Khlong Toey Market

Meat Market

Khlong Toey Market is a very big market with fresh meat, seafood, vegetables, fruit and a few other bits and pieces. And I mean fresh. At the front, just off Rama 4, are cages of live animals, mainly ducks and chickens. Entering the market I walked over a small canal which put Hanoi’s pollution to shame. It was full of all kinds of filth with disease looking determined to jump out of the water and bite you. The smell was putrid but I can’t be sure of the source. It could have been the canal or the animal’s shit or maybe the chopping of meat and fish that was happening all around me. I guess it was a combination of all three. My stomach was not prepared for this onslaught of smells so early in the morning. There was a definite gag at one point so I pinched my nose and took in a deep breath. I really didn’t want to vomit in front of everyone.

Polluted canal

There was kind of an animal assembly line where they originate out the front before moving to cages further in the market. The live animals sit on the bottom level and the dead, plucked, gutted ready to consume ones sit on the top; only a short distance away. Seeing this scene has put me off chicken for a week or so, until I repress the memory, and confirmed the fact that killing animals is really not my thing.

Cooking a duck

Caged ducks

The aisles are quite thin and on either side a small stalls of meat and fish. The workers are busy cutting, chopping, killing, moving, selling and talking making it a lively place. The different meats sit on a table or hang from hooks, a ratty umbrella protecting them from the heat. The market seemed to be a little more full-on than in Hanoi. Fish lay in tubs without any water; chickens are killed next to their buddies; big chunks of meat, including pigs heads hang at face level as you walk by. It is an interesting experience.

Fruit for sale

The long aisles go on for a while so it was a welcome relief to find the fruit and vegetable section; a bigger section I think than the meat. Here you can find cheap fruit and vegetables and the setting is much better – unless of course you prefer watching fish chopped up in mass numbers. It was a good walk up and down the aisles seeing what that had for sale; a good place to come back for the weekly shopping.
Despite the unsettled stomach I was very happy to go and visit the market. I really enjoy seeing the locals going about their normal lives and this was certainly an authentic Thai experience; I didn’t see any other foreigners.

Gold fish for sale

How to get there: Take the MRT to Khlong Toei and walk East on Rama 4 Road. It is on your right just after the intersection with Ratchadphisek Road.