The weather has been very hot and humid so I stayed indoor for several days. Life in big city is quite different from in the countryside where one could go cycling or walking in the evening everyday. In city, people depend on either public transportation warmth or their cars to go shopping and doing errands. It isn’t very pleasant walking along roads with lots of traffic. Public parks are very far away so it’s a hassle to travel there just for walking exercises.
So, I would take the twenty minutes’ walk to a small local market in late afternoon just before the sunset. The heat would have become less severe making my walk more enjoyable. I would ignore the red local mini buses which slowed down in anticipation of me waving it to stop for me. When I had too many shopping bags, I would take the local mini bus. The red bus drivers are often very moody and drive very badly with jerky breaks which shake passengers off their seats. So, I would rather walk to enjoy my evening walk to the market and observe changes along the rows of townhouses.
This area used to enjoy the booming economy during the 80s when new tall buildings were built to replaced old and small shophouses. Middle class people started to settle in this old Chinese community area which was an extension of the Chinese settlement by the river in New Road. In the old days, over a hundred years ago, this area was full of fruit orchards and fields of vegetables. People were living in thatched roof huts among trees and wild gardens along narrow canals. Nowadays all the canals have become roads for vehicles and all the small rowing boats had disappeared.
Some old taxi drivers used to tell me about his childhood living in this area which was sparsely populated and being surrounded by green vegetable gardens and fruit trees. There are several old Chinese herbalist shops in this area. These were old family heritage from Chinese ancestors who migrated to Siam since the grandparents’ generation. The knowledge of Chinese medicine and herbs were passed on to the second generation. The third generation has become more modern and often went to college to become a pharmacists or medical doctors.
More Chinese offsprings became doctors, pharmacists and engineers. Their families’ hard working ethics and the drive towards success made their descendants very successful and wealthy. It’s very difficult to find a ‘pure blood’ Siamese medical doctors or engineers. This was partly because Chinese settlers were easily assimilated into Siamese culture and most families would have some Chinese relatives.
These Chinese-Thai people have become very proud of being born on this land and called themselves ‘Tai’ ( which should have been the correct spelling of our country name. ‘Thailand’ was a reactionary name invented by some western educated military officers who staged the first coup in Siam and overthrow the monarchy. They had to change the country name to inaugurate their new reign of power and as new masters of the country. It was the old Kings’ wisdom to try to unite different races of settlers in Siam as one people without trying to impose any changes to their belief systems and cultures. That’s probably why these immigrants and settlers have pictures of the old kings and queens in their houses.
Things have slowly changed along this old road which is connected to New Road (the first road built during the reign of King Rama V). The inhabitants are mostly Chinese people who have been here for at least sixty years, since their parents’ generations. Where there’s an old Chinese settlement, one would certainly find an old market place and small alleys full of fast food stalls nearby. These Chinese people have always been very good at cooking, judging from my Chinese relatives and all the aunties. So, these people would either sell Chinese snacks, sweets or make fresh noodles or open a small eatery to earn some income. I have met a seventy years’ old Chinese lady still selling Thai sweets by the road in the evening.
Things have become modernised: trendy bars, air conditioned restaurants and steak house could be spotted along my walk. Surprisingly, two new weeds shop have just opened after weeds have become legalised in Thailand. Luckily, there are still some old shops selling electrical gadgets and another shop selling needles and wool for knitting. This shop reflected the old trend years ago when suddenly knitting and crocheting became very popular among students and housewives. These days most of these shops have disappeared.
The traffic in the evening could be quite bad some days as drivers tried to avoid the traffic jams around nearby motorways. This narrow road has several short cuts through narrow roads towards city center. The red mini bus drivers are experts on secret short cuts in this area. There’s a new car park by the market. This made it very convenient for people to do shopping at this market. Several months ago, I surveyed this market and found a nice vendor. So, I have been buying vegetables from this vendor in late afternoon.
This market combines the morning and evening markets together. Some morning markets would become empty after lunch time when morning vendors would return to their houses. In evening market, vendors would be opening their stalls around 4pm and closing around 8pm. I prefer to have my walk in the evening so this market suits me just fine. The vegetables are always fresh as vendors have to get their vegetables at the whole sale market early afternoon and transport them in crates to their stalls to be ready by 4 pm. Prices of vegetables are always cheaper than those in supermarkets. We could always haggle for some reduction in local markets which makes the process more lively. Usually this vendor would give me reduction as I have become her regular customer.
After getting my weekly supply of vegetables, I would walk along the road observing other shops and snack stalls. The atmosphere has become more lively than last year but the place has not become crowded like before the lockdown. Perhaps financial problems have made people very careful about their spending. My two bags of vegetables cost me about 10 dollars and would last me the whole week. I would get at least two kinds of mushrooms available at the stall every time. I hope this vendor would stay at this market forever, her selection of vegetables really work for me.
I always enjoy seeing old bicycle shops as they remind me of my childhood. My father took four of us, naughty kids, to a bicycle shop to choose a bicycle. It was a very exciting day as it was the first time my father took us shopping, I still remember that red bicycle very well. In those days, all bicycles were imported so they were very sturdy and strong. I spent hours on that bicycle roaming around the neighbourhood on my secret adventure without telling my parents. I did buy some spare parts for my second hand bicycle in the shop. The vendor told me she learned this trade from her father and tried her best to look after the business. She told me she wasn’t certain whether her kids would want to keep this family business.
So, the fabric of our society is changing drastically in the near future. Younger generations of people would prefer to buy things online so all these small shops would disappear along with the local markets. The energy costs for transportation would add to much to the cost that profit margins would be much reduced. I dread the days when the supply chains would finally break down. But I do believe that things won’t get that bad as there would be some unexpected actions by some anonymous people in authoritative positions who would try to avert disastrous consequences; some past incidents had shown that we had some guardian angels hidden behind the scenes.
The street food alleys have become lively again though it is less crowded. On my way back, a cat was crying out for food. So I bought a fish ball stick for him. He didn’t like the fish balls. The fried noodle vendor told me that this cat only liked fried chicken and grilled pork. Every vendor seemed to know him very well. One elderly lady told me that this cat would be crying out for his dinner here everyday. After he had his dinner he would walk back into the alley to sleep at his post. So, he’s the vendors’ cat.
I decided to walk all the way back with two bags of vegetables so I could burn more calories. Looking at the traffic at night reminded me of how fast time flew by. I just dropped inside a small supermarket for five minutes. When I came out, the sky was already dark. All the shops and stalls were lit up with strange night time ambience. I lost my orientation of time for a brief moment. Reality keeps on changing with time and I have to be alert to catch up with the present. The feelings and sensations from my market day’ s experience would be recorded in my memories so that I could recall the past one day when more changes have transformed this old Chinese market surroundings.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.
#marketfriday created by @dswigle.