Watch a Train Run Through Thailand’s Most Dangerous Market

We know that, at least at first glance, many markets in Thailand look the same. But one that definitely stands out is the Maeklong Railway Market. Why? Because it has a train running through the middle of it several times a day. Right down the middle and close enough to touch. Only in Thailand!
A charming little warning bell goes off over the speaker system just a few minutes before the train comes. Within a few minutes of receiving the warning, vendors pull back their specially designed awnings before the train comes, sometimes only moments before. That’s why the market is locally known as the Talat Rom Hoop (ตลาดร่มหุบ) which translates into “Market Umbrella Close.” The train’s fog horn announces its arrival just before it rounds the bend. Now that’s a sound you can’t ignore. The coolest thing about this market is that it adjusts itself and perfectly encapsulates the train as it rolls through. The awnings are pulled back only as far as necessary. The baskets of fruits and vegetables are shifted just enough as to not be sliced by the metal wheels. The train passes by with about a foot to spare, both beneath and to the sides of the carts. Visitors and vendors stand daringly close. At least, closer than to any moving train, metro, or subway we’ve ever been around. Once the train passed, the vendors immediately, and quite nonchalantly we might add, put the awnings back into their original places. Everyone went back to normal as if nothing extraordinary had ever happened and it’s hard to believe that tons of metal just rumbled its way through.
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