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2023 Travel Update: As of 2023, Malaysia essentially is open for tourism by both vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers without Covid-specific documentation or testing. However, be sure to double check the official government site and travel alerts for up-to-the minute details.

Chow Kit — named after Loke Chow Kit, a 19th century Chinese merchant who owned a variety of businesses in the area including everything from a well-known department store to gambling joints and opium dens — remains the present day home of a cluster of local pasars. These markets include the interconnected Chow Kit Pasar and Chow Kit Bazaar Baru, commonly considered to be the largest local market in the city.

Unlike Jalan Petaling and Kasturi Walk — which are patronised almost exclusively by tourists — the markets in Chow Kit very much are intended for a local audience with vendors hawking everything from cheap clothes, costume jewelry, and mobile accessories to fruit, veggies, spices, and heaps upon heaps of meat and fish.

Chow Kit did show up in the top 75 or so attractions on the big tourist advisory sites at the time that travelgasm.com first wrote this piece — and there have long been a smattering of basic hostels and guesthouses in the area — but the vast majority of tourists never make it to the neighbourhood. It's not for everyone, but if you want to see Kuala Lumpur beyond the glitz and glam of the shopping malls in Bukit Bintang and KLCC, Chow Kit is a good first step toward leaving the tourist trail. Accordingly, we think Chow Kit is a worthy addition to our 7 Things Tourists Don't Do in Kuala Lumpur, but You Should.

Stay Safe in Chow Kit

Chow Kit has a well-deserved reputation for being a rough area. Fifteen years or so ago, some reportedly considered it even too dangerous for the police to patrol regularly. Back streets can remain the turf of organised crime and much of the area still is considered an unofficial red light district often staffed by transvestite prostitutes (maknyah), but following more recent efforts both by the police and the community itself to reduce street crime and drug use, the district is not as bad as it once was. These days, the main street — Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman — shows little evidence of the unseemly.

Nevertheless, now is a good time to remind you that travelgasm.com, and the author thereof, are not legally responsible for you in any way in Chow Kit or elsewhere — and you always should be vigilant about your safety and not wear or carry expensive items — but if you visit Chow Kit in the morning and stick to the main streets and the markets, the risk of pickpockets or other trouble striking an observant visitor likely only is modestly higher than Bukit Bintang. Pickpockets go to work in Bukit Bintang; Chow Kit very well could be where they sleep.

Shop & Eat in Chow Kit

Cheap local shopping in the Chow Kit Pasar and Chow Kit Bazaar Baru markets are the primary appeal of the district. However, there are no shortage of eateries, as well.

To eat in Chow Kit, there is a small food court toward the north side of the Chow Kit Bazaar Baru where we enjoyed simple Penang-style char koay teow (noodles) on one visit. Three locally well-regarded places near main streets that you also might enjoy for lunch or a snack include Mohd Yaseen for Indian Muslim food, Kin Kin for chilli pan mee (noodles), and Sin Hwa Bee for traditional Chinese pastries and cookies.

Below, we've mapped out the best walk from the Chow Kit Monorail station to the local markets.

How to Get Here: Take KL Monorail (Line 8, Light Green) to Chow Kit (MR10). To follow our suggested walk, take the West Exit (toward Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman; opposite side of the street from the markets) and head down the passage to the left. Instead of dealing with the unpleasant intersection under the monorail station, this route makes it easy to cross Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman via a people-only overpass in about a block.

travelgasm.com's Chow Kit Map (Full Screen)

Cities > Kuala Lumpur > Kuala Lumpur Overlooked 7 > Next: (2) Eat the Baru... >>

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