The vendors on the street sell cheap copied products made in China or Burma and not true Thai handicrafts. One example is lacquer ware. The high-quality lacquer-ware houses of Chiang Mai today still apply at least seven coats of lacquer to each piece and allow approximately 1 week between coatings for drying. The lacquer ware sold by vendors is very cheap and painted with sprayed-on lacquer ware paint.

Remember, you get what you pay for. If you want T-shirts, knockoff designer brands, or imitation handicrafts, the Night Bazaar vendors have what you need. For high-quality handicrafts, textiles, shoes, and clothing at great prices compared to prices in your home country, go to the shops inside the Night Bazaar building.

When it comes to bargaining, there are a few things to remember. Asians do not like to lose face, which is very important; however, they don’t want you to lose face either. Here is how to bargain so no one loses face.

You first ask, "How much?" for an item. The vendor will come back with a price and you say, "Too much," and they will come back with a 20% lower price. You offer about 50% lower than the second price they gave you. They will smile and probably say nothing. This means they know what you are doing. After a few seconds, they will come back with a price around 20% lower again. You then put out a price 40% lower. They come back with maybe 25% lower. You go 30% lower and hold. They will most likely sell it to you. This way, you can get the item at the 50% discount you wanted, but they do not lose face - and neither do you.

Try to make purchases all from the same shop or vendor and you can get the price even lower. Do not pay for your items one at a time. Set your first purchase aside, then bargain for a few more items. Put all your items together and ask, "How much for all these?" When the salesperson gives you a price, make an offer for 10% lower. If they say no, start taking items off your pile and act like you just want to purchase just the first item you bargained for. Nine times out of ten they will say okay to your 10% additional discount.

The market operates daily although does change a little in scale and produce each day so its worth a second visit if you’re after normal day to day stuff and couldn’t find it first time round. That aside it’s the tourist stuff remains the same each day and is often cheaper than the markets in Bangkok, especially if you wait till the market is nearing closing time.

On offer were the usual array of fake watches, from Rolex to Timex, I’m told that the Rolex ones are most likely to fail as their mechanisms are more complex, if you get a watch with basic functions then the forgers will put in a standard mechanism so it should last a lot longer.

One of the best things we found that wasn’t available elsewhere were hand painted oriental fans, there was a standard array of designs but also the artists would put together a design for you using your preferred colours etc, all to be ready next day although they expected a little more cash for such a service. If you were going on a hilltribe trek then they would have it ready in a few days and the price would be lower.

Daytime shopping wasn’t nearly as good and equated to the standard shops you would find on the main streets back home although it was possible to get a suit made in 24hours if you wanted to.

Near the tables was a stage where traditional Thai dances were performed every night. There is no charge to watch, and is great for dinner entertainment. At 9pm inside the same building was a Thai kickboxing (Muai Thai) exhibition. We were told it was free so we went to watch. It is free to watch, but in order to sit down, you have to purchase at least a beverage. We waited about a half hour, but since there weren’t enough spectators yet, the match didn’t start. We got tired of waiting and being stalked by the waitor, so we left. The fighters were just teenagers anyway, so I wasn’t sure if I wanted to watch.

Outside all of the exits of the building and on all surrounding streets, there are countless vendors of countless different wares set up in small boothes. We had seen similar boothes in Bangkok, but the sellers in Chiang Mai were ruthless. They applied more pressure than we had seen in Bangkok. The prices also seemed higher, so make sure to bargain hard at the Night Bazaar. It is expected, and just remember that they will not accept a price if they are not making a profit. So do not feel guilty if you think you paid too little for something – you didn’t. They will also tell you stories and use guilt… don’t fall for it. You will hear the same things over and over and eventually become immune. But DO try to look past these tactics and chat with the vendors. They are all just very nice people trying to make a living. They do quite well actually – many have nice cell phones and cool clothes.

My best advice on shopping and bargaining is that as long as you are happy paying a certain price for something, do not worry if you could have gotten it cheaper or not. In fact, there is about a 100% chance that you could have gotten it cheaper, so it’s not worth fretting about it. Also, try to save your shopping until the end of your trip – you will have a better idea of approximately what you should pay for things. And often you will see the same items over and over. Unless you think something is truly unique, you will see it again later.