Mae Klong railway market will be without trains passing for six months

BANGKOK: -- The State Railways of Thailand (SRT) will shut down its railway stations from Ban Laem to Mae Klong in Samut Sakhon province for maintenance of the rail route for six months.

Maintenance work will begin tomorrow until November 8 this year.

This will mean that the Mae Klong railway market, a unique tourist attraction, will remain open with no train passing for six months.

But the SRT said it will deploy a locomotive at Mae Klong railway station for tourists to take photos of lively activities in the market.

The SRT said the maintenance of the Ban Laem-Mae Klong rail line or widely known among foreign tourists as “Talad Rom Hoop” railway market, will take 180 days to replace all the old sleepers and to elevate the existing level of the line higher to prevent floods.

During the six-month long maintenance and repair period, train services along the route will be halted, it said.

The train service suspension for six months will not affect the famous railway market known as Talad Rom Hoop which is the country’s only market along both sides of the rail line.

The market will remain open for visit by tourists although the train will disappear from the place for six months.

The Talad Rom Hoop or Mae Klong railway market is known as an ordinary fresh produce market located by the railway tracks.

The market turns into a tourist attraction when a train passes through it eight times a day.

Tourists will get ready for their cameras or smart phones for photo taking when the whistle of the train is heard.

As train approaches slowly, the makeshift stalls start pulling back their wheels and closing overhead shelters, and umbrellas or Rom “This hasty activities earned its name of Rom Hoop” or closing umbrellas or shelters.

The vendors, customers & tourists move to side and watch the train pass from where they were standing few minutes before.

The train goes and the stalls come out with shelters up. This also earned it another name as “Talad Rom Pook” or tying the shelters again when train has passed.

Life then goes on as usual, the locals go about buying and selling and tourists remain staring wide-eyed.

But the SRT said a locomotive will be deployed at the station for photo taking and shuttle bus services will be arranged for tourists to visit the market when train services were suspended.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/mae-klong-railway-market-will-be-without-trains-passing-for-six-months


-- Thai PBS 2015-05-12

The shutdown is a disaster for seafood market vendors upline into Bangkok southern suburbs.

The train gave them an inexpensive means to transport seafood at port prices and sell direct to the public or to street food vendors. The State should provide baht buses to run the route. Otherwise these people are out of business for 6 months.

I have travelled most places by train in Thailand and have done this trip a few times and very busy with locals but the rail tracks are desperate to be replaced on this line.For 10 baht you get " more bounce than Tigger " ....

F.J x