If you are in Chiang Mai on a Sunday, not shuffling through the Sunday Night Market is a crime. Even for a quick two to three day trip to Thailand’s second largest city I always make sure my visit covers a Sunday so I can spend the evening at the market. There’s one on Saturday night too, and Friday night isn’t left out either. The famous Night Bazaar runs throughout the week, so the town isn’t hurting for night markets nor are touri hurting for a spot to drop some baht. But the Sunday Market puts the rest to shame.

As much as I love street markets in Thailand, I seldom buy anything at them these days. Most of what is offered for sale is the same stuff the local vendors have been pushing for the last twenty years. But then the shopping part of going to a night market isn’t what draws me. It’s the experience. And the Sunday Night Market offers one of the best experiences in town.

Non-shoppers might want to take a pass on joining the crowds walking along Ratchadamnoen Road every Sunday night from dusk to 10:00 pm. That’d be a smart move if crowd avoidance is your goal because the street is packed with bodies and joining the party means becoming part of the herd. But if you don’t go because you have little interest in shopping, you’ll miss out on everything else the market has to offer.

The food alone is reason enough to make the trip. Local delicacies, snacks, and even full meals are available from small stalls, and the courtyards of wats along the street that have been turned into food courts. You can eat your way through the market sampling what looks tasty and what looks strange enough you need to give it a try. Even though the market draws tons of touri, it is a local affair so the prices for food are cheap. Most dishes run 10 to 15 baht. It can become one of the best meals you’ve ever had in Thailand, and one of the cheapest too.

The Sunday Night Market also draws local performers, amateurs and semi-professional alike. Groups of young musically talented Thais sit single file in the middle of the street serenading the crowds in hopes of making a few baht. Cute little girls in Hill Tribe gear dance and pose while mama hovers nearby ready to demand payment from those who point their camera in her little darling’s direction. And down one of the side streets, by the Three Kings Monument, a puppet troupe puts on full blown productions, all in Thai but their antics translate easily in any language.

At the first cross street, Phapokklao Road, to your right, local painters display their art lining the middle of the streets with an outdoor gallery of inexpensive but well done paintings. Traditional as well as modern schools are covered and even if you are not interested in buying the young artists are interesting to talk with. The sides of this street are mostly filled with fresh fruit vendors, but other local craftsmen gather here too including those who work in leather, clay, and glass. This is one of the only touri accessible markets where you’ll find handicrafts that are actually made by the person who is selling them.

And then there are the wats.

Wat Chedi Luang, one of the city’s most popular wats for touri, takes on a whole new light when viewed at night. The interior of the wiharn shimmers in gold, the altar area bathed in light that brings the Buddhist imagery to life. Candles are everywhere starting at the wat’s forecourt and its golden Buddha. And out back the chedi is lit by spotlights along with its surrounding Naga and the smaller chapels filled with gold leaf decorated Buddhas.

The plaza area itself is dark; tucked behind the massive, and well-lit, wiharn it doesn’t draw many visitors so you can easily find you have the majestic chedi all to yourself. The monks that are a permanent fixture here during the day are not out either, but it’s a small price to pay for the spectacular nighttime view of the chedi. And you can always come back again during daylight hours to see it again in a different light.

Wat Phan Tao, next door to Wat Chedi Luang, is open to Sunday Night Market visitors too and nighttime is one of the best times to view this wat made from teakwood. If you hit Wat Phan Tao early in the evening a mass of novice monks gather inside the wiharn for evening prayers. Later, there are still young monks on hand to keep an eye on the temple, and while their English may be minimal you’ll find them friendly and happy to interact with visitors.

If you are lucky enough to be in Chiang Mai for the Yi Peng festival Wat Phan Tao fills its courtyard with thousands of small clay bowls holding lit candles to mimic the night’s sky filled with floating lanterns, a sight that you do not want to miss. The rest of the year most of the courtyard is dark, but a small shrine to the left of the compound is often candle lit and usually occupied by a few locals who’ve stopped in to say a prayer.

Wat Sadoe Muang, by the Three Kings Monument off Phapokklao Road is also lit for the night, though nowhere nearly as brightly as the other wats. It’s large trio of ancient wood Buddhas, the ugliest in the country, take on an especially gruesome look in the dim lighting, and again you’ll find few other visitors as most of the crowd is busy shopping for trinkets and handicrafts out on the street a few feet away.

The market dead ends at Wat Phra Singh, one of the city’s most important temples. It’s wiharn too is ablaze with light at night and many of its novice monks keep busy cleaning the floors from the massive number of locals who visit the wat during market night. I’d visited Wat Phra Singh several times during the Sunday Night Market but it wasn’t until my last trip to Chiang Mai that I bothered to take a look during the day and discovered how huge its grounds are. Like Wat Chedi Luang, the majority of the complex is not well lit at night and I never bothered to go further than the wiharn so I don’t know if the smaller chapels are open or lit. But I do plan on checking them out on my next visit to the market.

Chiang Mai’s Sunday Nigght Market started off a few years ago as a special market night held the first Sunday of each month only. Now it is a fixture in town every Sunday night. And they’ve started calling it ‘Walking Street’ too. Whatever you call it, the market should be part of your itinerary when you visit Chiang Mai.

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