Refuel

There are plenty of places for a plate of pad Thai and a cold Singha beer in Chatuchak, with most gathered at the market's southern end. Look out, too, for bands and buskers as the sun begins to set.

A good place to chill and examine your purchases is Art 'n' Art's Café, conveniently located at Sector 7, just north of Sector 6. The menu is limited to time-honored staples such as fried chicken, noodle dishes and sandwiches, but the eatery is alfresco and surrounded by a clutch of the market's more intriguing art- and handicraft-stores.

If you have the energy for postprandial browsing, check out Ego Clay for contemporary dinner services and ceramics; Sakar for creative, primitive earthenware; and Subanjerd for bizarre, welded-metal sculptures and candleholders.

Situated southwest and through Chatuchak's menagerie of squawking, barking, chattering fauna-for-sale is J Plaza, where more permanent, ferroconcrete stores—many specializing in teak furniture and home décor—are located. Café de Thongdee (No. 49, Zone B) is one of the more salubrious restaurants in Chatuchak, serving fiery Thai cuisine and fantastic, thirst-quenching blue margaritas for a very reasonable $1.75 a glass.