Suan Lum Night Bizarre

We've figured out that at "flea markets" the smell of things deep frying is somewhat universal. We did note, however, that there were no pork rinds. At least, none that we saw. But you have to suspect they’re there somewhere.

Inside, words can’t do justice to the number and variety of stalls. We’d talked to people online before about their “businesses”, and thought they were sketchy at best. Talk about American arrogance!

To our minds, people who say they’re going to work at 6 or 8 or 10 p.m., that they “have a store selling things” like vitamin supplements or watches or whatever, and that they get off of work at 2:00 a.m. leads people in the US to the immediate conclusion that someone is engaged in something illegal, like drugs or prostitution or whatever.

This is not, in fact, the case. These are legitimate small businesses. They’re crammed into tiny, tiny locations, but the local economy is very dependent on them. You go there to buy clothes, shoes, furniture, T-shirts, housewares, hardware, and just about anything else you can imagine.

There seem to be two different tiers of booths. Those on the outer ring are obviously set up and taken down frequently. They tend to be a racks around the side and back with the ever-popular FEMA Blue tarp put up as a wind / weather break, the merchandise hanging on the racks and maybe on a table or two inside. Things are spread out in cases that look very mobile, in that they have lids that flip down and handles to carry them away.

Remember, a lot of those types of cases are then strapped on the back of a motorbike to be hauled home. These tend to be small durable goods – watches, jewelry, clothing, CD’s, etc.

More toward the inside of the building there are stalls, about 10 x 10, that are built sort of like the mini-storage places with pull-down metal doors or glass walls. These are permanent storefronts, many of which are air conditioned. Many of the owners / operators have invested a great deal of time and effort into making their store unique and mimicking the things they’ve seen in the media about high end shops.

Some clothing stores, for example have laser lights in them, or projectors putting patterns on the floor. The occupants tend to be trendy dressers and there are lots of fashion magazines and posters on the walls.

A couple of stores that we really liked had furniture and home accessories. Unfortunately, we couldn’t figure out how to get a 40 pound Buddha statue home with us --- not yet, anyhow.

The other thing that was there that was fascinating were the “fish massage” places. I wrote about them on the other blog earlier (http://cornerat8th.blogspot.com – it’s the post from 12/07/2009 – “The Regulation of Flesh Eating Fish”). There are lots of places offering this, usually with the tanks on the sidewalk. It’s very communal as you sit on the benches with your feet in the water while the fish do their thing.

There was a booth in the market where a family had a toddler in the tank with him. People were watching as the little kid, maybe 18 months, would try to keep still but was too ticklish and would jump and squeal whenever they went to settle on him.

The fish, obviously being old hands at this, backed away from the little feet that would squish them unintentionally!

Pretty soon we were shopped out. If you’re not buying things, that activity tends to wear thin after a while, especially if you’ve been up since early morning. Sam offered to take us to a nightclub, but we showed the wisdom of years and opted for sleep instead.

You could easily spend an entire day, or more, in the Night Bazaar. It’s not a mall, which they have in abundance, nor is it a flea market, but is some type of unique cross between the two where people meet, have a bite and/or a drink, and wander around either shopping or socializing.

It is a lot of fun, though, and we may have to go back again before we leave Bangkok on Tuesday.