Thailand forum

Yes, I've been to the 'monk's bowl alley' a couple of times. A very pleasant little alley near the Golden Mount.

There are at least two sets of artisans in the alley who make and sell the bowls. They seem to not get along with each other and compete for the attention of the tourist/prospective buyer. We arrived one morning and bought a bowl from one man, after getting a brief explanation of how the bowls are crafted. An English couple who tagged along with us bought a smaller 'souvenir-sized' bowl from the other artisans (whose shops were close to the mouth of the alley and whose sell was much softer). When he got wind of the latter transaction, monk's-bowl artisan #1 began shreiking and fulminating at his neighbor (presumably because he felt he had exclusive rights to sell bowls to the whole group of us) in the most uncharacteristic way possible for a Thai.

Please be mindful of the local turmoil, although there isn't anything to do about it if you want to buy what you want to buy.