I am having difficulty about the name of this flea market, is it Jalan Sultan Flea Market or Petaling Street Flea Market? Some people also called this place as a thieves market because they said many stolen item sold at this place. When I told a friend that I want to take pictures at this place, he advice me to be careful. He said that place are full of ah long, taiko and thieves. You cannot simply take picture without asking permission from people there. Maybe that why its a little bit hard to find story about it in any blog. That will be no problem because I always asked for permission when I want to take picture because I want to put it in my blog. I know some people are camera shy and some people don't want to show their face to the world. Every time I do my work, I always try to remember telling people, I am a blogger and will be sharing their story in my blog.
Pasar Karat Petaling Street located at the backlane of Petaling Street and not far from Jalan Sultan. It open everyday, started at around 6am and most of the sellers will be gone by 10am. According to Sifu Dickson Niew, at around 9.30am, DBKL (Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur) will be coming to that place. If they're still selling at the place, DBKL will seized their item. Sifu Dickson also confirm the name "Thieves Market". He said the market has been around for over 10 years and in the early days, the seller there sell in the early morning, just want to avoid police and enforcement. Many of them are theif and selling that stolen item at the flea market. Nowadays, many seller there selling 2nd hand item, some of them recycling old junk thrown by people in the garbage bin. The thieves market name already change to flea market.
It will not be hard to find the flea market.., just look for Petaling Street Signboard and you can find it at the back of the street. You can go there by PUTRA LRT (stop at Pasar Seni Station) or by using STAR LRT (stop at Plaza Rakyat Station). If you can find Petaling Street, you can also find this flea market. Just make sure you come early morning because some sellers already gone by 9am. Like any other flea market in Malaysia, the best day to visit is Sunday since all sellers will be there and many buyer are coming on Sunday.
I am advising girls to avoid coming to this flea market because it is crowded with guys. Make sure you don't bring any valuable thing or a lots of money because they're many pick pocket around. If you want to bargain, make sure you check your time. Some sellers already gone before 9am. If you want to buy silver coins, please make sure you know how to check for fake coins. Most of the banknotes has been cleaned and some old banknote has been given patch work. You also need to know market price for item that you want to buy. On my visit on 15 April 2012, I found only 5 sellers selling coins and banknotes.
Uncle Chow-Pasar Karat Petaling Street
One of coin and banknote sellers at the market is Uncle Chow, he has a lot of Malaysia old banknotes and give a reasonable price to his customer. To recognize uncle Chow, a friend told me to look for a Chinese guy with a table in the flea market. He is the only one selling coins and banknotes on a table that day. All the other sellers sell their coins and banknotes collection on a ground with other items. You can contact Uncle Chow at 017-6864223. On my visit that day, I saw he is selling old seratus ringgit, Sa-puloh ringgit, 5 and 10 dollars Malaya Queen Elizabeth, Japanese Invasion Money, 1 dollar kapal layar and many more collections. He said you can also contact him if you don't want to come to this flea market.
Here are some pictures what other sellers are offering that day:
Many sellers at this place are selling 2nd hand clothes especially jeans. You can also find antique and vintage items here for a bargain. Like this old National radio in the picture, the seller is selling it for RM25. He cannot promise me if the radio is working or not. If he can guarantee it is working, I maybe already grab it. All items are on sell at this market, you just need to look carefully and asked around.
Have you visit this Pasar Karat before? What item do you look for at this place?
