Chiang Mai Sunday Walking Street market

Photo: Shop and eat.

Chiang Mai Sunday Walking Street market

There isn’t actually an official, permanent, “Walking Street” as such in Chiang Mai, but every Sunday the entire length of Ratchadamnoen, the Old City’s principal east/west axis, plus several side streets, are closed to traffic and become one long open air street bazaar.

It stretches all the way from Wat Phra Singh down to, and including, Tha Pae Gate—well over a kilometre—plus it seems to grow longer by around 25 metres every week! The market kicks off late afternoon and goes on until late evening, but come 18:00 or 19:00 it starts to get seriously busy, so it’s worth turning up early for.

Before peak hour. Photo taken in or around Chiang Mai Sunday Walking Street market, Chiang Mai, Thailand by Mark Ord.

Before peak hour. Photo: Mark Ord

Note also 1.2 km of dawdling browsers, buskers, lost tourists, and donation-seeking Thai Girl Guides can be totally draining. You’ll find predominantly handicrafts, (local and otherwise), bric-a-brac and clothes on sale, along with quite an eclectic range of products to be perused, and even some excellent and original artwork.

Food-wise you’ll find the usual range of Thai snacks and drinks, plus a few more strictly local style specialities while, for sit down fare, it’s fun to pop into one of the temple courtyards that line the street and morph into al fresco eating areas for the evening.

Gifts for all and sundry. Photo taken in or around Chiang Mai Sunday Walking Street market, Chiang Mai, Thailand by Mark Ord.

Gifts for all and sundry. Photo: Mark Ord

Think food courts with Buddhist decor; you select dishes from vendors and sit on mats on the ground or low benches to eat them. (Plenty of regular cafes, coffee shops and bars line the streets around here too if you need sustenance but don’t want to sit on the floor.)

The lack of vehicles and range of items on sale make this a far more browser-friendly, and indeed picturesque, market than the Night Bazaar. But if it’s Chang Beer T-shirts or pirated DVDs you’re after, this is not the place to go. And while this is called the Sunday market, a very similar Saturday equivalent sets up just south of the Old Town along Wualai Road.

Chiang Mai Sunday Walking Street market

On Ratchadamnoen and Phra Singh Rds between Tha Pae Gate and Wat Phra Singh in the Old City
Su: 17:00–22:00