered aimlessly up and down different sections in this seemingly endless market. You could find anything and everything here: clothes, luggage, electronics, toys, books, flowers, furniture, cosmetics, jewellery, home decorations, ceramics and even pets, including exotic ones.

Wooden gun anyone?

Trinkets, trinkets and more trinkets.

Hmm...not sure where I'd put this.

It just never seemed to end.

Nice painting:

Stuff, stuff and more stuff...

Some nice plastic fruit.

This was quite cool. These are custom made from car parts.

I liked the Boba Fett.

All sorts of things for sale:

Interspersed between all of these shops selling goods were not only drink and food stalls but also air-conditioned massage rooms, which at first seemed out of place, however this is Thailand.

Massage anyone?

Splitting the main group of stalls and another collection of them was a long, two-storey building filled with more vendors and a food court. Perhaps this part is open all week and not just the weekend. I wandered through the mall, but I was really curious to try and find the pet section where the fire took place in June.

Actual Crocs!

7-11s are everywhere in Thailand...but this is the first indoor one I've ever seen.

Interesting...

Some interesting t-shirts.

Anyone need a throne?

Amazing wood tables.

Why not buy a motorless tuk tuk?!?

I liked this painting.

Wooden horses:

Beautifully taxidermied peacocks:

Exiting the other side of the building, I saw a sign for the pet section. The first few shops were pet accessories and food but then there were kittens and puppies. I was a bit surprised to see how big some of the dogs were, barely puppies still. Most were in small cages which was sad to see. However, these animals were at least in air-conditioned rooms. Later on, I saw some dogs in tiny enclosures out in the heat and humidity and it was tough to look at. Poor guys.

Coming out of the building:

Poor doggies.

Super cute pups.

I then found the exotic pet section, and this took it to a whole other level…not in a good way. In fact three foreigners, two guys and a woman were walking in the other direction and the woman had red eyes and tears streaming down her face. I then saw why. Some animals, like snakes and fish, probably didn’t care, but I was shocked to see some animals like a few raccoons continuously pacing back and forth in their tiny pens. They could only take a couple of steps before they had to turn around, take a couple of steps, turn around and repeat. Who the hell wants a raccoon as a pet?!?

Chinchillas:

There were lots and lots of fish.

You could even buy live coral.

Looks like "business time" in the lizard cage.

I really felt sorry for these guys, they definitely need a bigger cage.

Not sure what type of turtles these are, or whether they are babies or full grown.

Macaws. At least they weren't in cages.

It's hard to hear my commentary, but I'm not sure why you'd want to eat right by all these noisy birds.

The poor pacing raccoons.

I finally found where the fire occurred. There was some black soot along this ceiling but then there was an area that was razed to the ground. Very sad for 1000+ animals.

In some case, cages were stacked on cages, and it was obvious that urine and feces from the animals above would fall through onto the animals below them. Why are we such a cruel species?!? I could only stomach so much before I had seen enough.

After a spicy chicken and rice lunch from one of the stalls back on the other side of the mall (yes, I hadn't lost my appetite after all that), I decided it was time to move on. Nearby was Chatuchak Park so I wandered through there for a bit.

Nice park...but big brother is watching you (the pole on the right has cameras).

Hmm...is this a common problem of unwanted aquatic pets?

A couple of towers under construction that are connected at the top.

It was early in the afternoon so I opted to take the metro to the closest stop to the Thonburi train station, where I planned on catching a train to Kanchanaburi the next day. The small city is about 2½ hours northwest of Bangkok and it is where the infamous “Bridge over the River Kwai” is located. After an 8-9 minute walk from the metro, I found the station and lucked out in that the 1:55 pm train was just leaving. I’ll be hopping on that same train tomorrow.

Some views from the metro:

I thought this was interesting...Priority Seating on the metro for the disabled, the elderly, pregnant women, women with infants and...monks! (the orange guy)

The train leaving from Thonburi station.

I hopped back on the metro and headed back to the area where I was staying, Lumphini Park. I hadn’t actually seen the park yet and Pam had mentioned that supposedly there were monitor lizards just hanging out in the park. I was only a hundred meters into the park when I did see a 3-4 foot long lizard snoozing on the grass, just a few feet from a small lake.

Nice looking park, but hardly peaceful as the sound of traffic was all around.

The sleeping lizard.

No Feed Raven! Some of my free flying buddies (especially Bala) would take exception to this...we love ravens.

Venturing a bit further into the park, past some guys pumping iron in a decrepit looking outdoor gym, I decided that my feet had had enough walking. On my way back, I noticed that a couple of locals were sitting on a bench close to the lizard, who was now awake but didn’t seem to care about them. Another lizard swam by, close to shore. Not sure if I’d want to lay out a blanket on the grass and have a snooze in this park!