Nang Loeng Market

Nang Loeng opened in 1899 under Rama V 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, and has been under long-running threat of redevelopment. The market operates at lunchtime and is shut by late afternoon.

What you actually see

• 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 1899 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.

Honest expectations

Shut by late afternoon and much reduced outside lunchtime. It is a working local market with almost no English. The neighbourhood has faced redevelopment pressure for years. 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.