After filling our stomach with the famous
Pratunam Chicken Rice, it is time to visit some markets in Thailand!
Floating
market has been one of the major attraction in Bangkok, alongside with the
Buddha temples, city life with skyscrapers, the never sleep nightlife and the
forests of shopping malls. As Bangkok was developed within the perimeters of
Chao Phraya River initially, trades usually conducted via boats on rivers hence
led to the flourishing of floating markets. There is nowhere else in the world
that could offer you the experience of floating markets except Thailand.
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Amphawa Floating Market, Thailand |
We
contacted Mama Travel & Tour via facebook and within a short span of time
they replied and recommended us a few floating markets. Thanks to the peaking
of internet availability, we managed to obtain some foresight of the floating markets.
A tour package was offered to us for 700 baht – sightseeing to Mae Khlong
Railway Market, Amphawa Floating Market and firefly experience. We opted out
from the firefly trip as we thought there was no much exciting factor from it
and we were given a discount to 550 baht/pax. Payment could be done later when
we were at Bangkok.
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Mama Travel & Tour alongside Khaosan Rd., beside 7-11 |
Tel: 144 Khaosan Rd,
Bangkok, Thailand
Operation hours:
8:00am – 10:00pm
We were
told to wait at our hotel at 12:00pm and a van will come to pick us. Nevertheless,
the plan never materialized. The van never came nor were replies available from
the communication to Mama Tour via facebook. It was lucky that the hotel
receptionist kindly lend us the phone. Mama Tour directed us to go to their
office at Khaosan Road and they will offset the transportation fees from the
total bill as the driver forgot to come. Despite all the hiccups, we still
highly recommend Mama Tour for any future trips.
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Picture time |
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Mae Khlong Railway Market |
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Some sort of fish selling in the market |
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Mae Khlong Railway Station |
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The train just passing by inches from us |
It took
about an hour to arrive at the first destination – Mae Khlong Railway Market. It
is a much localized market selling local produces – food, vegetables, meat,
fruits and etc but their life as a seller is unusual. This is due to the train
passes by their stalls multiple times daily, just within barely inches from
them! They have to move their things away and close the canopies within minutes
after the train honking to prevent the train ramming to their products. It is
amazed to see how the locals are doing business in such an action packed market!
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A random wat (temple) nearby Mae Khlong Railway Station. Usually people will say a visit to Thailand must be complemented with a visit to a temple, there we go! |
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A random dog |
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Evening at Amphawa Floating Market |
We then
headed to Amphawa Floating Market as per our tour package. Situated at the
canal of Mae Khlong river, this authentic floating market only operate on
weekends evening. The wooden bridge or walkways alongside the canel are flocked
by local and tourists during the weekends.
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Eating by the river |
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A side market branching out from the Amphawa Floating Market, selling clothes, accessories etc |
There are
more than thousands of people flocking this weekend floating market, making it
essentially overcrowded and walking was somehow challenging. Nevertheless, this
was the atmosphere that we enjoyed. There are stalls alongside the wooden
bridge that sell varieties of souvenirs.
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Chocolate |
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Quill eggs |
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Pasport, anyone? |
You can
find almost anything from Thailand that you can think of here, except the
exotic food in Khaoshan road. We came with an empty stomach but leave with uber
full stomach.
Seafood
omelette Thai style, served with generous amount of bean sprout (35 baht)
Coconut
custard, both steamed and ovened (70 bath for 2)
Fish ball
in banana leaf (20 baht)
Pad Thai
(30 baht), no much surprise from this plate of Pad Thai
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The four types of seasoning provided |
Boat
noodles (20 baht), really small portion!
You could
practically spend hours here doing shopping if you are a serious buyer with so
many attention diverters for you to burn off your wallet.
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Night view of Amphawa Floating Market |
There are some
side activities here. You can hire a boat to experience a boat ride through the
river canals or do some firefly sightseeing in evening. If you plan to spend
your time here late, you can opt to stay overnight here. There are several
homestays available.
Operation
time: 3:00 – 10:00pm (Friday, Saturday and Sunday only)
Nevertheless,
recently funneling of tourists to the floating markets in Bangkok may have
altered the authenticity of floating markets here. Whether they were still the
origin floating markets that the Thais experienced in their past or it is more
tourists oriented now with inflated price, only Thais are able to tell you the
answer.
We then returned to
Khaosan Rd. after the tour has regrouped for those who went to firefly sightseeing.
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