Railroad Market

Full recovery from what I’ll call the “Celine Hangover” came on Sunday; Jenna and I decided to venture out to a Thai market in Thai fashion. We wandered to the end of the street where we hailed a song-toew (a pickup truck you sit in the back off that takes you from place to place). The song-toew dropped us off in the town of Samut Sahkon next to the ferry which we took across the river. We arrived in a charming town called Maha Chai where we strolled the alleyways getting friendly stares before arriving at the railway station. The railway station is one track with one commuter train line, traveling from Maha Chai to Mae Klong, where the infamous Railroad Market is (round trip: 38 baht, or a little over a dollar). I loved the train ride. The train itself looked and felt like it had been around the tracks a while. With no air conditioning the windows were all rolled down, allowing a nice breeze and an uninterrupted view of the picturesque Asian countryside. Highlights included droves of beautiful birds flying from rice field to rice field and huge trees sitting snug in the muck of the swamp.

No one but the Thais would ever dream of setting up a market on the tracks of an active railway station, let alone a food market. I can understand how no one would care if a train runs over the t-shirts you are selling (they can pump out replaces in the sweat shops in a jiffy) but when a train runs over the produce and fish I’m going to be a little hesitant to eat said fish. This is not an issue for the Thais. The train runs on time to the same schedule everyday. When it’s time, the vendors lift up their awnings and pull back their crates and tables, wait for the train to pass, then move everything back into place. I’m having trouble adequately explaining just how absurd this really is.

Like all Thai markets it is crammed quarters. You wander down the tracks underneath awnings to choose your poison for the day. No bell goes off, no lights start blinking, but all of the sudden there is a lazy bustle of movement to lift up the awnings and either move the food back, cover it with something or just let it be. Down comes the train, huffing away and as soon as it’s past you turn around and see everything almost perfectly back in its right place.

Roaming through the market was interesting. Not much for Jenna and I to buy but I did survive the rape of my nasal cavities by the most foul of stenches ever to float around on a soft breeze. The most perfect smell of putrefaction and filth and it stayed inside my nose as the most unwelcomed visitor for a few long seconds. Just horrible. Never did find the culprit. You could find fish of all shapes and sizes, intestines, meat, little girls playing with raw meat, flowers, fish and pig heads and toys. It was an eclectic group.  My favorite was the barrels of blue crabs. We wandered through quite a bit of the market and then stepped aside to let the train slowly roll through. Yet another wonder of Thailand. 

Notice the flies on the intestines. Delicacy.