Three hundred sixty five days a year a street near the guesthouse closes to traffic at 3:30pm. A crew of muscled, young Thai men move in to set up a night market on the four blocks that are closed. First comes a framework of steel pipes, then plywood for a table top, metal mesh on which to hang things, and electrical wiring for the lighting and fans. Over this tarps are stretched to provide a covering for all the displays. Next they haul out huge metal lockers that store the merchandise for the sellers and place them next to the correct stall. Each stall is about 6 feet wide. Their work is done until after midnight when they tear it all down and store it for the next day. I once made the mistake of trying to walk on the street during set up and had to jump out of the way of a fork lift to escape being run over.
When the set up is complete the sellers move in to display their merchandise. They string lights, hang fans and put out the merchandise that was stored in the metal lockers. They sell watches(including Rolex of course), jewelry, silk, other fabric, clothing, belts, purses, luggage, keepsakes, souvenirs, etc. As people walk by they say "have a look".
At midnight it's about over and things are stored again for the next day. Someday I may stay up late enough to watch the tear down, but, then again I may not.
No comments:
Post a Comment