Bangkok Day 3: Life-Risking Train Market in Maeklong

Hi, it's Jean, and allow me to share with you our long-overdue Bangkok, Thailand trip. Check my previous blogs here:

• Bangkok Day 1: Ancient City, Three-Headed Elephant, and Coconut Coffee
• Bangkok's Ancient City Video Tour
• Erawan Museum
• Bam Nam Phueng Floating Market
• The Berkeley Hotel Breakfast Buffet
• The Berkeley Hotel Pratunam Room Tour
• Bangkok Day 2: Ramakien Murals and Grand Palace Garden
• Bangkok Day 2: Strolling Through Icon Siam
• Bangkok Day 2: Late Dinner and then Rain at the Chao Praya Princess River Cruise

After the river cruise, I stopped having high expectations for this Bangkok trip. On our third day, we had a full-day tour to three destinations, or so I thought. On one of our Grab rides, one driver was super friendly and asked if we wanted to have a van rental as he got one. I found him very friendly, and so I said yes. He was great and was following up, giving me updates that the van and the driver will be there at this time. I appreciated his initiative.

I was making sure there were no additional costs, as it was super cheap to rent a van in Bangkok. If my memory serves me right, it was just around a thousand in Philippine pesos. So we grabbed the opportunity, and after our buffet breakfast, we waited for the driver at the lobby. He did arrive on time, and the van was good; he even provided free water bottles for us.

Now, this tour's itinerary was:

We were all excited as it was still very early, eight in the morning, and we were on the road. There was no traffic, and according to my research, the floating market would be great to visit in the morning. According to our driver, we will take an hour to get there.

But this part here was something that we regretted agreeing to - the driver said we needed to go to a place as part of their tourism program, and we were brought to a jewelry shop!

But this was an ordinary one because it was the world's largest jewelry store according to their website. They have a gallery of special stones inside glass frames. These were just some of them:

We had no plans to buy one, but we were quite interested as we were given an opportunity to watch them make the jewelry; there were men on the tables, and they were polishing and making the pendants, etc. We took our time, and we almost forgot that this was not part of the plan. We checked, tried some bracelets, rings, and went from one section to another, checking prices and all, and poof, almost two hours were lost.

Getting out of the Gems Gallery, we even got some souvenirs like balms, ref magnets, as we got a little shy going out without buying anything. We just realized it was already too late for us to get to the train, but the driver said we would be fine. Trains depart from the station at 6.20 a.m., 9.00 a.m., 11.30 a.m., and 3.30 p.m. We could still reach 11:30 AM.

The driver drove fast and was able to reach the Maeklong Railway Market just in time. The train was just at the railway station and was about to go. The main attraction here is how the market would make way for the train to pass by. Surprisingly, there were so many people around, mostly Koreans. We also bought young coconuts as we were thirsty. Thailand has tasty coconut juice.

Here are some images of the Maeklong Station:

Souvenir shop

One of the restaurants, best seller was their young coconut of course!

Empty Maeklong station

My little one enjoying his very own buko

Train ready to go!

Shops opening their roofs to make way of the train.

Then, as the train moved, we followed. I almost missed seeing the market's makeshift covers move to make way for the train. Vendors at the market put out parasols or canvas to protect themselves against the sun. The shelters stick into the railway where visitors walk and do their shopping. When each signal of the arriving train rings, chaos happens: vendors will rush to close their parasols and canvas, along with clearing all goods that will obstruct the coming train at great speed. Once the train passes, parasols and canvas will be reopened as goods are again put into their usual place next to the railroad.

The train has been operating for over 100 years. It started back in the year 1901. In 1984, there were some improvements made to the market area, which made the vendors move their stalls closer to the railway tracks. This is commonly called Siang Tai or life-risking Market.

Check the video here:

All the commotion happened so fast, we ended up buying some souvenirs again here. We took a lot of time, asking for discounts, choosing dresses, tops, and bottoms for our loved ones, that we didn't realize it was late in the afternoon, and our kids were already hungry. We were back at our van by around 12:30 PM instead. Unfortunately, it was now too late for the floating market, but we still wanted to push through.

On our way to where the van was waiting, we took a few photos; these images resemble those of Colon, Cebu. What do you think?

Kindly stay tuned, and will continue with our two remaining locations to visit.

J U N E B R I D E
_{Boholana | Cebu | Philippines | Travel | Photography Enthusiast | Calligraphy | Art
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