Sunday, October 31, 2010

Sarah On Board

Just sitting, writing my grocery list the other day.  Fairly standard fare for me - some Halls cough drops, a box of forty year old laundry detergent, two tiny tea cups trimmed in gold and a pile of plastic soldier figurines.  To my dismay, I couldn't find a single outlet to cater to each of my (reasonable) needs.

But then... could it be?



It could!  Thanks to the Ratchadaphisek Market.  

This is truly a place where all your needs can be met.

Have you been searching for the perfect rearview mirror for that special someone?


Search no more!

Yearning for a suitcase full of pencil sharpeners?


Your yearning days are over.

But what if you would rather a collection of small, creepy dolls in that suitcase?


Ha!  You can't fool the Ratchadaphisek Market.  Not for a minute.

Located at the northern tip of Bangkok, this place is a bit hard to find.  But it is gloriously full of all the stuff you thought you'd never find. 

Let alone need.


I see you, Garfield.  

I honestly love this place.  It is full of junk.  Which just so happens to be my cup of tea (trimmed in gold).  Bathed in a soft glow, awash in the tunes of 1950's rockabilly, it is a surreal place full of VW camper vans and all the crap you never knew you needed.  







I truly love places like this.  Flea markets.  Antique stores. Junkyards. Everything has a story.  Granted, the story might be long over but I'll always listen.  



And I love that teenagers, no matter where they are from, will always be eager to scoop up their Che Guevera pictures for street cred.  


There are many a lesson to be learned from my sojourn to the Ratchadaphisek Market.  One is that there are others like me.  Others who like old crap.  Others who have long dragged family, friends and significant others to flea markets and put up the good fight about why they should buy this old telephone that clearly does not work anymore.  There are others like me all over the world.  

But I say that to say this...



Hilarity knows no cultural boundaries.  

1 comment:

  1. Amazing. Not only this market, but the way you tell this story. You are awesome. And I really want to go here with you.

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