Shopping Paradise: Exploring the Best Night Markets in Koh Samui
Koh Samui is home to beautiful beaches, stunning temples and great shopping. One of the great joys of a visit to Samui is rounding your day off with a visit to one of the thriving night markets that dot the island. If you’re looking for things to do in Koh Samui, look no further! The temperatures are cooler so you can wander in relative comfort, and there are food and drinks stalls aplenty so you can make a market trip last a whole evening. Here’s a few of our recommendations for the best night markets in Koh Samui.
Fisherman’s Village, Bophut
By day, Bophut is a small, sleepy community with a local feel and a few friendly dogs taking a doze on the sidewalk. By night, however, it turns into a bustling marketplace, with a pedestrianized walking street and a wide range of stalls boasting goods from across the island. Yes, you might have seen some of these knock-off products before at other markets, but were they this cheap? Probably not! Haggle hard and grab a few bargains.
Hours of Operation: 17:00 – 23:00, Daily
Location: Bophut Beach Road, Bophut
Mae Nam Walking Street, Chinatown Mae Nam
Mae Nam is an opportunity to visit a night market and do some local sightseeing at the same time. Mae Nam is located in Koh Samui’s Chinatown so expect to see a few Chinese faces in the crowd, and enjoy the local architecture as well as the goods on offer for sale. This is one of the most popular markets on the island but there are still bargains to be had; if you see a big crowd of tourists around a stall then just move on and try your luck somewhere else. There are plenty of Chang singlets to go round!
Hours of Operation: 17:00 – 23:00, Daily
Location: Chinatown, Mae Nam
Chaweng Night Market, Chaweng Beach
This night market majors on our favorite thing- food! This is a great place to head in the evening to try a few Thai delicacies washed down with a cold beer or two. Some people criticize it for being a glorified food court; we ask what’s wrong with that anyway! Head to the center of the market area to find a market square area complete with the ubiquitous plastic tables and chairs. Choose your food from one of the tempting looking vendors around the outside, and wait for it to be freshly cooked and delivered to your table. We recommend heading there with some buddies and doing ‘Thai tapas’, ordering several different dishes and everyone grabbing a bit. This is a popular place with locals as well as tourists, so you know they’re doing something right.
Hours of Operation: 17:00 – 23:00, Daily
Location: Chaweng Beach
Lamai Night Market, Lamai Center
A slightly different style of night market, Lamai is close to the Koh Samui version of Patpong so head here if you want to have a livelier time after your retail therapy is over! The market itself has plenty of the classics like pirated DVDs, t-shirts and flip-flops, but look closer and you’ll see plenty of local goods here too. This is a great place to buy cheap food if you’re in self-catering accommodation (why would you be, when the restaurants are so good though!). Check out the electronics section of the market for some ‘well-priced’ (not genuine!) Rolex and Cartier watches.
Hours of Operation: 17:00 – 00:00, Daily
Location: Lamai Center, Lamai
Enjoy the Night Market Experience of Koh Samui!
As with all markets in Thailand, don’t spend all your baht at the first stall you see offering an ‘unmissable’ bargain! If one stall is offering something then it’s a good bet that others will be in the market too, and this is not an experience to be rushed. Slow your pace and enjoy browsing the stalls at your own speed. Grab one, two or several plates of food and soak up the atmosphere. The night markets of Koh Samui are Thailand at its best.
It’s also important to note that Samui is one of Thailand’s best island getaways, but that also means it’s prone to flooding during rainy season. Read more about the seasons of Thailand here so you can plan your visit properly!
