damian1

Day 20 of my Thailand trip. And it is already the last day before I fly back to the Netherlands. What a trip it has been, and what I have been able to see a lot of beautiful Thailand in these three weeks.

To get the most out of the last day, I booked a day trip on the advice of family and friends who have been to Thailand before. This time I booked tour to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market & Maeklong Railway Market.

The start of the tour

The day started early, because the tour operator would pick me up from the hotel around 6:15 AM. Before I would be picked up, I wanted to stop by the 7 Eleven to do some shopping for the day.

After I had done some shopping I quickly walked back to the hotel. The tour operator would pick me up at any time. To my surprise, I was not picked up by a minivan, but a taxi was waiting for me. The taxi would drop me off at Khaosan Road, from where the day tour would start.

Khaosan Road

I arrived on Khaosan road around 6:30 AM, pretty early for me personally. But also very cool to see the peace on this normally so crowded street with tourists and partygoers. This is what Khaosan Road in Thailand is known for. It is the central place where most backpackers gather in Thailand.

Khaosan Road - Bangkok, Thailand.

As you can see from the picture, the Thai workers started their working day early. During my trip they were working hard to completely renovate the road surface of this popular street. And of course there is no better time to do this than early in the morning when the last revelers have just left the street.

Khaosan Road

After waiting about 30 to 45 minutes, the mini bus full of tourists finally arrived to pick me up for the tour. This bus was already completely full, so I had the luck of the place next to the sliding door. This is where you have the most legroom, which is something I can use well with my height of 1.94 meters (6 feet 4, I'm guessing).

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

The drive to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market took approximately 1.5 hours. The Floating Market in Damnoen Saduak is located just over 100 kilometers outside of Bangkok and is on the agenda for many tourists and visitors to the Thai capital. The market is known for the traders who sell everything from fruits, vegetables, Thai treats and souvenirs.

Picture I took at the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

The destination is known as a unique experience, but in my opinion it was anything but unique. It was mainly a meeting point for tourist. The market is very busy and it does not feel authentic at all.

After arriving at the market we were led to a vendor where we still had to buy a ticket for one of the longtail boats. If you wouldn't buy a ticket for this boat, the whole unique aspect of this journey would have disappeared. The boat trip was a tour through the canals, where the only goal was to sell you products.

The Thai people were selling goods in boats as well as in shops that were located everywhere along the canals. Here the sellers were ready with fishing rods to bring in your boat. The experience is not recommended at all as the Thai people, who are normally very friendly and welcoming, were not friendly at all here. All in all, this was not an experience for me that I would recommend to others. The only positive point was that I was able to shoot a number of beautiful images and photos, but this is certainly the case.

Vendor selling food

After the tour, a picture was taken of you in the boat, which you could later buy in a tile. The goal was of course to sell you this. This way the tour operator could still earn a little extra from the many toursits that they bring to this “authentic market” every day.

The authentic Damnoen Saduak Floating **SCAM** Market

During my visit I immediately came up with a new name for this market, namely the Floating SCAM market! Despite the fact that I think the content should be fun to read, I also think I should give you an honest picture about the different sights that I visit. If you ever want to do such a tour in Thailand, do not visit the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market!

Would this day still be a success? It all depends on the next destination: Maeklong Railway Market.

Maeklong Railway Market

The Maeklong Railway Market is a pretty unique, it's not just as any other market, but as the name implies, it is a market that is held on a train track. Just like the previous destination, it was also very busy with tourists, but not disturbingly busy.

I hear you ask, why is a market held on a train track so unique? Well, the train track is actually still in use. The train still passes eight times a day, and the exhibitors have to remove their products from the track and close the awnings of their market stalls.

Pretty cool, right?

After securing their goods, the Thai sellers begin to direct everyone to a safe place. It is really a spectacle to see. After securing their goods, the Thai sellers begin to direct everyone to a safe place. It is really a spectacle to see. The train is honking to chase away tourists who are still on the track to shoot the perfect photo. A complete madhouse and a real experience. It's pretty fun to watch and to see how normal it has become for the Thai sellers. What was also pretty is funny is to see the vendors to be amazed about the stupid antics that some tourists are doing at an approaching train.

Train at the Maeklong Railway Market

The train passed you less than 10 cm away. You could just touch it while it drove past you.
After the train passed, the market began to start again as if nothing had happened.

I decided to go for a walk because and was amazed at what is saw. The most beautiful stalls with fresh fruit and other food were located along the track. I also ran into the local butcher shop, and was shocked by the way the meat was sold. Judge yourself:

The market also continued on the other side of the train market. Here, sellers tried to steal a piece of market share from the 7 Eleven. A nice sight to see how local vendors park their stalls in front of Thailand's largest convenience stores.

Local vendors VS. 7 Eleven

After a visit to the 7 Eleven, kidding, of course not. Of course I support the local vendors to win the competition of the 7 Eleven. I bought a fruit shake and some food from two stalls next to it. With these purchases I had to hurry back to the bus, because we would return to Bangkok city any time. On the way back to Bangkok I spotted something typically Thai. Three people sitting on one scooter.

Thai Scooter Gang

Summary of the day

while the floating market was a complete debacle, the Maeklong Railway Market was not. The train market was truly a spectacular one that I would not have wanted to miss.

After the trip you will be dropped off again on Khaosan road which is the perfect place to resume your day. I didn't do much for the rest of the day. I took a short walk through the back alleys of Bangkok, took the picture below and returned to the hotel.

Bangkok Back Alley

Once back at the hotel, it soon started to get dark. Here I decided to admire my last sunset of my trip on the hotel's roof terrace. What a great trip this was, and we have to go home tomorrow. Next week one last blog about this amazing journey.

Sunset at the hotel

Cinnamon Video

Here it is, the last video of my Thailand trip in February. View the beautiful images of the not so authentic floating market and the great train market.

https://cinnamon.video/watch?v=428248278748890473

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