Thread: Chiang Mai in June - In Pictures

Ah! we were on our way to the market to check availability os sheep & hog casings. The market, called Talat MuaengMai (ตลาดเมืองใหม่), is a flurry activity at any time of the day or night. Going home from the bars at 4:00 AM I'll ride through vendors selling 10 kilo bags of cabbage for 45 baht and local small farmers selling their fresh vegetables from the back of a pick up.
Fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices, meat, poultry and seafood by the bagful or hte truckload can be had here at the best prices in town. Kitchen equipment, packaged goods are available as well. I once bought a couple dozen cases of Sunglass copies here to sell back in the states.

Talat Mueang Mai is a rambling area not far from the US consulate. To give it some rough boundaries, it is north of Wichayanon rd, east of Meaung Samut Rd, and filter north up to about Wang Sing Kham Soi 1. It is border on the east by The Ping River, the road running along the river is Wang Sing Kham.

This is a thriving Asian market where smels can assault, or soothe, your tortured senses, depending on where you are. The meat and fish areas are best dealt with quickly. Along the alleyways in the market you'll find just about anything you'd need to whip up a tasty snack or gourmet meal Plenty of colors to please the eye:


These guys are available for hire to carry your purchases to your truck ot car. Most restaurateurs in Chiang Mai know about Talat Mueang Mai and this is where they buy their produce so these guys stay pretty busy.


You certainly don't need to own a restaurant or grocery store to enjoy shopping here and as with any market in Thailand this is place to socialize as well as supply your kitchen:

Large truck loads of vegetables herbs, spices fruit make their way here everyday. Some set up a sort of camp and settle in a for a day or two, however long it take to sellout, before going back to do it again.
There are two larger covered warehouse type affairs for thes folks to set up shop in and the activity no, chaos, surrounding these two buildings is infectious. I always get pumped up when visiting here, buying more than I can ever eat before it goes bad, but I am learning to be more realistic.

Entering the more modern of the two covered areas:


Inside; Bedlam:




Fresh lettuce, ten baht a kilo. Buy one or buy ten:


Fresh Chilies anyone?
I have bought as little as 100 grams here:


No hard sell here the price is right and the vendor unconcerned:


if Norman Rockwell were Thai:

Back out in the street the sun burns yur eyes for a minute or two, I turn south.
I liked this stall:


This Guy thinks he's gonna be famous as I take his picture:
Either that or he's happy to have a customer:


What? Do don't wanna banana?

This is the south end of the main artery that run north/south through the hear of the market. exiting the street we are in front of the US consulate. I tried to get a picture but was chased off by a bunch of angry lookin Thai security Guards. Where's the fuckin Marines?

It's thirty or forty meters to the River frontage road and then about 100 meters north to get back to the Market area. Bodies of ater whether in mothin or static are always worth a picture or two:


The guardians of the market:


like I said, "or two:"


We walk along the river headed north this begins to become Fresh fruit area Assorted fruits warehouses full of pineapples and bananas an alleyway dedicated to oranges, I've bought good juicing oranges for 40 baht per ten kilo bag here, the prices have skyrocketed to 70 - 80 baht now.
This usually signals the end of our walk through the market, we turn into the soi and head for our car parked on the west side, no too late to pick up a few bags oif fresh fruit:


THe way in is the way out:


A pleasant and successful day we found our hog casings although they do not have sheep casings, the supplier has two grades of hog casings teh higher grade just being of a closer size tolerance. We walked out with a kiol of avacado for 20 baht all perfectly ripe and ready to eat, a kilo of Mangosteen, some Rambutan and fresh long gan.

I always enjoy this market and could spend several days photographing it and never really do it justice. But I'll go back and keep trying.

I live in CM and these are good shots. If I were stupid enough to return to my home country, images like this would force an outbreak of meloncoly and a need to return.

Epic thread, mate. An enjoyable read (with great pics)

Really enjoyed that- thanks Frankie.