After months of anticipation, Thailand’s famous Chatuchak market is finally here in Singapore. Located at The Grandstand at Turf Club, the open air food and lifestyle night market will run for three months from now till 3 May 2020. Over 400 vendors from Singapore and the actual Chatuchak market in Bangkok are expected to set up stalls here.
Three months may seem like plenty of time to shop, but due to limited stall lots, vendors are divided into three batches on a rotational basis. This means a fresh batch of vendors will come in every couple of weeks to a month, so you might want to keep coming back to check out what’s new.
We headed down to Chatuchak’s first night of opening here and checked out the stalls. If you want to avoid the crowd, try heading down before 7.30pm. Regardless, queues will be long, especially for the Thai vendors.
One that saw a snaking queue was Chatuchak’s teh tarik and prata stall, Khon Wanna. This stall is famous for pulling Thai milk tea ($4) with elaborate dance moves as well as its prata-like Roti (from $3).
The Roti is prepared Thai style with egg yolks in the batter and drizzled with condensed milk for a nice finish.
Also direct from BKK is King Octopus, Chatuchak’s famous grilled octopus stall. This stall sells only grilled baby octopus ($15) that’s cooked in a spicy and tangy stew. Perfect for Tom Yum lovers!
We also saw a long queue for Phad Thai Banna Sukkothai, BKK’s renowned pad thai stall. One plate of pad thai goes for $6 and is garnished with toppings like grilled bamboo shoots, spring onions and chopped peanuts.
Also keep a lookout for Baan Morakat. This stall specialises in a traditional Thai dessert called Khanom Krok ($5 for 10 pieces). Khanom Krok is essentially tiny coconut milk pancakes cooked over a grill — think of it as flavoured bahulu.
Besides food, find several retail stalls from the original Chatuchak market too. Clothing is definitely more expensive here compared to Bangkok; for instance, a dress on average costs about S$15 here. That said, you’re already saving on convenience and airfare, so paying a bit more probably makes sense.
Here’s a sneak peek of what you can shop, so bring your cash!
As with every night market here, there are also claw machines by vendors like FUNtastic.
Also, don’t worry about balancing your cup of Thai milk tea together with your buys — there are plenty of seating options.
CHATUCHAK MARKET SG
Dates: 4 Feb – 3 May 2020
Location: The Grandstand
Opening hours: 4.30pm-10.30pm
