Nang Loeng Market

Nang Loeng opened in 1900 under Rama V, billed as the country's first market on land rather than on the water, and is among the oldest markets in Bangkok still operating on its original site, in a covered structure surrounded by wooden and early concrete shophouses. It is a food market rather than a general one, and its reputation is for khanom Thai - the traditional sweets made with coconut, palm sugar, rice flour, mung bean and, in the royal-derived ones, egg yolk - sold by families who have had the same stalls for generations, along with cooked rice-and-curry stalls that open at lunch and are gone by mid-afternoon. Nearby stands the Ban Nathasin, a shophouse where a family has taught khon masked dance and classical Thai dance for generations and still does. The neighbourhood is old inner Bangkok, largely residential; the name comes from i loeng, a Mon earthenware jar once traded by boat on the canal nearby, and in the middle of the market stands a shrine to Prince Abhakara, whose residence was close by. The market operates at lunchtime and is shut by late afternoon.

What you'll find

• The Thai sweets - khanom made by families with generations at the same stalls.
• The curry stalls - rice-and-curry at lunch, gone by mid-afternoon.
• The 1900 market - among the oldest still working on its original site.
• The dance house - Ban Nathasin, where classical dance is still taught.

When to go

November to February, at lunchtime - the market is a daytime operation and shuts by late afternoon. Two hours covers it.

Things to know

Shut by late afternoon and much reduced outside lunchtime. It is a working local market with almost no English. The dance house is a family school, not a performance venue.

Nearby

The Golden Mount and Wat Saket are a short walk south; Dusit is north.