Thailand - markets


The electrical wiring of places like this puts a different standard on the table than what we perhaps tend to be used to. Facades of buildings are withered and broken with garish signs attempting to cover it up. 
A concept that tends to fascinate me as a Westerner, whenever I go to Asia, Africa or the likes, is the local market. The way people in the destination actually live their everyday lives. Of course, it is sometimes hard to reach beyond the tourist market and find the real ones, but that is also part of the challenge of experiencing the other culture. We go to other cultures, other countries and try to get a sample of how they live their lives, but the more the destination is adapted for tourists, the less of that we actually get. When I looked through the travel agency's recommendations for eating out, for instance, one of the most highly recommended places was Viking Pizzeria. Yep, for that ultra-Swedish feeling, it was the place to go if you were Scandinavian, longing for a (Swedish?) pizza or some meatballs with lingonberries. The Swedish national dish would probably be a truly Italian pizza, made by a Turk. Somewhat confusing at length, but the world changes. Why would you choose to go halfway across the world, to exotic Asia, and live as close to the jungle as possible and then eat Swedish recipies?!? It disturbs me to no end. You go in to a shop to haggle and the keeper asks you where you are from. Answering Sweden, you get a lot of random phrases like "IKEA", "meatballs", "Björn Borg" and "Reinfelt", hoping that will somehow endow them with a better bargaining position when that process commences. What you really would want, as a tourist I expect, is to experience the genuine, the exotic, the unique, and still it only becomes harder and harder to do so as everything becomes standardized, streamlined and "safe". I hate safe. 

Eating at a local market… The concept makes many of us wrinkle our nose, as we contemplate the concepts of hygiene and stomach cramps. Some of the things they had in the markets were perhaps odd regarded from our point of view, like the stir-fry bugs, live crabs attempting to escape their plates, or why not a bottle of Regency, filled to the brim with raw meat of unknown origin - assumingly being marinated in something else, essence undisclosed. I know that a lot of the things I enjoy at home would make people react, like gristle, pig's ears or knuckles, eel or innards. It all depends on what you are used to, I guess. I could easily go for munching away happily at the market, as I think that a lot of culture is hidden in food. The way it is prepared, the local ingredients and customs and rituals around the dining - all these are keys to understanding the country. And then there is the prospect of looking forward to days on the porcelain throne, cancelling trips or randomly rushing out into the jungle with a muffled "I can't… I must…" Safe. That's the keyword. Like riding a tuk-tuk. Or when we saw two mothers with two small children, all riding the same motorcycle. Impossible, in Sweden, because it wouldn't be safe. I tend to think that safe isn't all it's cranked up to be, though. Next time I'm going, I'm immersing myself! No more all-inclusive for me, ever!


The markets are really fascinating, whether they are made for tourists or the local populace. They can really carry anything, although they also tend to repeat themselves over and over. And the haggling! We hated it in Egypt, we hate it in Thailand. You can probably get a lot of good finds if you have the time and the inclination, but we just tend to think that the amount of merchandise they would peddle if they had fixed prices would be so much more. A small example was myself at the airport. I went to one store, fixed prices, looked at a pillow for the next. 250 baht. Went next store, they had no pricetags. Lady asks for 370 baht. Meaning I could haggle and get it below the other. Bah, no bother, I just turned around, walked a few steps back and bought it, probably overpriced. Don't care, can't be bothered. I am not interested in a barter economy, and getting stiffed. I want information of the market and am willing to pay a bit extra for it. Stick THAT in your pipe and smoke it, Thailand! :)


Plats: Khao Lak

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