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Entries in Samut Songkran (7)
Floating Market (Revisited)
Thursday, October 28, 2010 at 7:35PM My daughter is visiting Thailand so we took a couple of days on the klongs (canals) in and around the Samut Songkhram region.
We hired a long-tail boat to take us through these swamp canals.
The people and houses along the way were very photogenic.
Living on the klongs is a very old way of living life.
A still life in the swamps of Samut Songkhram.
Life on the klongs.
Fishing dog?
The water was very high and full of silt due to the flooding in Central Thailand. The children loved it.
Small villages dotted the main klongs.
But all klongs lead to the Floating Markets. Although these are popular with tourists and photographers, they are actual working daily markets.
Tropical fruit is brought to market along the klongs.
A timeless scene along at the Floating Market.
Tourists from all over the world come to be photographed!!
The klongs are serviced by a variety of boats. You can go for hundreds of miles/kilometers on the klongs of Samut Songkhram.
Dr. Jeff Harper
Samut Songkhram is on the road to beach town of Hua Hin. There is so much to see in this region of Thailand.
The Thais have such an elevated aesthetic sense.
The old Thai arts are still respected.
Many aspects of Thai daily life are influenced by that "Thai Style."
And, of course, Thai food is incredibly delicious.
Shrimp is Thailand's main export. Nice.
This time of year is the end of the "Damn Hot and Damn Wet" season . . . so the Gulf of Siam was rough.
A lightening storm passed over one night . . . and lit up the sea! Magnificent!
Day Trip: Samut Songkran
Saturday, June 12, 2010 at 10:28PM Samut Songkran is about an hour's drive from my house. It is the home of the famous Floating Market - a tourist favorite. There are actually three major floating markets in the Samut Songkran region. There were literally thousands of people there . . . but I only saw three real foreign tourists all day. Apparently the recent troubles in Thailand have scared the tourists away. That is a shame. The Floating Market is a really beautiful and fantastically interesting place to spend the afternoon
The Floating Market is actually a real functional local market built along both sides of an estuarial canal with sales being made both from the old wooden shops that line the canal, and directly from the boats that ply the canal with goods from the farms and sea.
The Floatng Market, though popular with tourists, is a living market.
Life in Thailand as it has been for thousands of years.
A traditional klong (canal) boat and boatman in traditional clothing.
The town of Samut Songkran is estuarial, so seafood finds its way easily to the grills of the boat vendors.
Timeless river trading -- the easiest way to move goods from source to market.
The shops that line the canal are old. Many are kept in beautiful Old Thai style. This one is actually a "Home Stay" hotel.
Many beautiful touches of beauty adorned the homes.
A young Thai Tom Sawyer.
Everything from gnarly fruit . . . . . .
. . . to steamed fish . . .
. . . to grilled squid . . .
. . . to colored cotton candy in plastic cups was for sale at the Samut Songkran Floating Market.
