The Maeklong Railway Market

Talat Rom Hup means the market that folds its umbrellas, and that is exactly what it does. Vendors sell fish, prawns, vegetables and fruit from mats laid along and between the rails of a working branch line. When the train is due a whistle goes, awnings retract on their frames, baskets slide back a few inches, and the carriages pass with centimetres to spare. Then everything comes forward again and the selling resumes as though nothing had happened. This runs several times a day in each direction, with times posted at the station. Outside those few minutes it is an ordinary and rather good wet market, which is the part most visitors skip.

What you actually see

• The retraction - awnings and baskets pulled back as the whistle goes.
• The passing train - carriages clearing the produce by centimetres.
• The wet market - fish, prawns and fruit sold from the trackbed itself.
• The station platform - where the posted times are actually reliable.

When to go

Times are posted at the station and are the only schedule worth trusting; arrive at least half an hour before a pass to get a position. Cool-season mornings are best for the market itself. Many visitors combine it with the canal markets nearby, which means a very early start out of Bangkok and a long day.

Honest expectations

For a few minutes the trackside is three deep in phones and the actual market disappears behind them. Tour groups are funnelled in and out on a schedule, prices at the stalls nearest the crossing have adjusted accordingly, and delays to the train are common. It is a short spectacle at the end of a long drive.

Nearby

Amphawa's canal market and the mouth of the Mae Klong river are close by.