Nakhon Chum Old Town Market

Nakhon Chum Old Town Market sets up along a roughly 200-metre pedestrian stretch at the Nakhon Chum intersection in Kamphaeng Phet — but only on the first Friday, Saturday and Sunday of each calendar month, from around 16:00. It’s free to enter, and it’s easy to mistime: this isn’t a weekly weekend market, despite how it’s sometimes described.

Vendors set up bamboo stalls dressed in traditional Thai clothing, selling local food cooked to order alongside handmade crafts — bamboo and palm-leaf weaving is the main local specialty, along with regional snacks and dishes specific to Nakhon Chum. It’s a small, community-run event aimed at keeping local heritage and trade going rather than a big commercial night market, so expect a modest scale compared to old-town markets in bigger provincial capitals.

The atmosphere is unhurried. Wooden shophouses along the old intersection give the street a period feel once the stalls and lanterns are up, and because it only runs three days a month, it tends to draw mostly locals and regional visitors rather than tour groups.

Nakhon Chum itself has real history behind the retro theming — it sits on the west bank of the Ping River opposite Kamphaeng Phet town, and was a significant city in its own right during the Sukhothai period, recorded as one of the kingdom’s royal satellite towns. Excavations in the area have turned up Sukhothai-era pottery, weapons and traces of an old military camp, and the district falls within the same UNESCO World Heritage listing as the Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai historical parks. The market’s old-town styling is a nod to that history, even though the stalls themselves are a modern community event.

Insider Tip: Since it only opens once a month, check the Kamphaeng Phet Tourism and Sports Office’s Facebook page for that month’s confirmed dates before you travel — community markets like this occasionally shift or skip a month.

Watch out: Don’t plan a trip assuming this is open “most weekends.” If your dates don’t line up with the first Friday-Sunday of the month, the street will be a normal quiet intersection with nothing set up.

Pair a visit with Kamphaeng Phet Historical Park nearby — see the Sukhothai-era ruins during the day, then time your arrival at the market for the evening. Wat Phra Borommathat Chediyaram, Nakhon Chum’s own old temple, sits in the same subdistrict and is an easy add-on. For more on the area, see the Kamphaeng Phet destination guide.