Asiatique Night Market Bangkok offers food, shopping, and Bangkok history. Plan a trip to this famous night market in Bangkok during your visit!

The Asiatique Night Market was one of the places our hosts said was a “must see” while visiting Bangkok.  I had seen it listed, repeatedly, on tourism websites and travel books, so I was hardly going to argue.  But I did have to ask, what exactly this market was.  Site after site listed it as something you need to see, but the descriptions were confusing.  I mean, it listed so many things to do, I couldn’t quite picture what visiting Asiatique would actually be like.

That’s because Asiatique night market Bangkok is huge and offers it all! 

Have a look…

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Asiatique Night Market Bangkok: Shopping

If shopping is on your Bangkok itinerary, or just looking for some souvenirs to take home, the Asiatique night market has what you need in abundance! With over 1500 shops, you can find everything from clothing to accessories, kitchen gadgets to furniture. Many small booths are locally owned, but big names also have square footage, such as Apple.

I bought one tunic style top, and a crocheted lace jacket where the guy lamented how his wife had made everything in his booth by hand to convince me to pay more for it.  I’m not a haggler by nature, but I stuck to my guns after being repeatedly reassured this was how it worked, and did eventually prevail with a discount. Choose something special and take a piece of this famous night market in Bangkok home with you.

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Bangkok Night Market: Food

The food, the food… Oh the food at Asiatique night market!!

The problem is, you cannot possibly try everything you will want during your visit. Whether you are looking for a sports bar, street-style food stalls, or a bit of the international dining scene – it’s all here. With 40+ restaurants plus stalls lining the boardwalk where the food is displayed to tempt and fascinate you, you will easily satisfy any palate.

While my husband quickly tired of the shopping and found himself a nice spot in brewery to watch the world go by, the rest of us got a little more adventurous. I wasn’t quite up to the sauteed beetles and grasshoppers, what is the point of visiting a foodie night market in Bangkok if we don’t get a little adventurous? We did quite a bit of pointing and asking and buying small amounts of different foods to explore. And, of course, we finished it off with some ice cream!

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Asiatique Night Market Bangkok: Rides & Entertainment

The riverfront boardwalk is the city’s longest public boardwalk, and that space is packed with not just food and shops. It also has an assortment of creative rides and experiences.

Our kids also had fun on a couple of carnival type rides.  Sort of bumper cars meets two-wheeled hover board that seats two.  And the guys running the ride would come around and flip the cars over on their backs occasionally, so the riders were suddenly just staring at sky.

But our favorite as a group was the huge, just shy of 200 feet high, ferris wheel.  There are 42 individual gondolas on the wheel, and they each hold up to about 8 people. We piled in and started our trip around. The views from the top, over the lit up city, made our trip to Asiatique night market in Bangkok worth it on its own.

We didn’t have time to explore the other famous entertainments, but you can see a number of other Attractions at the Asiatique Night Market Bangkok such as:

• Muay Thai Live
• Joe Louis Puppet Show
• WWII Bunker
• Juliet Love Garden
• Calypso Bangkok

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Asiatique Night Market: Heritage & History

While the Asiatique Night Market in Bangkok is worth the visit for the fun it has today, the history of this spot is rich also. During the age of colonization, when so many countries in this area were having trade forced on them under terms that were not their own, this port changed Siam’s (the then name for Thailand) future. King Rama V saw what was happening around his kingdom with the encroaching trade and defacto rule from Western countries. The proactive step was taken to modernize this waterfront and create a port for international trade in partnership with Denmark under terms more favorable to Siam. This move allowed Siam to maintain its own sovereignty during this time.

The waterfront you walk today is the location of the 1897 docks of the East Asiatic Company. This is where the name “Asiatique” is taken from. These docs were the center of trade until it ceased operations in 1947. The area stood neglected for 64 years, until the renovation which would become the Asiatique night market in Bangkok was announced in 2011.

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Enjoy exploring markets when you travel? Check out my other posts about markets around the world:

Mercado San Miguel Madrid

Venice’s Rialto Food Market

San Francisco Ferry Building Food Market

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