Mae Klong, Thailand –
“When you hear the horn, get away from the tracks.”
Not exactly the words you expect to hear when visiting a market.
I mean, what you expect to hear about is what you might find at this market that you might not at a different one.
You know, regional specialties, or other things that set one apart from another.
And that is exactly what we are hearing about.
What sets this market apart from the others around the country.
Maybe the world.
The tracks.
See, this is not your normal market that you’ll find in every village throughout the country.
Well, it is, but it’s not.
What sets this one apart from the others is that it is built along the train tracks.
I mean, right up to the train tracks.
On both sides.
It provides a natural aisle along the middle of the market that you can wander down, examining the goods for sale on either side.
Right up until the moment you hear the horn.
Or not, as the case may be.
I know I never heard it until it would have been too late to react.
But the people who have their stalls here heard it.
Or they have the best sense of timing I’ve ever seen.
Because about thirty seconds or so before the train came through, the vendors all stopped their haggling and began pulling their stalls back from the tracks.
And that was my clue that it was time to find someplace to stand away from the tracks.
And then, less than two seconds after the train had passed, everything was back in place and it was as if the train had never come through.
And then, about a half-hour or so later, maybe an hour, they did it all again as the train passed through going the other direction.
After all, this was the end of the track, with the train station across the road from the market.
The train had no choice but to go back through.
Once it had disgorged all of its passengers and taken on new ones.
And the market had no choice but to deal with the train coming through.
Now, I know there are factors that go into picking a spot to establish a market in any particular town.
It needs to be centrally located, easily accessed, plenty of space for vendor stalls, etc. etc.
And I don’t know the particulars of how this one ended up in this space.
Or when that happened.
It just seems odd that this would be the location where it was established.
Of course, it was probably some unintentional reason that it grew up here.
After all, there is a large part of the market inside, away from the tracks, with lots of vendor stalls in it.
Maybe that was the original market, until it grew too large, and someone set up their stall just outside, on the side of the tracks.
And then another.
And another.
And things just grew from there.
After all, it was available, with just enough space on either side of the tracks for stalls to go in.
But that’s all just speculation on my part. I don’t know any of the facts of how this got started.
But it has adapted well.
As you walk down the aisle…
Sorry, the tracks…
Looking to either side, you notice that all of the tables that are close to the tracks are on rails of their own, so they can quickly and easily be pulled back away from the tracks.
And then rolled back into place just as easily.
And the awnings over the stalls are all cloth awnings that are easily pulled in and let back out.
And any goods that are on the ground and can fit under the train undisturbed are left in place.
No need to move them around.
So, the act of pulling a stall away from the tracks takes a few seconds at most.
And just as few to push it back out to continue conducting business.
And this is very much a regular town market, with lots of food stuffs for sale.
We’re talking raw, or as close to raw as possible, as you can get.
This is where you do you shopping for the day, buying fresh ingredients for whatever meals you are planning on preparing later that day.
There is very little here that is for sale to tourists.
I mean, yes, there are some tourists here.
After all, we’re here.
But we’re very much in the minority.
The vast majority of the shoppers here look like they’re probably locals.
Some it’s hard to tell.
That means this market isn’t located here to draw in the tourists.
It was probably established in this location without that as a consideration.
So, it was most likely started, and grew, organically.
Maybe stall space along the tracks was cheaper than in the buildings.
Maybe there was not enough room in the buildings.
Whatever was the reason, it’s here now, and has been for some time.
And probably will be for some time to come.
So, at this point, it doesn’t matter why the market is here.
It just is.
So watch out for the train, or rather, pay attention to the people around you. And when you see the stalls pulling back, whether you hear the horn or not, get away from the tracks.
After all, I’m sure getting hit by the train is probably bad for business.
Not to mention your health.
For more photos of the market in Mae Klong, click here.
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