Why ChangChui Plane Market is the most underrated market in Bangkok

ChangChui Market is a night market unlike no other. It is a creative park with various uses that change depending on the time of your visit.

On our return to Bangkok, at the end of our year-long adventure in Southeast Asia, the thought did cross our minds that we would not find anything new to stimulate our curious minds. We had already spent 2 weeks in the Thai capital so we were not expecting to find new, wonderful discoveries on our return.

I then read about a place called ‘ChangChui Market’ (map); a night market with street food, music, exhibitions, loads of art and even a fine dining restaurant in an old plane! How had we missed that?

How To Get To ChangChui Night Market

We decided against using Grab taxi (though it would have been easier) and try to get there by public bus. This meant first trying to find a bus stop that Google Maps put in the wrong place. The bus then seemed to take forever due to the infamous Bangkok traffic. Finally, we departed the bus and had a 20 minute walk to the market. It really is well out of the centre of Bangkok. Do not let that put you off.

ChangChui Market

Upon entering the market, the first thing we noticed was the street art. Nothing is left unpainted.

Moving on, it was impossible not to be impressed by the huge dog!

ChangChui Plane

Opposite the huge dog is the centre-piece of the market: a huge plane that has been converted into a fine dining restaurant. It was way too expensive for our budget and, unfortunately, we couldn’t go inside to take a look.

Jurassic Plastic

What we didn’t know before our visit was that there was a temporary exhibition being shown called ‘Jurassic Plastic’. Highlighting the problem of plastic in a throwaway society, this was a real eye-opener. Most of the toys that made up this display were free toys given away by fast food restaurants. They still do that to this day.

ChangChui Scuptures

All around the park, there were random sculptures to discover.

ChangChui Art

There was also works by many local artists on display.

ChangChui Food

As well as fine dining, there were cheaper options available. One place did what it described as ‘a mixture of Thai massaman, Indian masala and European stew’ which sounded heavenly but it was unavailable. Damn!

For the more adventurous, there’s also an insect restaurant.

1970’s German Punk Exhibition

Perhaps the most unexpected, but no less interesting, inclusion came at the end where we discovered a multimedia exhibition charting the rise of German punk bands in the late 1970s. As well as video, audio and heaps of information, there were also some truly wonderful images.

Is ChangChui Plane Market Worth Visiting?

We spent around an hour in ChangChui Creative Park but could have spent much longer if we’d had a drink or some food. It is a shame that it is so far out of the ‘centre’ of Bangkok as I feel this is why it was much quieter than it should be. Do yourself a favour; take a Grab, bus or tuktuk and visit this truly unique night art market.