Ban Chambong - Weekly Mekong Talad Nut Market

[DavidFL]

Ban Chambong Talad Nut Market
The Ban Chambong talad nut, 23 kms downstream from Chiang Khong still rocks on Wednesday

There are scores of boats bringing people from Laos

The boatmen patiently wait in their boats for the shoppers to return

Supplies waiting for transport back to Laos, & when you look at the fresh produce going back to Laos you have to think that they have to lift their game in Laos?

It has rained over night & the river banks are slippery manouvering on.

Fish for sale in the market, & there were bags of them being sold to go to Laos!

a happy vendor, making money.

The current grounds are set up in the Ban Chambong school while they are re-concreting the site by the river.

The sausage stall

Lao vendors

The Ban Chambong talad nut is a beauty & well worth making the point of staying in Chiang Khong on a Tuesday night to see the market early Wednesday morning.

The market is on the GTR Golden Triangle guide map

Golden Triangle Map

 

[DavidFL]

The weekly "Talad Nut" market by the Mekong at Ban Chambong is arguably the best market you can see.
Held every Wednesday on the banks of the Mekong, hundreds of people come from Laos by boat from far away. I have even met Lao people from Tha Fa, 70 kms down the Houei Xai - Luang Namtha road. They come from that far! It is an incredible sight & you can see a lot of incredible people.
Lao people also come to sell a few natural products. They get just a few baht, but it is an event for them & it also makes you realize how poor they are and how little they have just across the river. Thailand is so so rich in comparison & yet so close.

Some images from the market.

A selection of boats moored, ready to carry people & produce back o Laos.

Any old vehicle will do for carrying goods up & down to the river market.

Loaded ready to go home, back to Laos

The market is basically divided into two sections.
One section for Thai vendors & a Lao section where the Lao vendors set up mats & sell on the ground.
This for me is the most interesting part, the people & the products they come to sell & get just a few baht.
River seaweed, bamboo shoots, mushrooms & other forest products. Life is tough in Laos!

L

The location of the market is here: Google Maps
Every Wednesday morning. Starting from 6am. I usually aim to be there 6.45-7.00Am.
The market starts to wind down by 9AM, so the earlier you go the better.

more market pics to come.

 

[DavidFL]

The Lao boats going back home get loaded up with all sorts of goods.

Waiting for your boat to go home

Loading up with cabbages & cupboards

as busy as it gets

Double bed mattresses, refrigerators, cupboards

The science of selecting the right bamboo shoots

 

[DavidFL]

A nice clip on FB from Thai Rath TV

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