Hey Hive! Last weekend we went to visit some of Bangkok’s finest markets. One of our friends really wanted to visit a floating market so we decided to go have lunch at one nearby. It was the first time I visited a floating market as well so it was a new experience for a few of our group.
Talin Chan Floating Market
This market isn’t that big. No one really knew what to expect because we all visited this place in particular for the first time.
After parking our car we went past a few plant shops right outside the main entrance. The first bit of the market is not in the water. It’s just like any other market but it had a big roof covering the shops underneath. On the side of it there was a fairly big but lonely stage. A band was playing but it seemed more as a background rather than a concert.. especially at midday.
Once you go past the normal market bit you find the floating vendors straight ahead.
There are no shops but street type restaurants all along these floating rafts. The cooking happens underneath on small boats.
Almost all places would offer primarily seafood. Snakeheads were maybe the most popular and it was what we had as well.
This here was our Chef. Not the fanciest looking kitchen but it was tasty and cheap.
Tables were set in the middle of the rafts and there was always someone to come pick your order and bring you your food and drinks. We had a quick lunch and moved on because the market itself was fairly small.
On the way back there was a group of Thai musicians playing traditional Thai music. This was in the small area between the front market and the floating rafts. There weren’t any people listening and there wasn’t any space for a crowd to gather anyways. I believe this was meant to be more of a background thing where some people will stop for awhile and listen as they walk by.
It was still early when we decided to head out of here so we thought we can go by some other market before getting back home. JJ market was nearby and since one of our friends in the group never went there before, we thought we’d take her. Nat also wanted to check on the dogs there.
JJ Market
JJ is the biggest market in Bangkok (maybe in Thailand?). It is enormous and you can find anything here. Food, art, souvenirs, clothes, pets, wild animals.. you name it.
We started off with the animals part. I have very little photos from here for two reasons. First one is they simply make a big problem about it sometimes. Second one is related to the first one in a sense. The way they treat the animals here is inhumane at best. I feel sick when I go past some of the vendors here. 10-15 puppies in a small cage outdoor in the heat, no water or anything.. it’s despicable. And dogs aren’t even the worst treated animals here.
Some stores are okayish. They actually have an indoor facility with air conditioning and don’t have animals cramped in a small cage by the dozens. These are very few unfortunately and I’d never want to popularize this place.
Here you can see anything, from fish, birds, lizards, dogs and cats, to wild animals like meerkats, monkeys, big wild cats, sugar glide squirrels and many more.
These rabbits on the bottom were giants. I know the picture don’t make the proportions look that big, but these were gigantic.
On a Sunday this place would usually be packed with tourists. In covid times though.. not so much. A lot of the vendors inside the market were closed. I was glad a lot of the artists from the art corner were still there. There are some real nice painters and sculptors having their own creative corners set up here. I felt like I shouldn’t just photograph their work and with the tight alleys they were set in I needed a super wide lens in order to get any paintings in the camera frame. For this reason I don’t really have any photos from the “arts” district.
From here on we were feeling the heat quite a bit and decided to try and find a place to sit and drink something cold. We roamed around a bit and ended up going to the Mall area that is part of the market. Air conditioning was key factor in that decision. We did walk around a lot though so here are some of the shops I managed to take photos of.
This little shop is giving me The Crocodile Dundy vibes. It makes sense for a store selling crocodile leather things.
As I said you can find anything here. This Demon Slayer shop was on the main street, blasting Gurenge on repeat. Can't say it didn't make me stop.😅
Even though it wasn’t as crowded as it usually is, there were still plenty of people. During the day everyone is walking underneath the shades of the stores, so it looks more packed than it really was. That also made it hard for me to take photos of the shops because there were always people passing in front of the camera.
This little trip was pretty fun. Markets are definitely something you should visit at least once if you travel to Thailand. Most usually sell all sorts of food but in JJ you can find so much more. Floating markets on the other hand give you a completely different experience. I'll try and go to a bigger floating market soon because this one was too small and not at all that exciting.