While Bangkok is famed for its awesome food and cheap shopping, one of the most popular places to shop at is definitely the Chatuchak weekend market. This old market is famous around the world and every weekend, you can expect it to be thronged with tourists and locals alike.
Source: Wattana Place
If you have been there, you would know very well that Chatuchak is crazily big, with about 15,000 vendors currently in its 27-acre area. Every weekend, the huge market attracts about 200,000 to 300,000 visitors who are excited to score a bargain or just to soak in the local culture.
However, it can be super easy to get lost inside, seeing that it is immensely huge and it feels exactly like you’re wandering in a maze. Taking this into consideration, the State Railway of Thailand and Siam Commercial Bank have decided to partner up and develop a mobile app that will allow shoppers to navigate the market easily. Yay! No more getting lost!
Source: Plan, Save, Travel
According to Thai News, the app can also be used by vendors for stock management and to receive payments using the government’s PromptPay system. The app is already available for download but it will only be officially launched in November, as the developers are still ironing out glitches, Pattaya One reports.
The cool mobile app will incorporate features such as allowing visitors to find certain shops, learn more about promotions happening in the market, save the stores you love to ‘favourites’ and see where you are exactly in the market. Which means you can find shops with those fashionable clothes anytime!
Source: La Carmina
The app is available in three languages, namely Thai, English and Mandarin as it is aimed at international tourists as well. Although there are currently only 50 of the 15,000 vendors on board the app, they expect to be able to increase the usage of the app and revolutionise the market.
A quick check through the App Store and Google Play shows that there are a few Chatuchak navigation apps already available, but they don’t seem to have been updated for quite some time.
Now, we don’t have to get lost when we embark on an epic shopping spree in Chatuchak!
Also read: 7-Eleven in Bangkok Now Offers Freshly-Cooked Omelettes!
