Maeklong Railway Market, located in Samut Songkhram, Thailand, around 37
miles west of Bangkok, looks like any other open-air market in Asia.
There are tropical fruits and vegetables such as lychee, durian, and
mango in big brightly colored piles, variety of dried spices, pastes and
herbs, freshly caught seafood and other local foods. The crowd weave
their way around in between vendors, picking up whatever they need for
the day. The market is sheltered by low-hanging awnings/umbrellas and if
you look closely, you will notice that you are actually walking on
train rails.
Once the train is gone, the vendors push back the stalls and awnings
into position and everything goes back to normal as if nothing has
happened. After all the market has been here for generations way before
when the railway was set up in 1905. Thais call this place Talad Rom Hoop Market which literally translates to “Market Umbrella Pulldown”.
