Markets in Koh Samui
Samui's markets run on a weekly timetable, and that is the single most useful thing to know about them. Four markets, four different evenings, spread around the island — so the question is not which one to visit but which one is on while you are here.
The weekly timetable
- Friday — Fisherman's Village Walking Street, at Bophut
- Sunday — Lamai Night Market
- Thursday — Maenam Walking Street
- Every evening — Chaweng Night Market
Fisherman's Village Walking Street
Friday evenings at Bophut, and the best of the four. The old street closes to traffic and fills with handicrafts, clothing, jewellery and a very good spread of food, with the sea at the end of it. Busy, and worth being busy.
Lamai Night Market
Sundays, smaller than Bophut's and more relaxed. Clothing, accessories, local snacks and cocktails in a friendly, unpolished setting. The most enjoyable to eat at.
Chaweng Night Market
Open every evening near the main tourist strip, which makes it the fallback when nothing else is running. Grilled seafood, pad thai and mango sticky rice, plus cheap clothing and souvenirs.
Maenam Walking Street
Thursdays, on the quiet north coast, and the least touristed of the four. Food stalls, handmade goods and local products, at a pace that suits the village around it.
What to buy
- Thai silk scarves and sarongs
- Handmade jewellery and craft
- Spices, soaps and herbal products
- T-shirts and island wear
Practical notes
- They open in the late afternoon and get busy after six
- Bring cash — card acceptance at stall level is rare
- Bargaining is normal, and a smile does more than persistence
- Come hungry; at three of the four the food is the reason to go
What the food is like
Market food is the best value on Samui and, at Lamai and Bophut, some of the best food full stop. Grilled meat and seafood, noodle dishes made to order, curries by the ladleful, som tum pounded in front of you, and coconut ice cream to finish. Two people can eat properly for less than a single main course at a beach restaurant.
Getting there and back
Only Chaweng's market is walkable from a main tourist beach. The others need a scooter or a taxi, and it is worth agreeing the return as well as the outward journey — a market that ends at ten leaves a lot of people looking for the same ride at once.
A note on the Friday market
Fisherman's Village fills up, and the street is narrow. Arriving at six rather than eight gets you a table and room to walk, and the atmosphere is no worse for it.
What else is worth knowing
The markets are also the cheapest place on the island to buy anything practical — sun cream, a hat, a phone cable, a bag you forgot to pack. Prices are a fraction of the resort shops and the quality is usually the same thing from the same supplier. If you have arrived missing something, wait for market night rather than buying it at the hotel.
Timing your week around them
Because each market runs on its own evening, a week on Samui can be built around them: Thursday at Maenam, Friday at Bophut, Sunday at Lamai, and Chaweng for whatever is left over. It is a genuinely good way to see four different parts of the island without planning anything else.