Someone once said: If you want to fully understand life in any place, visit the markets there! Because the market is always the place that clearly shows the cultural characteristics as well as the living habits and daily life of the local people.
Maeklong Market is the place that best represents the hustle and bustle of Southeast Asia's shopping paradise - Bangkok. This market is located at the end of the Maeklong Railway - one of the slowest railway lines in the world with an average speed of only about 30 km/h. The typical image when visiting Maeklong is the stalls scattered on both sides of the railway. If not witnessing the train passing by, many visitors would probably think this is simply a spontaneous market built on the defunct railway tracks.
The vendors at Maeklong Market are very agile and disciplined. Three minutes before the train arrives, a bell rings, and the stall owners quickly cover their goods along the tracks and clear away the goods on the tracks to make way for the train. After the train passes, people resume business as usual. Every day, the vendors must perform this action 8 times, corresponding to 8 trains passing by.
Maeklong Railway Market has become a tourist attraction due to its unusual location and existence despite the still-operating railway line.
