Markets in Khao Lak: which market on which day

Khao Lak has a market almost every day — you just need to know which one. The big one is Bang Niang Market: Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 2 to 10 pm, at its best from 5 pm. On the other days the smaller Build Market in the centre fills the gap, and on Sundays in high season the old main street of Takua Pa becomes a walking street. To see the fresh market where the restaurants shop, get up early: Khuk Khak, every morning until noon.

The week at a glance

• ·Monday: Bang Niang Market, 2–10 pm
• ·Tuesday: Build Market (centre, from late afternoon)
• ·Wednesday: Bang Niang Market, 2–10 pm
• ·Thursday: Bang Niang Market, 2–10 pm — and Build Market
• ·Friday: no big evening market — the day for Patong or dinner on the beach
• ·Saturday: Bang Niang Market, 2–10 pm
• ·Sunday: Takua Pa walking street, 4–8 pm (November to April) — and Build Market
• ·Every morning: Khuk Khak fresh market by the bus station, until about noon

Bang Niang Market — the big one

The market by the 7-Eleven on Bang Niang's main road, opposite the tsunami boat, is the region's weekly market: fruit, vegetables, fish, household goods and cheap clothes at the front, dozens of street kitchens frying, grilling and steaming at the back, tables in the middle. In the afternoon it is hot and half set up; from 5 pm, once the sun is gone, the market gets going and stays that way until about 10. From Nang Thong it is two kilometres — a walk along the beach or five minutes by taxi.

What to eat, what to pay

Pad thai, fried rice, chicken skewers, som tam (papaya salad, spicy — "mai phet" means not spicy), roti with banana, mango with sticky rice, grilled fish, fresh-pressed juice, coconuts. A dish costs between ฿50 and ฿120, a skewer ฿10 to ฿20, a coconut ฿40. Dinner for two with drinks comes to ฿300–500. Cash only — the stalls take no cards; there are ATMs on the main road. If you are unsure about the food: whatever is cooked fresh in front of you in the wok or on the grill is the safe choice. More in Thailand from A to Z.

The Sunday market in Takua Pa

Every Sunday from November to April, 4 to 8 pm, Takua Pa's old main street becomes a pedestrian zone: street kitchens and sweets between the Sino-Portuguese shophouses from the tin-mining days, music, a Chinese temple at the end of the street. Not a tourist market — this is where the local families eat. Takua Pa is 30 kilometres north, about 40 minutes by taxi; we arrange the ride there and back. The old town is also part of the Nature & Culture Phang Nga tour (Sundays) and the Local Life tour.

The market with a guide

Two tours turn the market into a morning: Local Life starts at 5:30 at the fresh market as the monks make their alms round, and leads via a dim-sum breakfast and a mooncake bakery to the old town of Takua Pa (Tue · Thu · Sun, ฿2,900). The Thai cooking class begins with shopping at the market and ends at the wok with three dishes you cooked yourself (Mon · Tue · Thu, ฿2,000). Every market and shopping address in the area is under markets in Khao Lak and shopping.