Blog - BKK #02: Weekend market and Siam
BKK #02: Weekend market and Siam
On day 1 (Sunday, September 5), we met up with fellow P5MLer Mai, techno artist part of the unit nolens.volens, who took us to the Chatuchak weekend market, located close to BTS station Mo Chit.
Chatuchak weekend market is I think the largest market in Bangkok, containing some 15000+ shops crammed in a maze of narrow alleys. No matter how we tried, we had pretty much no clue where we were the whole time and just kept following our guide.
There are shops for nearly everything: clothing, CD/VCD/DVD, souvenirs, art, food, even animals (some people leave with a dog in their arms)...
At most shops it's possible to bargain down prices. Mai said that first asking for half the price and then going up to an agreement is the way to go.
If you buy several items you can often get a considerable discount. Some shops may offer you a discount before you ask anything but you can often bargain to lower than what they say.
My best find at the market there was a T-shirt shop called Mixing (I think) which had pretty cool original designs, unlike the many T-shirt shops that sell mostly brand rip-offs.
I also bought the DVD of "Les triplettes de Belleville" for 229฿.
After spending a few hours at the market, we took the BTS to Siam Square where we met with Mai's friend Mimi, and we went to Ka-tak on soi 5 for some food. We had two types of som tam (papaya salad, a definite pick whenever we eat Thai food), rice, fried chicken, and I had rambutan juice (which I thought tasted similar to maple).
Then Mai took us to DJ Siam on soi 4 for some assisted CD shopping. I bought a good dozen of CDs by Thai artists: Mr.Z "Mr.Z's visitor so called remixer", moderndog "love me love my life", Oscillator II, BK-One, Kidnappers Set, Midnite Krisis All Starz "Cinderella", Rik "ปฐม", and compilations "belter 1.0 chapter one", "Coolvoice.com vol.2 Discotheque", "Back 2 the dojo city Rare Grooves", "smallroom 003: the new colour", "Remix: New remixers of the year vol.1"...
Even though we were still full from our earlier meal, we went to have dessert at Mango Tango located just across from DJ Siam. We had "Mango Tango", a selection of mango-based desserts including pudding, ice cream and fresh mango.
After a bit more CD shopping (The Photo Sticker Machine "compilation of the complete work 1999-2002", compilations "smallroom 002: songs from the audience" and "smallroom 004: viewed") Mai and Mimi then had to leave, so we went to do yet more shopping in Siam Square and at the malls around Siam station.
I bought some otaku T-shirts (one that says "つづく", which means "to be continued" and appears at the end of about every classic anime TV episode I used to watch when little, and another that has the Japanese post office postal code mascot/character), and also yet more CDs, a series of three Hualampong Riddim compilations ("Simple Mornings: The Favourites", "Sweet Afternoons: The Singles", and "Extraordinary Evenings: The Spectaculars").
I was also delighted to find my first Dairy Queen of the trip (more on DQ later)!
Posted on September 14, 2004 at 14:09 | Tweet
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Being the t-shirt freak that I am, I can't wait to see your new tees! It's nice that you had a guide like that, especially for the CD purchases. Looking forward to listening to those Thai artists also.
Posted by Jean on September 15, 2004 at 11:56
Yeah, I wouldn't have known where to start with Thai music. That small CD shop DJ Siam had a lot of cool stuff on the wall shown at the right in the picture.
The T-shirts are pretty cool, though I'll be a bit shy to wear the otaku ones. Maybe next time you come visit Broadway? :)
Posted by Patrick on September 15, 2004 at 12:12
You bought a lot of good music. I like Moderndog, Kidnappers, compilation 3 and 4 of Smallroom and H of Dojo city, too.
I think you may like a Thai band called 'Armchair', their second album is acoustic and it is one of the best.
And if you like OssillatorII, you may like Stylish Nonsense album 'Use Your Professor.'
Also you may like Joey Boy. He's a Thai rapper. I think he's the best because his songs are very unique. And have of none rude words.
Posted by a THAI on December 2, 2004 at 10:58
Thanks for the recommendations!
I ended up really liking Kidnappers, Oscillator II, ...
Would you happen to know of an online shop that sells Thai CDs, is usable in English and ships abroad? I searched a bit with no luck. I'd sure like to stay up-to-date with some artists and also check out the ones you mentioned.
Thanks!
Posted by Patrick on December 2, 2004 at 11:05
Here's a place you can order Thai CDs (and movies) online, and they ship to the US cheaply too:
They *do* have Armchair, Joey Boy, etc; I didn't see PhotoStickerMachine or Stylish Nonsense, but I bet if you emailed them. . !
By the way, which Soi is DJ Siam on??? I've been looking for it, but Siam Square is *such* a maze! Thanks!
-- Lalie
Posted by Lalie@Bkk on March 29, 2005 at 02:11
Thank you very much!
DJ Siam is on soi 4 I think, according to my blog entry. :) It should be easy to find on a corner of the square's central street maybe.
Good luck!
Posted by Patrick on March 29, 2005 at 08:07