The annual visit from Colin and Mary is upon us. Those readers (Jock, Billy and Camberley) who were part of the wildly alcoholic and hedonistic working environment that was the Aberdeen oil industry in the early 1980s, will remember them; and we have stayed in touch over the years. After many years of bleeding the EU funds as a computer consultant in Brussels, Colin is now back in Aberdeen and teaching a new generation of Aberdonians how to, as P.J. O’Rourke would put it, drive fast on drugs while getting your wing-wang squeezed and not spill your drink. Or in short, he is a driving instructor.
They have an annual pilgrimage to Thailand and Australia, and we are always happy when they call in to see us, but finding new places to take them is becoming a struggle. And so it was that we investigated the new floating market on the road south out of Pattaya.
From the road this looks like a small collection of building built on top of a muddy pond. But once you get inside the complex… you find there are more than seventy five shops on 23 rai of muddy lake. There are shops selling souvenirs, an assortment of cafes, and boats on the lake selling food which you can buy and sit and eat on the wooden decking.
Some of the food on sale is traditional Thai:
Some is more Western in origin:
The place is very much aimed at Thai customers, and it is all the better for it. The quality of souvenirs is superior to the junk they sell around Pattaya, and nobody hassles you to buy things. We didn’t attempt the purchase of a meal, but we had some good Thai coffee and some quite excellent coconut ice cream, served in a flesh-filled coconut shell with a cup of coconut juice on the side, all for 25 baht (or 76 pounds sterling at current exchange rates).
All in all, a much better experience than I expected and a recommended place to take visitors as a pleasant place to wander around for a couple of hours.
Toilets or anal sex…?
Comments 🔗
2009-01-25| todd saysyeah, we went there a few weeks back for something to do, nothing new there or anything even interesting IMO.
i like it how the letters are already falling off the signs, typical Thai build quality… there was an idea, but it was poorly thought out and executed.
i didn’t see anyone buy anything, tough to find people actually looking in shops, the only things selling seemed to be coffee / drinks and food.
I won’t bother going back.