Night markets first appeared in China AD 836 and provided a cool sanctuary for fresh-produce traders to sell their commodities away from the midday sun. The marketplace was a communal venue for villagers, traders and local townspeople to share stories, catch up on local news, manage information and socialize.

Open from 5.00-11.00pm every Saturday and Sunday, Chatuchak Market, also known as Taay Rod, Perd Taay or JJ Weekend Market, sits opposite the Nakha Temple, just off Chao Fa Road West, in Phuket Town. On these nights, this usually dusty, barren patch of land morphs into a teeming mass of locals, tourists and traders.

First-time visitors to the market should expect an assault on the senses. Whether you?re arriving in a mini-bus, scooter, chopper, car or limo, expect to get caught in the obligatory traffic on Chao Fa Road West as the crowds descend from all corners of Phuket for this social gathering.

Parking can be an ordeal. You may have to sit bumper to bumper in heavy traffic, the horns of motorcyclists bleating for attention from meandering pedestrians in the middle of the lot. Once you?ve eventually found a space and navigated your way through the dusty, potholed marshlands, you may experience a moment?s confusion: ?Which way do I go; is there sense to this madness??

The answer would be ?yes?. There?s an attempt to assign the vast range of commodities on sale to sections. If you arrive by motorcycle and opt for the front parking lot, then you?ll be entering the market via the ?food section?, for lack of a better term. The primary eatery ?section? consists of three rows of ramshackle tables stretching the entirety of the rear quadrant of the market. It?s well worth the sweaty amble along each row, feasting your eyes on local delicacies and dodging in and out of sugar-intoxicated kids threatening to bite your ankles.

Scents of fried chillies and lemongrass tug at your tear ducts as you stroll by freshly skinned duck dangling from meat-hooks, colossal vats of bubbling noodle soup, fresh fruit shakes, papaya salads, sponge cakes, pastries, and all sorts of morsels on sticks. The energetic camaraderie among the food vendors is entertainment in itself.

With a full belly, and sweating profusely, you dive into the thoroughfare of people-traffic, wandering past an elderly blind keyboardist blasting out high-pitched tunes and into the epicentre of the market. For those who are vertically challenged, languishing in the five-foot-high zone, your years of suffering small-man syndrome are about to pay dividends. Smirking, you watch six-foot-five tourists contort their necks at right angles to compensate for the plastic tarps and rope that threaten decapitation just six feet from the ground.

The main area of the market might be named the ?new fashion/random tat section?.
Here, you?ll witness such fashion disasters as fluffy velour leopard-print jackets, polka-dot jumpsuits, and a wealth of designer boxers from Mr Klein, polo shirts from Mr Lauren and handbags from their friends Gucci and Prada. Of course it?s Phuket, and no market would be complete without Billabong boardshorts and matching shirts. You?ll just have to believe your new-found market trader when he promises these designer brands are originals.

The novelty belt stands always seem to be a favourite with the teenage hipster crowd. Functionally, we?re all aware that a belt holds up one?s trousers or whatever garment, if any, you choose to cover your bottom half with. So it?s interesting to see belts adorned with skulls the size of tennis balls, imitation diamond-encrusted plastic dollar bills, even Colt-revolver buckles.

Sunglasses are in hot demand in Phuket. You can choose from dozens of stalls selling the latest designer/fake designer shades for a mere 100 baht. One problem you may encounter with your brand-new Ray Ban rip-offs is that they don?t actually perform their intended function ? they don?t really protect those precious little peep-holes to the world commonly known as your eyes.

The market is popular with families and young children. There?s everything they could ever dream of. A thousand stalls of sugary treats, a play-area with paints, carnival-style dart-throwing balloon popping and of course, weapons. Yes, weapons. Not WMDs, not an AK47, but weapons nonetheless. While local kids clamber up the inflatable slides and bouncy castles, Western kids pull at the shirts of their parents, begging for the readily available switchblades, shiny new knuckledusters or semi-automatic pellet guns.

If you?ve given into their badgering, letting your kids roam free, make sure they?re not leaving with an arsenal of weapons, as vendors have no qualms about selling switchblades to kids.

The back entrance via the carpark funnels you into the second-hand section of the market. There, you?re met by the pungent aromas of vintage Harley Davidson T-shirts, age-old Levis with worn-through knees, and tattered leather jackets.

You pass by a lone hawker sleeping on an old beach chair, smiling at his bare feet and choice of resting place, where he nestles among a sea of second-hand shoes. As the ash from the sleeping vendor falls into his half-drunk iced coffee, you marvel at the collection of footwear he?s managed to acquire, including hundreds of shiny leather business loafers, slip-ons, Chelsea boots and Doc Martins. Heavily scuffed, most with worn heels, they sit awkwardly on the plastic rain tarps.

Nike Air Force One original trainers from the 1980s, original Converse and Adidas Stan Smith tennis shoes are a huge hit with local teens. Retro is definitely back in style, particularly with the young Thai and expat contingent in Phuket. From the faded Guns N? Roses T-shirts favoured by local bikers and young hipsters to tie-dyed fishermen?s pants worn by beach-boy Rastafarians, they?re all available at the market.

Original Phuket art and fashions aren?t among the most widely available commodities, but there?s a gem of a T-shirt stall worth visiting. Ongart ?Tum? Kaewwangha runs the tiny shack/stall/lean-to for his friend?s clothing label ?Oruchun?. His designs ? a fusion of mythological characters and modern stenciling styles ? introduce a welcome dose of originality. As Tum told the Phuket Post, ?We?ve become very popular with Thai teenagers. They like our style, and anything that?s different is always going to draw attention.?
The final narrow passages of stalls that line the carpark feature a range of household pets. New-born Dobermanns and pugs, kittens and rabbits are all on sale.

In the course of your explorations, you may notice peculiar behaviour on the part of one trader, who prods at caged white fluff balls using a makeshift poking device designed for just this purpose. Whether this demonic trader is checking to see whether her animals are still alive, trying to remove ticks, or just being cruel is an open question.

Apart from the prod-happy lady, there are no signs that traders abuse the animals. The lady owner of one stall sits contentedly stroking a hideously made-up chihuahua/chipmunk that rests on her lap, as tourists and locals oo and ah over her range of imprisoned hairy products.

Weekend Night Market
Just off Chao Fa Road West (opposite Nakha Temple), Phuket City
Also known as Chatuchak Market, Taay Rod, Perd Taay or JJ Weekend Market, the market offers clothes, antiques, music and DVDs, cheap knock-offs, a selection of local cuisine and even pets. Open from 5.00-11.00pm Saturdays and Sundays.