Thailand (I): Trains, boats and markets

The strongest memory remaining from my trip to Thailand – and Laos, for that matter – is the omnipresence of water. Water overflows rivers, soaks the land and saturates the air. Especially during the monsoon, nothing escapes its influence. Water channels replace streets, reaching the people’s houses to their very front doors or even running beneath them. It’s a floating world out there and the locals build their lives around a symbiotic relationship with this element.

Going to the floating markets, southeast from Bangkok, was a natural first step to start this journey. The train from BK makes a slow ride until Samut Sakhon, where we must take a ferry across the Tha Chin River. Then, we resume the railway until reaching its final destination, Samut Songkhram. The train stops literally inside an open market of fresh fruit and vegetables!

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Tha Chin River, Thailand, 2013

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Samut Songkhram, Thailand, 2013

↑The arrival of the train at the Maeklong market in Samut Songkhram, is a big touristy event. I shot the tourists that where shooting my train. What a crossfire!

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Samut Songkhram, Thailand, 2013

↑Taking the stalls out of the way for the train to pass.

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Samut Songkhram, Thailand, 2013

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Amphawa, Thailand, 2013

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Amphawa, Thailand, 2013

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Amphawa, Thailand, 2013

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Amphawa, Thailand, 2013

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Amphawa, Thailand, 2013

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Amphawa, Thailand, 2013

↑(Good) food is the name of the game, here. It seems everyone is selling it, preparing it or eating it…

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Amphawa, Thailand, 2013

↑Night snap.

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Damnoen Saduak, Thailand, 2013

↑Walking off the beaten path, we can see this color explosion.

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Damnoen Saduak, Thailand, 2013

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Damnoen Saduak, Thailand, 2013

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Damnoen Saduak, Thailand, 2013

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Damnoen Saduak, Thailand, 2013

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Samut Songkhran, Thailand, 2013

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Samut Songkhran, Thailand, 2013

All photographs by António Marques – © António Marques Photoblog, 2013

3 responses

  1. It seems to me it is your first post with colour pictures. For the travel post it is a good choice on my mind.

    November 9, 2013 at 13:05

    • António Marques

      I think there are stories that are better told in color…
      Of course, B&W will be always my first aesthetic choice but this post and the following ones I´m planning to publish are about places and people with a very distinctive color atmosphere. I admit it was a bit of a dilemma for me, at first.
      Thanks for stopping by, Alexander.

      November 9, 2013 at 14:52

      • My pleasure. I always like to see your posts.

        November 12, 2013 at 01:41

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