Pattaya Stories

Minh goes to market

Thailand is home to over 50 varieties of bananas,

My husband, Max is currently in Canada. I haven’t been back in over a decade. He tells me a lot has changed. I’m curious about things like the price of groceries, what driving on the wrong side of the road is like, and the cost of dining out. He says that I wouldn’t like most of it, he’s probably right.

Lola, the french fry Queen

Other than sharing the occasional order of fries with Lola, we don’t eat out that much. We could; it would be easy, lots of people do. After COVID, ordering in has become a huge thing. It’s not a lifestyle that we can afford.

Driving is another thing that I haven't done in years, which, with Max away, makes it more challenging to shop. You don't need a car in Bangkok. In Pattaya, vehicular transportation helps a lot.

I stocked up on all the staples at the big chain supermarkets before Max left. He’s been gone almost three weeks, and at some point I needed to augment my supplies locally.

A "baht bus"—officially known as a songthaew—is a shared, open-air pickup truck taxi that serves as the backbone of public transportation in cities like Pattaya. Local lore says it did indeed cost a single baht at one time. It’s been 10 baht a trip for as long as I can remember. Just recently it was increased to 15 baht.

I could get a motosai to take me up to the big wet market on Thepprasit Road or take the Baht Bus into Central Pattaya, both are a bit of a journey. Closer to home there’s the guy who drives around with a mini produce market tied to his scooter in a series of plastic bags and rubber bands. 7-Eleven now carries a small selection of produce all vacuum packed in plastic and it will do in a pinch. But mostly I rely on the little talad a short walk up the hill.

If I had to describe the talad, I wouldn’t call it humble, I’d be more likely to call it local. In Bangkok, little markets like this are usually held in the morning and don’t last much past noon. This market doesn’t really kick off until after 2 pm. Which means I’m often shopping in the heat of the day under its tin roof.

It’s open-air, consisting of two dusty rows of vendors. The floor may have been concrete at one time, but now it’s more like hard-packed earth. If you’ve never been here before, it could seem a little suspect. I’ve lost scope on that type of thing; I certainly wouldn’t call it sanitized, but I’m not concerned about being poisoned, and I’ve never seen a rat, at least not here.

ไข่เยี่ยวม้า (khai yiao ma) which actually translates to “horse urine egg”. No urine is involved, horse or otherwise. The pink egg is the Thai variation of a century egg or thousand year old egg.

There's a meat vendor, a fish vendor, a dried fish/curry vendor, an egg man, and the obligatory fried chicken stall. Someone has taken an old fan apart and adapted it as a device to keep the flies off the meat.

Deep fried chicken feet are not my thing

There's an older woman who sells fresh corn on the cob, steamed on the spot. This is one of the things I would miss about Thailand—the corn.

Minh’s favorite snack

In Canada, it was seasonal; here it’s not. You can buy it on the cob, off the cob, as a snack, steamed with butter, or often grilled.

Thailand cultivates over 200 distinct varieties of mangoes

There are two fruit vendors side by side; one has an old white poodle who’s almost blind. The other has a husband who makes fruit smoothies while grooving to up-country beats.

A typical fruit vendor truck. They’re very popular with the local Russians. This one is selling mangosteen, 5 kg for 100 baht.

The better deal is to get your fruit from one of the plethora of pickup trucks that circle the streets.

Thai pumpkin, banana flowers and of course a fly.

There are two vegetable vendors that carry pretty much exactly the same thing. They face each other. Honestly it feels a little awkward. I try not to show favoritism and frequent both equally.

Vendors might label produce as plod phit (pesticide-free) or san phit (safe), but this is usually a marketing term rather than a strict organic guarantee.

But I do have a favorite; it’s run by a family of women. Two sisters work the stall, while Grandma dozes in a hammock nearby, the newest baby at her side.

Thai cucumber, locally known as แตงกวา (taeng-gwa), is a staple ingredient in Thai cuisine.

You can buy tofu, fresh coconut milk, and precooked rice noodles. The assortment of green vegetables and herbs is overwhelming. There's all the vegetables that you can imagine and some you can't.

Flowering Chinese mustard greens, they’re commonly stir-fried with garlic, then added to noodle dishes.

There are lots of varieties of mushrooms, but no white button, the ones I prefer in an omelette or on pizza. You need to go to a chain supermarket and buy them. They’re mostly imported from Australia or New Zealand.

Not the typical Canadian produce aisle.

The quality is good and so is the price. You fill a grubby plastic basket with your choices, then everything gets weighed and put into a bag. It’s not certified organic. I could buy organic, but I’d be back in the chain store or speciality shop and paying a lot extra for that.

Lola’s second favorite snack

I was surprised when we first moved to Thailand how good both the lettuce and tomatoes are. The lettuce is grown locally, hydroponically. You don’t see Roma or the big Beefsteak tomatoes that my Dad liked to grow. What is common instead are the little honey tomatoes that my dog loves so much.

These machines are common in residential neighborhoods throughout Thailand because they provide a cheaper alternative to buying bottled water.

When I get back home, I sort all the produce and give it a good wash in a water and vinegar bath. Although I’ve brushed my teeth with tap water for years, I don’t clean the produce with it. I need to take a 6-liter jug and walk a little further up our street to the community water machine and drop my 10 baht in. This isn’t a Bangkok thing, and it certainly wasn’t a Canada thing, but here it’s a thing.

And like shopping at the market, I’m not bothered by that.

*Shanti C K this is what it’s like for me, to live where I am.*

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All the photos and words are mine