A night at the Chiang Rai Night Market

If ever one needed reminding of the damage done to Thailand’s tourism industry following the protests in Bangkok earlier in the year, then the Chiang Rai night market was indeed a salient reminder.

During our first night in Chiang Rai we decided somewhat imprudently to leave the confines of our hotel and venture forth to the iconic market place while the black evening sky unleashed a torrent of rain on the northern Thai city.

What greeted our eyes was commercial desolation. Maybe the incessant rain had something to do with it, but the market place was almost deserted with the stall holders that had opened for business looking rather glum and the other stall holders deciding whether it was worth the effort of opening at all.

Nonetheless, the Shopper Girl couldn’t be dragged away from the place and in so doing she purchased several items at reasonable prices with minimal haggling.

She purchased a “copy” Chanel handbag for 450 baht whilst a similar one at MBK back in Bangkok couldn’t be bought for less than 1500. The girl also bought a Burberry handbag (copy) for 650 baht, whereas at the aforementioned MBK the going price was 2000 baht.

Even your correspondent got into the mode of market shopping buying a golf cap of the local Waterford Golf Club for 160 baht, a good quality polo shirt with the emblem of the Waterford Golf Club on it for 280 baht and a Panama type hat (250 baht) to replace the one that had blown off my head while we were speeding down the Mae Kok River in a Long Tail boat earlier that day.

Then the Shopper Girl spied a beautiful table cloth in one of the stalls at the western end of the market. The stall holder told us in Thai that it had been hand stitched by one of the nearby Hill Tribes, but the eagle eyes of the girl detected the unmistakeable pattern of machine stitching.

It was nonetheless a beautiful piece of linen cloth and more than sufficiently long to cover our 9 foot table back home. The asking price was 3500 baht, which astounded your correspondent who was left to haggle with the young female stall holder in Thai. At about that time, the market place started to flood and I noted that the water was now up to my big toe in my sandals. So it was that I stood there haggling for around 10 minutes until the stall holder finally agreed to 1700 baht (about $AUD60 at the time).

The Shopper Girl was extremely happy with this purchase as something similar that she had spied in a Thai Products Shop on Sukhumvit Road back in Bangkok had a price tag on it of 9500 baht (about $AUD340 at the time).

At the conclusion of the haggling for the beautiful table cloth I decided that enough was enough for the night and with the tummy starting to rumble I spied an upstairs restaurant called Sawadee which had a panoramic view of the market.

SEWADEE RESTAURANT
After climbing two flights of stairs we entered a largish restaurant and we opted for a table on the balcony overlooking the market place. We were the only patrons on this particularly wet evening and to start proceedings I ordered a large Heineken while the Shopper Girl ordered an iced lemon tea.

For sustenance we ordered a serve of vegetable spring rolls, one sweet and sour pork, one Pla Sam Rus (Sea Bass), one fried rice with prawns and a bowl of Tom Yung Goong.

We then decided that from our great vantage point overlooking the market we would count the number of Caucasian tourists shopping at the market. During our 70 minutes on the balcony we counted 11 white faces most of whom appeared to be using the market place as a short cut to the nearby Chiang Rai bus station.

After about 10 minutes the food arrived all in one hit. I had forgotten to tell the waiter that we wanted it one dish at a time but it was too late to rectify the situation at that juncture. To accompany the meal we ordered another iced lemon tea and a large bottle of Singha.

The vegetable spring rolls were crisp as were the julienned vegetables inside the casing. A dipping sauce of hot chilli was provided as was a small dish of fish sauce.

The Tom Yung Goong was hot in temperature, hot in taste, hot in texture and overall was a good rendition of the most ubiquitous of Thai dishes. The big bowl had sufficient broth for two helpings.

The sweet and sour pork was a little disappointing in that the pork was tough and the enzymes had started to curl. The dish also contained sliced onions, sliced red and green capsicums and the sauce was very ordinary.

The Pla Sam Rus or Sea Bass was beautiful. It had been steamed then quickly fried in oil so that its outside was crispy and the inside was soft and succulent. It sat on an oval plate with a small puddle of fish sauce at its base.

We must surely have been hungry as the two of us finished all of the dishes and then spent some time sipping our drinks while surveying the desultory scene that was the Chiang Rai night market on that particular evening.

We then decided we would finish the evening at a local tavern, so all it required was for the mobile cash register (me) to pay the bill.

COST: 1 x serve of vegetable spring rolls (10 in total), 50 baht; 1 x sweet and sour pork, 100 baht; 1 x Pla Sam Rus (Sea Bass) 130 baht; 1 x serve of prawn rice, 70 baht; 1 x large Heineken, 100 baht; 1 x large Singha, 90 baht; 2 x iced lemon teas 40 baht. TOTAL: 580 baht ($AUD20.70 at the time). There is no service charge or vat.

CONCLUSION: The Sawadee Restaurant at the Chiang Rai Night Market enjoys a splendid view from its second story location overlooking proceedings below. The two tables on the roofed balcony would be the most sought after for visiting market shoppers. The restaurant has an extensive menu of Thai dishes that represent very good value. The food was above average apart from the sweet and sour pork.

SCORE: Food, 6/10; service, 8/10; ambience, 7/10; value for money, 8/10. TOTAL: 29/40.

RECOMMENDATION: I can give a positive recommendation to the Sawadee Restaurant. It is clean, has a good view of the market, the food is quite nice and very reasonably priced, the drinks are beautifully chilled and like the food, reasonably priced. The service is quick and friendly and I guess importantly for those who can’t speak Thai, the service staff have basic understanding of English.

NEXT WEEK: We dine at the stalls in the market place itself which surely must represent some of best value food to be found anywhere in Thailand.

Thanks for the report Emdee. Once again an enjoyable read and good info to add to the list. The Sea Bass looked to be a bargain. Thats one of the things I like so much about Thailand, generally the seafood is top class and good value.

Thanks a ever really enjoy your reports

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Kiss
God laughs at people who make plans.