A Cut Above: Suan Lum Night Bazaar, Thailand ~ by T.E. Banker

A Cut Above

Suan Lum Night Bazaar, Thailand

by T.E. Banker

Until recently I was jaded about open markets in Thailand. There was no shortage of markets and entertainment here, and they have long been an important part of the Thailand’s tourism, especially Bangkok: Pratunam, Sukhumvit from Nana to Asoke, Silom from Rama IV to Soi Nongsee, Soi Cowboy, Patpong’s Night Market and Jatujak’s Weekend Market. But they had all started looking like vulgar variations of the same thing.

Pratunam gives you fabrics and clothes of any imaginable style and quality, but it is so cramped and smelly. And the shops are clones-on-clones interspersed around a confusing commercial sprawl.

Sukhumvit and Silom give you every type of Thai souvenir and handicraft from all around the Kingdom. But the stalls in Silom look the same as Sukhumvit. And you become an integral part of the car traffic: forcibly inhaling CO2 in shocking and paralyzing quantities.

Soi Cowboy and the Patpong Night Bazaar had all you see in Sukhumvit and Silom, compressed in to one short block. But it is so tawdry, forced to put up with the sleazy hawkers and brokers constantly pestering you, shoving little laminated plastic menus of bizarre bodily acts in your nose.

Then there is the Jatujak Weekend Market, mother of them all, comprising everything imaginable. Siam’s creativity is distilled there: antiques (fake and authentic), bronze statues, clothes, curios, furniture, lamps, leatherwork, pets, plants, sculptures, you name it. But the sprawling size and mind-boggling variety is almost excessive. It is only available on weekends. And it is over-crowded, chaotic and oppressively hot; making it stressful even for the Thais. So imagine how the farangs feel? And parking is out of the question.

However, I recently found the Suan Lum Night Bazaar, the first official night bazaar ever available in Thailand, right in the heart of The Big Mango itself.

Located at the south-eastern corner of Lumpini Park, “Suan” is the Thai word for park and “Lum” is the abbreviated version of the proper name.

It is without a doubt A Cut Above all other open markets I have seen in the Kingdom of Thailand. Open 7 days a week from 3:00 PM to midnight – some spots until 2:00AM – it is so convenient and easy to find. Just a stone’s throw from many business, shopping and hotel areas, it’s incredibly easy to access – the Skytrain exit at Sala Daeng is walk-able for the adventuresome and the Sathorn/Rama IV exit at the new subway is right across the street.

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Lumpini Park is the largest “green” location in town: the only vegetation-plentiful area where the overpowering CO2 exhaust fumes from the city traffic can be exchanged for oxygen.

That’s why 30,000 locals go there every morning for running, exercising and relaxing at the park/oasis to escape from the intimidating carbon monoxide. It would be absurd to say there is an unpolluted portion anywhere in Bangkok, so I won’t imply that it’s necessarily any healthier at the Suan Lum Bazaar. Nonetheless, there is a good chance it has more clean air next to Lumpini Park than anywhere else in the City of the Angels.

Compared to Jatujak, Suan Lum offers the same distillation of Thai creativity and handicrafts in a much more manageable atmosphere. More organized and spacious, the feeling is relatively relaxed and it is much cleaner – even the bathrooms are clean!

This place is more refined and genteel, with a cultivated and cultural aspect as well: a marketplace for gentlemen, as it were. It has all the types of food one could possibly crave, including; outdoor Thai-style, indoor Japanese, Indian, a fresh Thai-seafood market and air-conditioned farang-style eateries.

In addition, it provides plenty of parking for cars, vans and buses; with a variety of entertainment to boot!

It was indeed refreshing to see that the charming Joe Louis Puppet Theater has moved lock, stock and puppet-heads from its old home outside Bangkok: with two performances every evening. There you can watch the elegantly synchronized movements of the most skilled puppeteers on the planet. It is a purely Thai cultural event, with classical Ramakien puppet battles in the Siamese/Hindu Rama epics, which you will not find at any other market on earth.

A few months ago, I had an argument with Pisutr Yangkiawsod, manager of the Puppet Theater, about which name was correct for the 10-headed giant – Totsakan or Vejsawan. Now I find there is yet a third variation – Thosaganth.

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Speaking of culture, what about “Sakaratna” (The Junction of Luck)?

