Traditional Thailand is slowly fading as the country ever-so-slowly marches forward. The Sanpatong Buffalo Market (called Thung Fha Bod or Kad Wua in the northern Thai dialect) is held in the central area of the Sanpatong district. While it’s a fairly easy half-day trip from Chiang Mai, you really need to get started early. The market is held every Saturday, and gets started before the crack of dawn has woken up — leaving your Chiang Mai guesthouse / apartment at 5am is not too early to get started. If your layover (or hangover) makes you unable to travel before 11am, save this one until next Saturday.
What was I saying about traditional Thailand? Clothing cast-offs from the Western world and/or the factories in southeast Asia filled up dozens of booths. I could see a trademark / copyright lawyer cleaning up here…
Something a bit more on the traditional side — knives and blades of all sizes.
Alright, this is looking like any of the somewhat traditional markets found in smaller cities. But where are the buffaloes?!
Ahh, there’s one. To be fair, we didn’t find this area until fairly late in the morning. There’s plenty of fenced-in areas for perhaps dozens of buffaloes.
A couple of others — I’m not sure if these were the few that didn’t sell, or just kept locally for next week’s market.
Along the lines of traditional Thailand comes a couple of aspects modern Thailand might wish to overlook — a fair number of cockfighters brought around a slightly older demographic.
Some Siamese fighting fish near one of the other entrances. Not pictured nearby is supposedly one of the better places to buy a used motorcycle. Several large open-air buildings each held dozens of bikes, though you’ll want to bring a Thai interpreter and your A-game negotiating skills.
This market may not be around in a decade, or at least not as active with the more traditional aspects. Even if you’re not looking to buy a buffalo, there’s plenty of Thai street food at great prices to make it worth your while.
Don’t bring one of these back to the US, though.
Name: Sanpatong Buffalo Market (also called Thung Fha Bod or Kad Wua)
Address: Along route 108, Tambon Yu Wa, Chang Wat Chiang Mai 50120 (GPS: 18.602425,98.890223)
Directions: From the Old Town, get to the southern part of the square. Head left (south) onto route 108 (called Thipanet road). If you miss it and find yourself at the southwest corner, head left on Mahidol road (route 1141), go a little over a kilometer and turn right onto route 108. Stay on route 108 for about 22.5 kilometers — on Saturday mornings, you’ll know you’re in the right place when traffic slows to a crawl and you see the market on either side of the road. The buffalos on the right, and you’ll need to double-back a bit to find them.
Hours: Saturday mornings ONLY, starting as early as 5am. The buffalo side of the market seems to finish up before noon, while the larger market continues on throughout the afternoon.
Admission: free
Phone: none
Website: none
