Aw Taw Gaw Farmers Market

The bright and clean Aw Taw Gaw farmers market

The Aw Taw Gaw market in Chatuchak is, both literally and figuratively, one of Bangkok’s most accessible fresh markets. In the literal sense, one exit from the Kampangphet subway station is right inside the market, so it’s very easy to get to. Figuratively speaking, the market is one of the cleanest and brightest markets in Bangkok. It’s also so close to the Chatuchak weekend market that most of the vendors are used to the occasional tourist wandering through, and some may even speak a little English. They all definitely know how to put up a display that will keep you and your camera busy.

The market is run by the Thai Agriculture Ministry as a sort of demonstration market, which is why it’s so neat and clean. It underwent a major refurbishment from 2008 to 2009, which explains why it’s currently so bright and cheery. Many of the stalls will pack big purchases for shipping, but be sure you can bring in fresh fruit to your home country before buying.

Pak Klong Talat

Fresh flowers are now the main draw at Pak Klong Talat

For many years, the market at the mouth of the Lord Canal was Bangkok’s primary wholesale fresh market, where produce from the north would arrive by barge and be off-loaded at large docks. Most of the fresh fruit and produce wholesale trade has moved to a market north of Bangkok, but there’s still quite a bit of trade done at Pak Klong Talat, especially in flowers and sweets. The market, which is right next to the Memorial Bridge express boat pier, is at its best early in the morning, and can be quite sleepy by lunch time.

Klong Toey

Tom Yum spices on sale at Klong Toey

The sprawling market near Bangkok’s main seaport is perhaps the most "authentic" of the three. The fresh market sells everything one could need for a traditional Thai meal, from seafood to fresh herbs, spices, vegetables and fruits. While at its busiest in the morning, there’s plenty to see at almost any time of day. The Klong Toey market is just a short walk from the Queen Sirikit Convention Center subway station.

A typical crowd of Saturday night shoppers

There’s no telling what you can find at the Saturday night market, although "junk" might be the best overall description. Much of what’s on offer are the contents of people’s garages, attics, or the back of the van, although you will find some stalls selling new items, from fake watches to cheap imports from China (okay, same thing, but you know what I mean).

Car parts on sale – sorry no ice cream

There are a lot of car parts on sale; new, used and otherwise; as well as many classic motorbikes and a few older cars on show and sale. But that isn’t all you’ll find here. I’ve seen pets, sun glasses, clocks, antique telephones, and just about everything else on sale here.

Classic fans – and a hair dryer – on sale

I’d class a lot of the "antiques" as kitsch rather than valued items. They seem like things that might be fun to have – adding a bit of whimsy to the decor – but I have yet to see anything I had to have.

Classic posters and advertisements – maybe

As with any shopping in Bangkok, you want to be sure you know you’re doing if shopping for "antiques" at the Ratchada market. Are those old Beatles posters real? I don’t know, and if the guy is asking 100 Baht for them I might not care. But if he wants 1,000 Baht for a poster, I’d want to know for sure it was a real vintage item.

In addition to all the stuff, you’ll of course find lots of food on offer in the market. There’s even one or two small, temporary bars that set up shop for the night.

For most visitors, the Saturday night market is more of a "sight" than shopping destination. You will probably need to know a bit of Thai, or bring a Thai friend with you, if you want to do some serious shopping here. In any case, the market does have a cloudy future, since the land it operates on is scheduled to be developed one of these days.

The market is easily reached via the subway to either the Ladprao or Ratchadapisek stations.

For those that don’t know them, Spice Roads is one of Southeast Asia’s largest organizers of bicycle tours, and they’re based in Bangkok. Most of their trips are several days in length, allowing you to see some of the "real" Thailand (or Vietnam, or Cambodia, etc.) The quot;Bangkok Jungle" tour is one of their few half-day trips. More than that, the tour allows you to see a part of Bangkok that very few tourists ever see. For that matter, a lot of Bangkok residents don’t know about it.

The tour starts, somewhat incongruously, just out side the entrance to Bangkok’s port area. After a short briefing from the guides, we set off down a busy street. We only have to go a couple of blocks before we veer into a narrow alley which leads to a ferry dock on the Chaophraya River. Across the river is our real destination, an area of Bangkok called Bang Krajao. If you look at a satellite image of Bangkok, Bang Krajao is that green nob almost complete encircled by the Chaophraya River.

The bikes and the cyclists are loaded into a long-tailed boat for a short trip across the river. Then it’s back on the bikes for a tour through the "jungle". To be honest, it’s not really a jungle. "Farm" would be a better term. It seems that this is where most of the house plants of Bangkok are grown. You soon see that this entire area is fairly swampy, the residents of the area have formed the earth into long mounds surrounded by water. On these mounds they grow bananas, other fruits and an amazing array of colorful decorative plants sold in markets all around Bangkok.

After traveling down a small "country" road for a while, the guide turns the group off onto a narrow walkway. These walkways consist of concrete planks less than a meter wide elevated two meters or more above the swampy ground. These walkways criss-cross the entire area, and a good part of the tour is spent navigating them.

The canal and floating market at Ban Nampeung

Not that we spend all the time on our bikes. The first stop, after about 20 minutes’ ride, is the weekend "floating" market at Ban Nampeung (which translates to "honey village"). The market is only open on Saturday and Sunday, so it’s only a stop on the tour on weekends. The market is next to Wat Nampeung Nai, right on a wide canal. Unlike the much more famous floating market way out in Damnoen Saduak, this market is definitely not for tourists. Aside from the half-dozen or so of us from the bike tour, the market is full of Thais. The stalls of the market are mostly selling food, either meals or snacks. There are traditional boats on the canal, but most of them are being rowed by young Thais who have rented the boats from a stall near the temple.

After we explore the market for a while, we set off again for a short ride to our next stop, a small incense factory. The factory is actually set in a traditional Thai house, and is a project to help improve life in the community by giving people another source of income.

The tour continues with us biking along the canal back to the river and on to another temple, where we stop to eat some snacks the guides have purchased while we were at the market. From there we cycle on a bit more until we reach Sri Nakorn Kuenkhan park, a large open space full of lakes and trees. We have another stop here, although some stay on their bikes to explore more of the park, and then from here it’s a short ride back to the pier on the river where we started.

The Bangkok Jungle tour is a delightfully different way to see a side of Bangkok most people don’t get to see. Even if you don’t want to get on your bike, I’d highly recommend a visit to the market at Ban Nampeung. You can get there by taxi on any weekend.