Not just an ordinary flea market, but a community’s way of life
Jabangtigor which, in Malayu language, means tri-section. It is not just an open-air flea market wellknown for its inexpensive and secondhand products. It is also an old town of Pattani province where an old palace of the former sultan of Pattani, a masjid or mosque and a royal graveyard are located. The graveyard itself dated back to hundreds of years.
As far as the flea market is concerned, its history dated back to three decades ago. It is situated opposite the foot of the Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn bridge. For outsiders who are not familiar with the market, in order to find it one could start at the city’s clock tower, turning into Kla Por road next to My Garden hotel through to Rong Ang road which runs parallel to Pattani river and then crossing the bridge to the other side of the bridge. And there it is.
Jabangtigor flea market opens two days a week – Monday and Thursday from 6 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. The market is often crowded with both vendors and shoppers who come looking for bargain articles of all sorts, especially secondhand clothes and other articles. In a way, it is not just an ordinary market in its true sense. It is also the community’s way of life.
Unfortunately though, this popular flea market will soon become a history after the Pattani municipality has served an order to all the vendors to move out by the end of March. According to the municipality, the reason is that there have been many complaints by residents and commuters alike that the flea market blocks the road causing traffic congestion.
The flea market will be relocated to a new market place on Yarang road where the fresh market vendors who were earlier told to move out of Jabangtigor market are also to be resettled there.
Many vendors at the flea market are not happy with the relocation. One of them, Mr Baepa, a secondhand clothes vendor, said he has been in the market selling secondhand goods for more than 15 years. He admitted that several shoppers had stopped visiting the market because of the recent surge of violence. But the vendors’ removal to a new market was worse, he said.
He challenged the municipality’s claim that there have been many complaints against the flea market. “It is held only twice a week and only just half a day so there should not be any problem for the residents there to leave their homes to work in the morning,” he added.
Baepa insisted that Jabangtigor flea market is not just an ordinary market, but a way of life for people in the community. “Take for example among we, the vendors. We buy goods from one another. I buy fresh food when I go home every day whereas the fresh food vendors also buy clothes from me. We have co-existed in this manner for a long time and now the municipality wants to change our way of life.
He claimed that the new market was built some time ago but it was not popular with the vendors “so the municipality people forced us to move there.”
Mrs Kana, a secondhand shoe vendor, said she wanted to plead with the municipality to allow them to stay on in the flea market because she has been there for so many years. She also claimed that she had never heard people complaining against the flea market.
A regular shopper at the flea market, Mr Abdulloh Salae, admitted it would be a great pity if the flea market was to be relocated to elsewhere as it has been there for more than 30 years.
A resident in the area, meanwhile, admitted that it was quite busy and the residents who own a car would have to leave home earlier on Mondays and Thursdays when flea market were held. But he insisted that they were used to it and treated it as normal.
Mr Pitak Korkiatpitak, the mayor, insisted that the flea market disturbed residents in the area and there had been many complaints against the vendors.
“The vendors have been asking for a reprieve all along and we agreed with it. But this time around they promised to move out at the end of March,” he said.
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Photos by Abdullah Wangni