I don’t want to leave you with the false impression that Bangkok is all about the fancy shops and world class bars. Like every metropolis it is a city of sharp contrast – next to the luxurious condominiums and office buildings coexist the street vendor roasting seafood skewers on charcoal grills, the lady with the manual foot-pedal powered sewing machine on the tiny sidewalk or the shoe repair man.
Exploring the streets and neighbourhoods that are off the beaten path is the best way to experience the local life. One of the first places where I head to as soon as I arrive in a new city is the local marketplace. It gives me immediately an honest and authentic flavor of the regional culture. And while a shopping mall or a restaurant could be anywhere in the world, the market atmoshpere is unique, unrepeatable and unparalleled.
Bangkok has a lot of wet markets and I have been to some of them. My favorite one is Klong Toey which is so far the one that has impressed me the most with its variety and unimaginable scenes. It is out of the radar of the tourist flow so if you decide to visit be prepared to have all eyes on you.
Klong Toey market is on Rama IV Road, easily reachable with MRT – Queen Sirikit National Convention Center stop.
*If you have a sensible heart skip the first half of the pictures*
**For those of you who see this post for the second time – accept my apologies, I wanted to save the draft yesterday but published it instead #likeapro
Klong Toey’s abundance
Ready-made vegetables, 0.30 usd each
Fresh fish
Sea snails
Meat stalls are my favorite
Spotted some rats this time
Intestine and other stuff that I’m not familiar with
Hm….pigs head skin
Sabai sabai
1/3 of the market is occupied by meat and fish stalls
The meat man
No waste
I was tempted to cut the mesh and set them free but since I was the only farang ( the thai word for westerner ) at the market I opted for maintaining a low profile
Before
After
Marinating the fish before grilling it
This is the fish from the previous picture
Their destiny is already decided
3 usd each
Ready to buy
Weighting the birds before they ….
Different types of rice
The art of happiness
Making raw vegetables spring rolls
Father and sons
Concentration
The girl has a cooling powder on her face
Little helper
Nothing inspires me to cook like this little aubergines
Thai people eat chili like we eat Doritos chips
A mountain of fresh ginger
Banana lady
Aiming perfection
Team work
Another sleepyhead
Grilled garlic and chili, looks so yummy
Little crabbies skewers
Even the turtles are part of the menu
Different types of lime
I see some little chickens/sparrows on the left
Eel?
Bananas anyone?
I found caterpillars in my red curry during my first week in Bangkok. It was in a quite westernized restaurant at Chong Nonsi so I couldn’t believe my eyes I and tried to convince myself that it was some kind of unknown vegetable. However, after seeing this at the market, I don’t have any doubts – I had actually ordered caterpillars!
Pineapples – usd 0.30 for 2
Drying the meat under the sun ( and the flies ) – tastes quite good actually and nothing happened to me after eating it
Lovely photos! I too, visited this marketplace and it was such an awesome experience. Seeing the lady skin the frogs was quite disturbing though.
Agree, there were a lot of disturbing views and I felt very sad while looking again at the photos but I guess this is the real life, at least at this latitude
Just a different way of life which I completely respect. Can’t wait to go back to Thailand. 🙂
Thanks for liking my post!
I came to see yours and I am also planning a trip to Thailand, Bangkok soon.
A lot of lively photos in here! I wouldn’t try the caterpillars though LOL
Bangkok has always been on my bucket list.
Thanks for sharing these amazing photos!
Love your pics… They are so alive…
Thank you, Santosh!
This article is amazing!!!
The photos are so impressive!!!
Congrats for your reports!!!???
I fell in love with Bangkok and Thailand in general!
Hope to be back very soon.
Love your pictures come and check out my blog too 🙂
http://www.jenniferbachdim.com
Lovely photos! I too, visited this marketplace and it was such an awesome experience. Seeing the lady skin the frogs was quite disturbing though.
Agree, there were a lot of disturbing views and I felt very sad while looking again at the photos but I guess this is the real life, at least at this latitude
Just a different way of life which I completely respect. Can’t wait to go back to Thailand. 🙂
Thanks for liking my post!
I came to see yours and I am also planning a trip to Thailand, Bangkok soon.
A lot of lively photos in here! I wouldn’t try the caterpillars though LOL
Bangkok has always been on my bucket list.
Thanks for sharing these amazing photos!
Make me hungry
Gonna be there soon (^_^)/
Be sure not to go too late ?