Why should you go there and how do you do it right?

This is a market for shopping, not browsing. Locals come here to buy fish, shrimp, seafood and crab, mangoes, papayas and passion fruit, spices, herbs and flowers for a shrine. No one has tidied it up for visitors, and that's precisely why it's worth setting aside an hour in the morning. Reviewers describe it as lively, bustling, and fragrant—and they love it.

Arrive early. The doors open at 5:00 a.m. most days and 3:30 a.m. on Sundays, and by mid-morning the best seafood is already gone. Eat there, whether it's chicken and seafood skewers from the food stalls or the mango sticky rice that's frequently mentioned in reports about the place. The stalls selling dried seafood are worth a look, even if you don't intend to buy anything—just to see how much there is.

Anyone expecting a perfectly staged night market with strings of lights will be disappointed. The aisles are narrow, the smells are authentic, and the prices reflect what locals pay, not what tourists are charged.