Or Tor Kor Market
CNN ranked this Kamphaeng Phet Road market fourth-best fresh market in the world in 2017, and it is where Bangkok buys its showpiece fruit, including kanyao, the long-stem durian that sells by the single fruit for thousands of baht.
Why go
Mark Wiens calls it "not your average market" and "in a class of its own when it comes to quality," and the quality is the whole pitch: vendors here sell the top grade of everything, from Nam Dok Mai mangoes to curry pastes to seafood on ice. CNN's list described it as "immaculate and brightly lit, allowing shoppers to easily cruise for seafood, sweets and cooked foods." A prepared-food aisle turns the ingredient run into lunch, with khanom buang crepes at pocket change and rice-and-curry plates around 70B at Wiens's visit.
Order this / avoid
- Order: Jeff's fruit run: mango, longan, and kanyao long-stem durian, sold in 150-300B packets in season per Wiens. Add a papaya salad and grilled chicken at Som Tam Or Tor Kor inside the market.
- Avoid: buying a whole kanyao on impulse; single fruits run 3,000B and up, so taste from a packet first. And calibrate your wallet, since this is the premium market and prices sit well above street level.
What locals & experts say
- CNN, World's best fresh markets (2017, via Coconuts Bangkok): fourth of ten worldwide;
immaculate and brightly lit, allowing shoppers to easily cruise for seafood, sweets and cooked foods.
1 - Mark Wiens, Migrationology:
in a class of its own when it comes to quality,
though he notes itlacks that nitty gritty and fast pace of other local Thai markets.
3
Good to know
- Timing: daily, roughly 8:30am to 5pm; go morning for the full fruit display.
- Booking: walk-in; bring cash and an appetite for samples.
- Getting there: MRT Kamphaeng Phet exit 3 opens straight into it, directly across from Chatuchak weekend market, so pair the two on a Saturday or Sunday.
Jeff's take (his words)
- The note: Massive market; go get some thai fruit. Mango, longan, kanyao – the long stem durian.
Verdict
should-visit — The city's quality benchmark for produce, ranked fourth-best fresh market in the world by CNN in 2017, and the one place to taste kanyao durian, premium mangoes, and longan in a single aisle. For a cook it reads like a walkable catalog of Thai ingredients with a prepared-food row attached. Across the road from Chatuchak weekend market, so the detour costs nothing on a Saturday.