Floating MarketFloating Market
Floating markets, although traditionally common in the
past when canals were used instead of streets, are now primarily for tourists.
The market officially begins at five in the morning, because this is when
the produce is the freshest. The market continues on throughout the late
morning for the tourists. Originally, the hawkers, who are primarily all
women, grew their own produce and brought it to the market in their sampan,
or small boat. However, now the hawkers are supplied with produce from a
wholesaler. The hawkers sell other goods from their sampans other
than fruits and vegetables, including fresh fish and cooked food. Some boats
have their own charcoal cooking pots on board and the boat functions as
a tiny restaurant where one could buy som tam or pad thai.
The Marketplace
Several different floating market locations exist in the city, although most are on the west side of the river in Thonburi where it is not as developed and where there are more canals. The general marketplace where the sampans gather is a main canal that is relatively wider and deeper than the many tributary canals that lead into it. Boats line both sides of the canal, sometimes eight boats deep. The boats are not motorized in any way. Women paddle the boat along from the rear, with their goods displayed out in front of them. Tourists have two choices of how to experience the floating market. One choice that they have is to pay someone to take them out in a sampan and to intermingle with the hawkers. This has developed into a large industry, where many people advertise their services as a guide. Or, their other choice to see the market is a large porch running alongside a section of the canal. In order for hawkers to reach the elevated porch, they have adapted a raised seat from which they can bargain with the tourists, and loft their goods from below.
The Future
The market continues because it is still an important part of Thai heritage. Canals were the primary form of transportation before the 1900's and therefore it made sense to have a market on the water as well. The water provided easy transport for their goods, as well as access to a large population because everyone lived along a canal. However, now the floating market is largely subsidized by the government to keep it running because it is a tourist attraction, and the government wants to encourage tourism as much as possible. One potential problem with the market's future is that the vast majority of the female hawkers are older women. The market is in danger of dying out, because the lifestyle is not one chosen by young Thai women in the 1990's.
Other choices:
Markets in General