It is a town within a city with its own shops, restaurants, casino, entertainment companies and such services as a hairdresser’s, airplane tickets to Asian countries, etc. It is not surprising that the market hall has been nicknamed Prague’s Hanoi or Little Hanoi.
It is a wholesale market where only those who have a trade licence can shop. This is, however, only an official version. When you enter the market through its back entrance, nobody will ask you to present your trade licence. Goods in the market are extremely diverse and you can buy things that you will not see in any ordinary Vietnamese shop, as the goods are mainly destined to the Vietnamese. It is without doubt a great place for culinary experts. However, SAPA market hall is frequently targeted for police checks, as the place is full of forged goods imported from Asia. For instance last year, there were several checks during which the police confiscated fakes for millions of crowns, amongst these three thousand caps with emblems of sports clubs and car makes. The damage was determined as one million crowns. Customs and police officers also confiscated fake watches, hand bags, sun glasses and shoes amounting to one and a half million crowns. Just a few weeks after the operation focusing on watches, custom officers discovered 2, 500 garments and accessories for almost seven million crowns. These were hand bags, wallets, leather and textile belts and phone strings. In September 2007, the police intervened twice in the market due to drugs. Three kilos of marihuana were found, even though it was just a random check of cars going out of the market. The National Antidrug Central Office called one of its long-term operations SAPA, which was probably not a coincidence. Since there is a very high concentration of people under one roof, criminality is a common phenomenon. From time to time, the police also have to investigate a murder there, which is often very complicated. However, the fact is that Czech visitors have never had serious problems in the market.