Bangkok Food Market: Attending to my Sweet Tooth

Travel&Spice: S01E07

Hola foodies/travellers! Presenting Episode-07 of Travel&Spice for your dose of spicy travel, where travellers share interesting stories about their favourite meal, restaurant or food encounters.

Today, Tamshuk Saha from Tamz Explores shares an adventurous encounter of a lesser-known floating market of Thailand. Do check out his solo travel blog where he brings you stories of the strange, unknown and inspirational tales.

Over to Tamshuk…

I bid adieu to my comfortable and safe life in Singapore and I set out on a different journey as my search for Freedom turned into a quest for real change and peace. Today, I am not a blogger or a writer or just a traveler. I consider myself a storyteller.

Bangkok is one of the few cities in the world that always excited me considering the fact that I am not a big fan of swanky high-rises and luxurious amenities. True to the financial hub culture, Bangkok too reflects of a fast-moving and hectic atmosphere. Yet, I knew I always wanted to visit Bangkok because of the amazing food culture that is prevalent everywhere in the city. The street food and night markets in Bangkok have been widely appraised by travelers across the world. A paradise for foodies, this city has always served up some of the most amazing food to one and all. During my only trip to Bangkok, I had just one motive – to explore something unique in one of the best food capitals in the world.

Thanks to an invitation from TakeMeTour, a local travel group in Thailand, I got to visit one of the least explored floating food markets in the outskirts of Bangkok. The Khlong Lat Mayom floating market is located a good 30-45 minutes away from the city center. A ride on the BTS skytrain will take you to Bang Wa station from where the market is another 15-20 minutes ride by taxi or tuk-tuks. The image of Bangkok floating markets that I had was a billion canoes hurled up along the waterways, selling all kinds of foods and souvenirs. That image was completely erased when I reached the market as I realized this place is pleasantly different from the others. Yes, there were a few, just a few boats selling stuff on the waterways, but there was absolutely no haggling for prices, no pushy vendors and a lot of honest smiles around.

The market was spread more on the huge concrete platform, which was also built on the entire waterway. Going by the rarely visible faces of any tourists, I could imagine this place appeals more to the local Thai crowd instead. The spread of food here just amazed me to my wits. There were some foods that I had never heard of before – mind you this was my 5th or 6th visit to Thailand. The grilled seafood seemed to be a popular choice among the folks around. There were grilled meats served with local Thai sauces, steamed rice cakes, local fruits, lots of coconut vendors, Thai curry noodles – which I took back to my stay and huge oysters with an assortment of sauces. However, it was three sweet dishes that caught my attention and the taste of that dish still lingers in my mouth even today. Made entirely from egg yolk and sugar (or honey) these three dishes -Foi Tong, Med Kanoon and Tong Yod – is what I had come here for. It’s sugary yes, but it is probably one of the best dishes I have ever had.

Foi Tong, Med Kanoon, Tong Yod — Foi Tong, Med Kanoon and Tong Yod

Having spent a good two hours at the market and after a lot of walking around, we hopped on a boat and explored further along the canals. The entire canal system spread across a huge area which was actually a village. People in this village make their living by fishing and off the market. My local friend told me this market is not that popular among tourists and that in a way has been a great thing for the local people here. This market is where the locals go and spend a part of their weekend. I was glad that I could get a chance to experience this place. Getting a small account of how the locals live about in here, this is what I came to Bangkok for.