Chiang Mai Night Market

Chiang Mai has the oldest night market in all of Thailand.  Alex, our interpreter, says that these markets are a very important part of Thai culture.  Where ever a few Thai gather, a market will sprout.  We all gathered together to head over and spend some time wandering through the stalls set up on one of the main streets.  I can't imagine what it takes to put up and take down these booths every night of the year!

The vendors are selling a mixture of the worst of kitsch, cheap clothing and jewelry, but intermixed are some of the beautiful crafts from the hilltribe villagers.  The feel is chaotic, too many people packed together in too small a space and every vendor sees a farang (westerner) as an easy target, trying to pull you into their booths.  Bargaining is the norm, so you're expected to do that dance, which everyone seems to love, before buying anything.   

Everywhere I go I am trying to pay attention to the children and the interactions between the children and the adults.  Even though this is a school night and the market runs from eight to midnight, there are lots of children here, many helping with the sales or the smaller ones playing around the booths.  Alex says that in Thai culture, the children belong to the community more than at home and there is a sense that all adults will watch out for any child, so sometimes, as the vendor is bargaining with a customer, I could see a very small toddler wandering down the street, ending up interacting with another adults three booths down who shoos him  back to his mother. 

In one booth, an older child, maybe eight or nine, is doing his homework, oblivious to the noise and commotion around him as he adds his list of numbers.

Tomorrow to the Panya Project, an intentional permaculture community.

M