Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok 2007
Well f*ck me if I wasn’t expecting The Chatuchak Weekend Market to be an insight into why organizations like P.E.T.A exist in the world today. I had never read much about the market just that it was one of the biggest and best in all of Asia for picking up all kinds of trinkets…little did I know it is basically one big animal market…like the evil puppy farms of Longford except with all sorts of rare and endangered species such as baby crocs, parrots etc… It’s about a month since I was there and it’s still hard not to feel for what those animals must be going through every weekend since.
You could see the desperation of this parrot as it constantly tried to break from its shackles…
Taking photos of most of the animals was not allowed; some people didn’t mind and even posed – the cage below housing a vast array of dogs…
I didn’t capture most of the worst scenes, especially the large number of older animals on sale…not just pups and kittens. Also seeing some of the pups, gleefully unaware of their surroundings just trying to be pups would be a strain on the harshest person…
We eventually managed to find some trinkets and the usual food stalls that we were expecting to come across…
Even after the endless maze of helplessly over cramped animals I had witnessed I was still shocked when I stumbled across a large gathering of people, huddled around and whopping like US soldiers after a successful incursion….
The object of this overwhelming glee? Two cocks fighting….Illegal in most countries and here in the middle of the day, in the middle of a crowded market…two cocks fighting for the amusement and “sport” of others. It was hard to see the sport in it…now I’m not one usually bothered by such things but the sheer enjoyment of some of the spectators was amazing.
Also, after getting some photos it was hard to see where they got this enjoyment…the actual “fight” itself consisted of two birds plucking feathers from each other…albeit a bit more frantic than that but visually there was nothing to be got by the sight. As a spectator “sport” and form of gambling – tossing a coin would be better served…still this is part of the culture no matter how hard it is to see the point in it and its still widespread in Ireland along with dog fighting…(now that’s a sport – a joke…my subscription to P.E.T.A weekly is in the post)
I stopped taking pictures after this one, after the small dog was perched up almost posing for a photo I asked permission from the “owner” and before I knew it she had him up by the neck trying to get him to pose. I had my photo and asked her to let him in peace…this was definitely no car boot sale in Knocktopher….
It seems a bit surreal looking back on it now as everything has returned to “normal” since we got to Australia…As crazy as something’s are in Thailand, its still not hard to be in love with the place…I don’t think I’ll bother with the Chatuchak the next time we are in Bangkok (unless I fancy a new pet) – for now that seems like a life time away, my only concerns now – attending a wedding on Sunday, sorting a job, enjoying Christmas and new years – all from the comfort of our new apartment in Perth. Oh how life has returned to the normal daily struggle