Floating Markets

This past weekend I enjoyed an undeniable staple of Thai tourism: floating markets.

It was part of a trip I was asked to helped organize, a weekend excursion aimed at encouraging interdepartmental bonding amongst the Japanese, Chinese, English and Thai teachers. There were no students there, but the Thai teachers still jumped on the opportunity to make a field trip booklet. We were each given a "Making Friends" packet, and everyone eagerly began interviewing each other ("What's your name?" "Do you have any siblings?") in hopes of completing their booklet and winning a toy prize... I resisted the urge to answer the question "What do you dislike?" with "forced mingling exercises," because in spite of my smart-aleck skepticism towards these cheesy bonding exercises I was actually able to familiarize myself with few of the other teachers. As a general rule of thumb I avoid being condescending about the child-like fun that my Thai co-workers engage in; at least they're embracing sanook!


Our first destination was Damneon Saduk in Ratchaburi, the most frequented floating market in Thailand. Tourists are carted to Damneon Saduk by the busload, and the the prices reflect this demographic. I was thankful to be there with Thai teachers, they arranged us a boat tour for thirty baht apiece—I imagine I would be charged at least triple that if I'd attempted to negotiate without them.



For lunch we ate at a well-known local seafood restaurant, and split some classics like Tom Yum Goong (spicy shrimp soup), Khao Pat Goong (shrimp fried rice) and some new dishes like Poo Haaw (steamed crab). The teachers commented on how "high-calorie" this food was, although I'm beginning to realize that some Thai people have a really distorted perception of what kinds of food are the worst. One teacher ate a fudge sundae for breakfast, but refused a bite of my mango sticky rice, insisting "it will make me fat."


The next floating market, Amphuwa, was my favorite. Amphuwah was bustling with tourists as well, but there were still more Thai people there. More importantly, the goods were more original, and most vendors sold crafts that were unique to their store. This was refreshing after Ratchaburi, which featured the same tourist paraphernalia I've seen all over Bangkok.



We took another boat ride in Amphawa, but this time we floated to a temple downriver. I've mentioned being "templed out" at this point, meaning I've seen my fair share of wats and don't feel the need to pursue any more. However, Wat Bang Kung was hard not to love; the temple was smothered in the roots of a banyan tree, which gave it a really wild, ancient look.




I also began a more sincere attempt at communicating with some of my estranged co-workers; many of them are not great at English, but I during this trip I had enough time to speak with them slowly, and paint more complex picture of each of them. Language barriers have denied me a more detailed picture of my Thai co-workers, and I have to admit that I tend to overlook the individuality of the Thai teachers because our conversations can never delve very deep. But just because we can't communicate doesn't mean they aren't interesting people... and I'm determined not to let the language obstacle prevent me from seeing that.