A row of three 10-square meter stalls, it is a good example of the trendy carriage-trade “commerce for gentlemen” found throughout Suan Lum. Here are the Indian deities which are most cherished in the culture of this Kingdom: the ones most popular among Thais who expect success, wealth, good luck and good health by worshipping Hindu/Thai images. Lord Ganesha – the elephant-headed God of Arts, Lord Brahma or Phra-Prom-See-Naa (Siam’s version) – the four-faced all-seeing Creator of the Universe, Lord Shiva – the Source of all Divine powers, Vishnu – God of Energy and Uma – the Goddess of Love.

All these deities can be seen, admired and, if desired, purchased at “The Junction of Luck”. Different deities are featured throughout the year. When I first went there last year, it was promoting Lord Ganesha. In the fall it centers attention on Lord Shiva and Vishnu, for which there is a spiritual celebration in the month of October.

This shop was opened at Suan Lum by owners, Arin Kidbunjong and Norapan & Watunyoo Pitaksurachai. The partners are now cashing in on the Hindu/Siam trend, while they also proffer a greater understanding of these divinities. You will see baubles and statues from “Saharatna” in sizes from wearable talismans to bigger-than-life statues, ranging in price from 250 to 27,000 bahts. Or, if you enjoy incense, you can pick up a pack there for only 99.

Go around the corner to the Ayuthaya aisle, and about 50 meters down, where you will find the Mariamma Gallery of Sacred Art, otherwise known as "Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah". This store is even bigger than “Saharatna” and has even a bigger selection of these deities, in a lower price range. It is six of those 10 square meter stalls, back to back. They have everything a Siam/Hindu enthusiast could desire, including; pictures and posters for prayers, Vedic astrology readings, healing mantras, rare art pieces, fine quality incense and an extremely wide range of intricately detailed bronze Hindu and Buddhist statues and talismans. All priced from 100 to 5,000 bahts.

If you are true a culture vulture, you may be on the horns of a dilemma deciding whether or not you want your wife to stop by the Sri Navaratna Museum at the Hrisikesh Plaza, right next to the Joe Louis Puppet Theater. There, any well-to-do lady might become enchanted with the gorgeous hand-crafted 18-carat gold and flawless gemstone jewelry created by the Kingdom’s own legendary Richard Shaw Brown and his Astral Gemstone Talismans. Prices range from 2,000 to 150,000 bahts.

The grand opening for this trendy Hrisikesh establishment highlighted Joe Louis himself, a live Puppet Show and a 70-meter catwalk in front of the Plaza for a Thai-silk fashion show.

Many decades ago, Brown was famous for his vocals in the London-based cult music band, “The Misunderstood”. Now he is developing his feature-length film, by the same name. It took him 19 years to refine his concept of Planetary Gemology, based on the Vedic scriptures, and he is currently the Secretary of the Planetary Gemologist’s Association (PGA), while setting up an educational course across the street from Hrisikesh Plaza.

If you are lucky enough to find Mr. Brown there, he will enamor you with the metaphysical virtues of flawless gemstones. If not, his staff there will teach you the fundamentals of Planetary Gemology in a few minutes. There, Hrisikesh Ltd. can also issue your personal “Gemstone Prescription”, using Brown’s own computer software creation, the “Astro-Mac”, based on the Apple operating system.

At Hrisikesh Plaza you can also dine at the only vegetarian restaurant available, the Jade Café, where you will see the exquisite jade sculptures, fashioned by hand, from Jade-Carvings.com in Maesai on the northern corner of Thailand, bordering Burma. Jade-Carvings.com changes themes from time to time, ranging from Animalistic to Siamese, Khmer and Chinese deities: currently they are giving most attention to Khmer Angkor Wat-style sculptures. Prices range from 2,500 to 150,000 bahts, and prosperous ladies will undoubtedly want Dad to buy her at least one of these stylish collectibles to take back home.

At the turn of the century, the Tourist Agency of Thailand (TAT) noticed that tourists were spending less money on shopping, so they were anxious to promote new retail ventures. In 2002 a Bangkok visionary said Suan Lum was going to be the busiest shopping area in the Kingdom. Now the Night Bazaar is in full swing and this massive open-air market in the heart of the metropolis is providing precisely what TAT was dreaming for – an abundance of fresh income from foreign tourists.

The Suan Lum Night Bazaar now appears to be the best thing the Thais have come up with since Thai silk.

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