The market train never stops

ROD FAI MARKET – whose vendors were pretty much “railroaded” from their perches next to Chatuchak Weekend Market – have simply boarded the outbound express to Srinakarin Road. And they look set to do all right there.

Thanks to a wide variety of merchandise including rare antiques, vintage clothes and lots of other collectibles, they’ve added vibrancy to the shopping nightlife in an area already packed with malls.

Veteran collector Phairoth Roikaew initially set up shop on Kamphaeng Petch Road three years ago and his stuff was a hit right away with hip youngsters, office workers and fellow fans of vintage gear. “He’s run Rod’s Antique Shop for more than a decade,” says Pakpinya Prathungwong, a coordinator at the new location. “He started with a small stall in Klongthom Market and then expanded and moved to Chatuchak, but he always wanted his own market where he could share the space with other vendors.”

Phairoth refurbished an old State Railway of Thailand warehouse at Chatuchak to serve as an open-air night market that could host massive garage sales and indoors, fancier boutiques, furniture shops and restaurants. 

Unfortunately the lease with the railway agency expired in May and the market had to close. The vendors protested, only to see their stalls demolished to clear the way for the Skytrain Red Line. “Actually we’d already planned to open a second market further east,” Pakpinya says, “so we’re not here just because the first market closed.”

The 50-rai property retains the same popular layout on a former cart-racing track. It opened in February, but Phairoth won’t say how much it cost.

“Rod Fai Market Srinakarin is now the biggest hub of antique shops in town,” says Pakpinya. “Most sell furniture. The rental fee isn’t much because we want to help people earn a living. A space in the plaza and warehouse range in price from Bt4,000 to Bt12,000 a month and a block in the market is Bt150 or Bt200 a day.”

There’s the plaza, the open-air market and the warehouse. You enter via a small alley with antique shops, bars and pet shops on either side.

Chinda Jahnert sells old wooden furniture, carved tin tableware and other items from Germany. The beer steins, knives with deer-horn handles and venerable gramophone records are particularly eye-catching. 

“My husband is German and I lived there for almost 10 years,” she says. “When my husband retired we came back to Thailand. This is our hobby. I had a shop in the old Rod 

 Fai Market too.”

“Uncle” Somporn Nokaksorn offers old radio-tubes and elaborate wooden bookshelves, cabinets and drawers from Germany, France and Russia.

Part of the plaza – which looks, interestingly enough, like a railway station – boasts 530 shops selling printed T-shirts, vintage togs, handmade accessories, leather gear, toys, second-hand books – and much, much more.   

Veloroom is a shop in Zone C owned by cycling enthusiast Wangcha Nakhachat. If you want a classic Bruna or Bonnet Noir bike from Japan or one of those foldable jobs made by Dahon in the US, this is the place to go. You’ll pay anywhere from Bt6,900 to Bt19,000.

“I have a collection of second-hand vintage bikes at home,” Wangcha says. “This year I began selling some on Facebook and got good feedback, so that inspired me to open this shop. And soon I’ll have bike bags, lights and helmets here, too.”

Among the many places to eat and drink, Aphilak Boonraksa’s Long Cha cafe is popular for its coffee, Thai-style herbal tea, fruit tea and smoothies, plus fried eggs with various toppings, baked bread with jam or chocolate.

The flea market holds more than 2,000 stalls, including one where new-wave designer Pornphan Lohprasit proffers her limited-edition Alpha screened T-shirts. Top-quality and comfortably soft in cotton and spandex, they cost Bt170 apiece or Bt300 per pair.

Like most of the other vendors in the market, Pornphan has a regular day job. “I design T-shirts as a hobby. I moved here from the old market and now create between 10 and 15 new designs a week. Sometimes I’ll fill a shelf with used canvas shoes and accessories from my own wardrobe.”

Rod’s Antiques occupies its own platform in the new market, showing a slew of vintage cars bearing famous names, as well as gasoline pumps and second-hand Vespa scooters from Europe.

Shopper Phatsakorn Jiravaraphan, who works as a product designer, finds the market a good inspiration for his creativity.

“I live in Bang Na, so it’s great that there’s a night market in my neighbourhood,” he says. “This is my first time visiting. It has that charming atmosphere of bygone days because most of the vendors are selling vintage items. It’s a good place to get fresh ideas for my job.”

Chaiwat Thitharatanaporn, a 18-year-old student at Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology, is just hanging out with friends. “I visited the old location many times and I still prefer it to this one – it was more colourful and had greater variety. Here it’s quite tranquil, but bigger.”

 

 

THE FAR EAST

 >>Rod Fai Market Srinakarin is on Srinakarin Road behind the Seacon Square shopping mall.

>>The Plaza is open daily except Monday from 4pm to midnight. The Night Market is open Wednesdays and weekends from 4 to midnight. Portions of the Warehouse are still under construction.

>>Find out more at (081) 827 5885 and www.Facebook.com/TaradRodFi.

 

 

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Of an evening

 

In a city that never sleeps, the urge to shop can strike at any hour. Thankfully Bangkok has several great night markets. 

 

Asiatique the Riverfront on Charoen Krung Road is a huge, open-air mall that draws locals and tourists as much as for its history and for its range of shopping and lifestyle attractions. Spread out over the same pier where traders from Europe once moored and home to many old warehouses and traditional Thai-style buildings, it boasts hundreds of chic stores, restaurants, bars and cafes, plus the Calypso stage revue. This is an ideal place to chill by the Chao Phraya River. It is open nightly from 5 to midnight.

 

Talad Nad Liab Thangduan is a new open-air night market occupying 16 rai on Ekamai-Ram-Intra Road planned for housing but temporarily hosting the market. Thousands of vendors offer everything from food, clothes, second-hand items, leather goods, vintage bikes and spare car parts to handicrafts and antique furniture. It’s open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday from 6pm to 2am – unless it’s raining. 

Siam Gypsy Market in the JJ Green lifestyle mall has T-shirts, handmade products, vintage furniture, home furnishings, collectibles and spare parts for classic cars and motorbikes. It’s open every weekend from noon to midnight.  

 

Klong Thom Night Market is famous for second-hand merchandise in all categories. Open only on Saturdays from 7pm to 2am, it covers many kilometres of Worachak, Charoen Krung, Maha Chak and Luang Roads. Shoppers wield a “tosh” to pluck goodies from a sea of IT gadgets, household products, second-hand clothing, fashion accessories, amulets, used shoes, collectible toys, vintage furniture and old electric appliances.

 

Lively Klong Lot Market near Sanam Luang is occupied by hundreds of vendors with miscellaneous products both new and old. You can find amulets, second-hand books and clothes, toys, collectibles, tableware and electrical appliances, with plenty of bargains among them. It’s open nightly from 6 to midnight.