Maeklong Railway Market

Maeklong Railway Market sits on a working railway line in Samut Songkhram, about 80 km south-west of Bangkok, and its whole appeal is the moment a train arrives. Stallholders sell fish, fruit and vegetables from trays laid across the tracks under awnings that reach almost to the rails; when the horn sounds they pull the awnings back and slide the trays a few centimetres, the train passes at walking pace with its footplate inches from the produce, and everything is back in place before it has cleared the platform. Locals call it Talat Rom Hup, the umbrella-folding market, which is the more honest name.

The train is the point, so plan around it: the Mae Klong line runs a handful of services a day between roughly 06:20 and 17:40, and the timetable does change, so check the board at the station end of the market when you arrive rather than trusting a blog. I'd aim for the mid-morning pass and stand a little back from the rails on the station side, where the awning trick is easiest to see. The market itself is a good wet market the rest of the time — cheap fruit, dried seafood, a few noodle stalls — and it takes twenty minutes to walk end to end.