Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok

One of my favourite places to savour all things Thai is the Chatuchak Weekend Market or JJ market as the locals call it. Open only on the weekends, hence the name, it is made up of a myraid of tiny stalls – food, clothing, household goods, souvenirs, plants, pets, furniture, you name it, its sure to have it - that is sure to confuse even the most exceptional of navitgators.

With the help of my Thai friend, I was swiftly led to this stall that was packed with folks tucking-in in the mid-day heat. We started with the Thai pad thai, a plain fried noodle that is altogether different from the pad thai that we are used to in Thai restaurants. The simplicity of this dish was to serve as the “base” of the array of dishes that was to follow: fried chicken wings, that was done so crisp and fragrant, I just could not get enough of it; northern Thai sausages that were plumb and juicy; and an addictive som tam (papaya salad) that was full of the flavours of fish sauce, dried shrimp and potent chillies. We had a cold longan drink with this. The sweetness of the drink helped to calm the spiciness down a bit.