Bangkok, for me, is the BEST place to go shopping in South East Asia. They have a great mix of high-end stores (Siam Paragon has Gucci, Chloe, Marc Jacobs, Hermes, etc.) and bargain pieces (found in several street markets). Plus the VAT refund for Tourists is easy to get. The procedure is a breeze!
If you only have a few days to spare for a quick jaunt in Bangkok, book a flight on a weekend because if you love shopping, you must Must MUST go to Jatujak Weekend Market.
Jatujak market is different from other street markets because local artists sell their cute, good quality wares here. If you want cheap, generic stuff you can go to Pratunam Market or any other street market anywhere. But if you want nicer stuff, you can scour through endless stalls in Jatujak markets and find everything from trinkets to vintage clothes, furniture and artworks. I think there’s even a section where they sell live animals. Plus all the clothes are really trendy; it’s like a cheaper, better alternative to shopping in Forever21, actually.
On this trip, I was on a self-imposed shopping ban. (Though I did emerge with a few items. Couldn’t help it. Heehee.) So what I did instead was eat! There are a lot of interesting food items sold in Jatujak.
Creamy coconut ice cream!
It can get really hot inside the narrow alleys of Jatujak market. It was a good thing that we saw some guys selling coconut ice cream. In a hollowed out coconut shell! I loved the presentation. Plus, it came with free iced coconut water.
The coconut ice cream was so creamy and sweet. Peanuts were sprinkled on top, so it had a nice salty-sweet kick to it. Thais are so good at balancing flavors in food.
If you want something more substantial, there are some food stalls that serve noodles and rice meals. It’s usually served in aluminum trays. Some items have gone cold since the trays have been sitting there for a while now, while some trays are often warmed over a flame.
One of our favorite Thai dish is their noodles served with curry. You can even get it from street food carts who serve it to use fresh from the wok. This one is 20Baht. The lady gives you a free hand in putting in your own vegetables and sauces.
Noodles in curry sauce
The noodles can get a bit spicy, so it’s best if you put in a lot of cucumber slices. Alternating bites of cucumber and noodles cools you off, big time.
If you want noodles with broth, there’s a nice chicken noodle soup stand along one of the major alleys in Jatujak.
Basil Chicken noodle soup
Slow-cooked chicken stew makes for the best broth. We didn’t dare tarnish this one with the slew of sauces provided on each table. This is probably the best thing to eat if you’re nursing a cold. The soup is so soothing, weird as it may seem.
You must try the fruits in Bangkok.
There are also a lot of ladies selling fruit in Jatujak market. Don’t forget to stop and order any of the chilled fruits in season. Fruits in Bangkok, for some reason, are the best: really sweet and perfect-looking. The lady in the picture was selling slices of papaya, pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon and santol. I got a santol, but not without a warning from her that it wasn’t that sweet yet. I took the chance, since it was going to be served with chili-sugar anyway. The funny thing about it was the santol turned out to be really sweet, at least for me! Now I wonder how sweet a santol she’d classify as “sweet” would be. Do note that as with almost everything in Thai cuisine, fruits in Bangkok are sometimes served with chili-sugar, chili-salt or just chili.
You can take the BTS train to Mo Chit station. From Mo Chit station, follow the signs which will lead you to a flight of stairs. Go down the stairs on the left and follow the crowd to Jatujak Market.
R.I.P. Diet 