BANGKOK — Five years after the original closed, the people behind the Suan Lum Night Bazaar will reopen it next week in the Chatuchak district, over 10 kilometers from its eponymous park.
Opening years later than originally planned by the original market’s developer, P Con, the new night market will open near MRT Lat Phrao at the Ratchada-Lat Phrao intersection in a different setting than the original, surrounded with hotels, condos and restaurants rather than the stand-alone market which once spread east of Lumphini Park.
A commercial real estate blog described it as aimed at “Mid-town Ratchada folk who’ve been waiting patiently for all the heavy condominium development and investment in the area to finally pay off.”
Expect the latest seafood and fashion fads ala Siam or Emquartier, with more corporate offerings than the original, such as the several establishments already opened: Champions Sports Bars, chinese restaurant Ping’s and japanese buffet Hikaru. A theatre called “The Bazaar Theater” will open inside a hotel with the same name to offer a “Magic Cabaret,” apparently the facsimile of the original’s Joe Louis Puppet Theatre.
The market will also have a beer garden, according to its Facebook page, however it was unclear whether it will feature the original’s stage of underage girls dancing to “Bo Peep.”
The original's beer garden and "Young Talent" stage in 2009. Photo: Charles Haynes / Flickr
Long before weekend flea markets became the norm, the original Suan Lum Night Bazaar, which closed in 2011, helped give birth to Bangkok’s indie-hipster scene. It featured a sprawl of small stalls in which many then-small brands began.
It sat just outside MRT Lumphini and was famous for its vendors, concert hall, puppet theatre and no-frills outdoor beer garden.vendors selling clothes and other goods. Like much of the property in the area, the land is owned by the Crown Property Bureau, and the market’s vendors were forcibly evicted in 2011 to make way for commercial development.
The Suan Lum Night Bazaar will host a "soft launch" event Wednesday.
