On The Hunt
For both delicious foods to sample and for any treasures we can find. There are 2 markets almost directly next door to one another. The first, a covered food market which operates weekends and last week was packed with locals and tourists (domestic and international). A vast change from the pandemic era when all seemed like it may never return - things appear to be bouncing back and the vendors are out in full force working their trade to ensure it. The second is a second hand and flea market which will be featured in part 2.
Thailand - Land of Food
Even outside tourist areas, any large street food or 'hawker' style market these days will feature international options. Some exact copies of the real things, some slightly or more altered for Thai tastes, or adorned with a bit of Thai fusion to make it their own.
Famous Vendors - Not by coincidence?
There are simply too many types of food to list. Plus you see new ones crop up all the time, inventing new Thai/Fusion dishes which suddenly go famous on TikTok. There are examples at this market, with many vendors displaying placards of TV appearances or YouTube/TikTok channels with hundreds of thousands of followers. It's hardly surprising, being we are in one of the biggest tourist towns in all the land. Many Bangkonians are down for a weekend break, and grazing through the market.
Vibrant colours are all around. Both the vendors stalls and the punters! People are out in their casual beach and holiday gear, looking for whatever they find delicious.
This single vendor has a vast selection of Thai dishes to go with rice, and a few soups. Seating area behind. All made fresh daily and anyone can get a really nutritious solid meal here for about $1.50 (or $2 with coke and water). So cheap, so convenient (instant), and such a variety. Nothing will be left wasted.
WARNING SHOCK CONTENT - ANIMAL CRUELTY
DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH
Yuck. A very mean practice this is, and should in many opinions be banned. This is taking live baby squid and drowning in fish and chilli sauce which causes it to twitch and convulse in pain, then putting it in your mouth. Thankfully, it seemed like nobody was going near this idiot stand. It is what it is.
Back to Safety!
There's always one as they say. Moving on, to focus on the food ... tomorrow part 2 will be the secondhand and flea markets.
Noo Wan Bakery ('Wan' means 'sweet' in Thai). Sweet sponge cakes in a swiss roll style, beautifully presented and just 20THB each (about $0.70).
Up To You! Italian style pasta stall. Choose your Pasta, Sauce, Sides ...
A sweetshop so colorful it could not be missed/unseen.
Match made in paradise
This vendor has made his mobile ice cream from a classic restored pickup truck. Very stylish.
The stand itself looks very modern and high tech. The pickup truck draws the attention. Note the rest of the signage and designs - clearly someone loves what they do, restoring classic vehicles and selling ice-cream! Great pairing.
Television stars
The A4 laminated cards show pictures and information about the stand receiving national TV coverage.
Ready to go protein packed meal with a soft-boiled egg already peeled for you.
The convenient way to make your own fresh salad. There are also some already made up for the ultra indecisive or hurried among us.
Alternative Protien
Bugs!
Crickets, grubs, maggots, grasshoppers. Go well with beer. VERY nutritious and apparently what we should be eating to cut down on meat. Have you tried?
King of Fruits
No food market in SE Asia would be complete without some Durian for sale. The ultimate connoisseurs fruit. Smells worse than some very smelly cheese, and an acquired taste. Thai Durian for that matter tends to be less offensive than some of the stuff they enjoy in Singapore or Malaysia, being slightly firmer and drier in texture. It is not cheap, those individual wrapped trays are running at $8-10usd a pop.
Bananas are 10x cheaper! There are also some Durian desserts w/ blue sticky rice and coconut cream on sale for $2.70 (small) or $4 (large). Tempting.
A ton of meat, pork to be specific. These guys do nothing but churn out these braised legs and crispy bellies. Utterly delicious, I want to gorge on that meat like a wild animal just looking at this.
Maybe I should eat next time before writing a food post lol)
FRIED BALLS
What else to wrap up on? Giant, crunchy, fried balls of something the size of baseballs. Definitely we need to try these next time, plus maybe another post will be of actually eating some dishes here. There was so many to choose from, I just ended up with pasta. Next time will be different!
