The Market Built on an Active Railroad in Bangkok

The Maeklong Railway Market is a rather unique attraction in that multiple trains pass through the center of the busy market every day.

What is probably the most surprising part about the market is that the shops and vendors aren’t set up around it rather than right on the railway tracks. When there is no train passing through, the vendors all have large tarps covering their fruits and vegetables – the main products sold at the market – from the sun.

When a train passes through, all of the vendors systematically pull their tarps back by the bamboo sticks holding them to move them out of the way of the train. The train travels at most 30km/hr and its body passes right over top of the goods placed right beside the tracks without damaging anything.

After the train passes, the vendors calmly place their tarps back in place and the market carries on as if nothing happened. This moving back and forth of tarps thus earning the Maeklong Railway Market the nickname “Umbrella Pulldown Market.”

I wandered away from the market for a little while and to the edge of the Mae Klong River where I found a vendor that sold me the best pad thai I had ever eaten for a mere 20 baht (0.75 cents USD). The noodles were first wrapped in a greased cookie sheet and then a newspaper and I was given a small bag of spicy saucy to add to my pad thai.

This visit to the Maeklong Railway Market was part of a day trip I took from Bangkok with a mini tour group. My trip to the railway market was then followed with a visit to the Amphawa Floating Market.