Melon-truck welcoming people who arrive to the marketplace.
On our trip to Thailand we used to go to check the local markets almost every day. They were arranged in different parts of the town; location depending on the weekday. The biggest one was held in Krabi Town on Sundays and it was the highlight of the week for many. Markets were for locals a convenient place to meet friends and socialize while bargaining goods.
THE food
The main reason we wanted to go there as often as we could, is that they were a great place explore Thai culture more. You could for example get to know more of Thai cuisine by trying variety of amazing traditional dishes there with remarkably low prices, since mainly the locals shop there. Of course farrang-prices (=price for foreigner) were little bit higher, but still very low in our point of view. You might buy a plateful (or a plastic bagful -since they wrapped everything in plastic) of the most delicious and authentic thai food for about 10-20 bahts, which means only couple of dozen cents in euros!
These we didn't get to taste, since the one we bought was forgotten in the scooter trunk and got spoiled. I believe there was some kind of fish paste inside the bundle.
This probably isn't so traditional Thai, like curry for example is. It's some pastry with mayonnaise and veggies.
Our Thai friend taught us that only few dishes people conceive as "Thai food" is actually from China or India. Thai people absorbed it way back when others immigrated to Thailand.
A selection of curries, different soups and noodle dishes.
There were some slightly suspicious-looking dishes as well.
Some traditional delicacy, spicy soup or stew with chicken legs. There were nails and all...
We used to buy our fruits and veggies there, 'cause they were surely the freshest and the selection was vast! One of my favorite things in there, was to be able to eat loads of fresh fruit and pick from a large selection, since I have many allergies and in Finland I can eat mainly only bananas and oranges (which by the way taste nothing compared to these).
My fresh pool snack. Damn I miss this!
I'm not sure what these funny-looking fruits were, didn't taste them.
The atmosphere
Another reason why we liked to go there, was the atmosphere and the huge selection of all the other commodities they sell there. Locals set their tables up and fill them with everything you can imagine from gun pellet bagies and small leather goods to shoes, clothes and kitchen utensils. In Finnish this kind of dealing could be called "tavaraa perseestä perämoottoriin", which quickly translated means "things from ass to outboard motor"… (So almost everything except the ass).
They even sell small animal there probably both for cooking and as pets -we saw plenty of chickens and roosters in cages, as well as the cutest little bunnies side to side one another. The most peculiar thing was to see different kinds of colorful fish sold in glass bottles! We think this animal marketing was also kind of sad and frustrating from animal wellbeing point of view. They had so small living space (if that's something you can call living) in the cages let alone in those fish bottles, and people gazing and touching them as well as yelling around must have made them feel so insecure and stressed.
Furry little bunnies and beautiful fish waiting to be bought.
The setting
Narrow paths between the packed tables were crammed with people bargaining and shopping dinner, which they were going to eat on the beach sharing the delicacies with their friends and families. It was noisy and lively there.
The temperature was high due to the sun that had shone the whole of the day, warming the marketplace roof made of tin boards and colorful tarps. The place was heated even more by the gas burners and steamingly hot wok pans. Fortunately at the time the market was busiest, the sun was finally setting down. Only the last beams of sunlight reached the insides from the roof holes and the entrances.
If you want to experience authentic Thai atmosphere you should head to local markets, where you can literally feel, smell, hear and taste all of it!
(all the pictures were taken with iPhone SE)