Since I have been living in Jomtien city in Thailand, I have always been on the look out to find one fresh fruit and vegetable market that I can walk into, get everything I need and drive away, this has been a bit of a mission as there are so many fruit and vegetable markets in the Jomtien area and I have been to a few in the time that I have been here and unfortunately have never been able to walk out of these markets with everything I needed.
I was told about the Jomtien Wholesale Market by my friends, which is the biggest fresh fruit and vegetable market in Jomtien city but because it is a little further out of my way, I just never seem to get there always been pressed for time, this market apparently opens at 2am every morning for restaurants and shop keepers but closes at 5pm so locals can go in and shop, it is here were you can buy the cheapest of everything in bulk.
So today I made time, I needed to go and see this market for myself and do my own observations, so I jumped in my car and of I when and it wasn't as far as I thought, there was loads of parking and easy to get to, mainly following one main road and it's on this main road you can't miss it, looks like a huge airplane hanger.
Normally these markets are very busy serving the restaurant and shopkeepers from the early morning hours till about 9am so I decided to go at 10am I didn't want to be amongst the big crowds, it would have been to hard to see everything and to crowded to be taking photos, so at the time I was there the chaotic crowds had left and it was more like the locals coming in doing there shopping like me. I hit the vegetable section first and as you can see in the photos below these vegetables were fresh as, and much, much cheaper then anywhere else I have been.
I love doing a bit of cooking myself so this was starting to look like the right place I should be coming for all my needs and the more I walked around the more WOW's were coming out of me this market had fruits and vegetables that I have never seen before like this one, a species of asparagus had to get some just to try with my scrambled eggs and ham or with a pork chop.
There were many varieties of little eggplants, marrows and okra all my favorite vegetables, I knew I should have come to this market long ago the money I would have been saving and getting better choices of vegetables.
There has always got to be a comedian in the markets to make your day, Thai's can be very friendly and happy going with a great sense of humor like this guy :)
If you thought those vegetables looked tasty let me take you over to the fruit section and let me tell you everything is way more cheaper here also, I have been told because of no tourist in the country the farmers are unfortunately not even able to sell there stock cause there are not enough consumers buying and they are practically giving it away, I bought 7 kilos of juicy mangoes for $3US Dollars just incredible, It would of cost me that for a kilo back home in Australia if not more, so my fridge is full of mangoes now lots of smoothies coming up.
Flat Juicy Peaches
Som O (Pomelo)
Every fruit that I love was here and ones that I have never seen before that I am willing to try like this reddish fruit called Sala which is a member of the Lychee Logons and Rambutan family.
All the most popular Thai fruits were here and at a give away price I ended up buying about 20 kilos of just fruit the mangoes made up most of that weight accompanied by 2 kilos of Avocados which I love in my salads or just on plain toast.
Durian Fruit
And it didn't end there, what would a wholesale market be without seafood, meats and eggs.
Al the sauces, ingredients and spices you can ever need for cooking as well as all the variety of rices were here of cause the Thai people can not eat without rice.
It was most definitely a market worth coming to and it, will be here where I will be doing all my future shopping, I ended up spending about $60US Dollars and my fridge is full to the max with fruit, vegetables, seafood and chicken am very pleased.
