An abbreviated Naklua “walking street” market returns Jan. 6, with food, shopping and entertainment every weekend, as well as the usual traffic and parking hassles.
Running Saturdays and Sundays from 4-10 p.m. between the Naklua Police Box to the Naklua Bridge, the night market enters its ninth year and will run through Feb. 25.
The “Walk & Eat” market features hundreds of booths offering fresh seafood, locally made goods and other souvenirs. The area is turned into a “walking street” to lure tourists to Pattaya’s bedroom community in an attempt to show off the fishing village’s cultural heritage.
As it does every year, the market sparks tremendous traffic and congestion. But 2016-17’s expansion to 12, from the previous eight, pushed some area residents over the edge, inspiring a concerted push to kill the event this year.
It didn’t work, but the residents did get some concession, as Walk & Eat was scaled back to seven weeks this year.
