MBK vs Chatuchak Market

So... yesterday we went to Chatuchak Market.  It is a weekend market that is huge!  You can get lost in that place! It is an outdoor market, but a lot of it is in a covered tent-ish sort of place. It has a ton of different vendors selling pretty much anything you could want.  It is known for its great prices and the chance to haggle the price even better.

MBK is the same thing, but it is in an air-conditioned mall.

For our family, MBK is a lot better.  Why?  It is air-conditioned.  It may by super crowded but there is a smooth surface for stroller pushing.  It is impossible to use strollers at Chatuchak Market!

I'm glad we got to experience Chatuchak though.  Here are some pictures!

I gave Will some money, and he chose to buy a toy from this lady for 20 baht.  He gave her the money and picked out the toy himself!

This is inside the tent thing... maybe it is more like a huge lean-to.  It has like a metal roof but I wouldn't call it a building.  It is super packed with vendors and people.  Very hard to push strollers on the grated sewer covers and broken cement.

 A picture outside.

This was the first time that we got the courage to eat outside from one of the street vendors.  Turns out the food was nasty, they charged us almost double because we were tourists, and I got food poisoning.  So did Beckham but not as bad.  I don't know if it was the food I ate here or what.  I usually try weird things.  This time I had like a fish ball noodle soup.  Yep, it tasted as good as it sounds.  I didn't eat it after a couple bites.  

I thought I would be brave and go buy some fruit from a stand.  It was supposed to cost 20 baht.  I had Beckham squirming in my arms and I still don't recognize what the coins are worth here so I thought it would be faster to just grab a handful of coins and show it to the street vendor.  He took 40 baht from me.  By the time I figured out what he was actually saying to me, it was too late.  I was irate.  Every time I looked at the watermelon, I wanted to punch that guy in the face.  Stupid, mean, dishonest guy... stupid, innocent, naive me.

As we were getting our food, I family from our ward walked by and stopped to talk to us.

 After our nasty food, we decided to go to MBK where we can buy the same things in air conditioning and eat somewhere we know will be good and cheap.  But first I wanted to try something everybody says you need to try.  Traditional Thai ice cream served on bread!  I will talk more about that in a different post, but here it is!

So our overall experience at the Chatuchak Market were not very good.  No one was willing to haggle prices, we got charged too much on the food, it's hot and super crowded and impossible to push strollers.  And I got food poisoning.

 We took a Tuk Tuk to MBK and enjoyed ourselves much more!

Here is the inside of MBK.  It has 7 levels and they are all covered in little shops like this.  But the great thing about MBK is that is is kind of organized.  There is an electronics floor, a home and furniture floor, etc.

Here is the view from the 7th floor where there is a movie theatre and lots of restaurants and an arcade.

We have bought most of our stuff here and have plans to go back for other things!  This is the place with our favorite place to eat, called the Oasis.  More on that later as well!