Roadside Sales

[ncr]

You all know the typical sight along rural highways: long rows of bamboo shacks/stalls manned by farm folk - usually all selling the same product (a seasonal fruit or something the region is famous for) over a stretch of sometimes several kilometers. Like, one seller every 150m or so, and then there are 20 or 25 of them in a row.

One could almost say it is an essential part of Thai culture to stop by the roadside on longer trips 'upcountry' and sample some fruit or local fare, or buy something to bring as souvenirs/gifts for the family or colleagues back home.

During my latest road trip from the Northeast back to Bangkok, I came up with the idea to make a list of all those I have encountered over the years (and can remember).

Some typical sales locations (according to my personal experience) in brackets.

1) edible:

• Cassava/sweet potato (man sampalang, man kaeo) [Maha Sarakham]
• Clams
• Coconuts (wun maphrao)
• Forest honey (nam phueng pa) [around Ban Phai/Khon Kaen]
• Grilled chicken/fish and sticky rice (gai yang pla pao khao niao)
• Khao lam (sticky rice with beans, cooked in a bamboo tube)
• Lychees
• Oranges [Lopburi]
• Persimmones (luk phlap)
• Pineapples [Chiang Rai]
• Rat Meat (field rat: nuu naa) [Sa Kaeo]
• Sai mai (a kind of sweet related to the Thai crepe, roti)
• Sausage (Isaan style naem and local specialty mam) [Muang Phon/Khon Kaen]
• Sea salt [Samut Songkhram]
• Sugarcane juice
• Sweet corn

2) non-food items:

• Wheel caps & alloy rims
• Canvas & hard tops for the backs of pickup trucks
• Hammocks [Phetchabun, Chaiyaphum]
• Kites
• Woven baskets & other assorted handicraft items

If you know of more things, it would be nice if you could share your observations here.

[Ahoerstemeier]

If you know of more things, it would be nice if you could share your observations here.

Never made it a systematic list like you created above, so the only thing I can exactly add is the fruit wine while approaching Mae Sai. Also nearby it had strawberries, but they tasted very watery...

There are also two kinds of the road-side stores. One is a very plain shop, one person sitting in the open with just one or two products on display, and of course many of the same kind next to each other like you described. The second is a long row of small huts, where also one product dominates, but it usually has many more things like plastic souvenir, an eating place in between, and so on. The most prominent examples I can recall from my trips so far are the dry bananas in Kamphaeng Phet or the red eggs of Surat Thani close to Chaiya.

[ncr]

Should make a photo collection of these things......

[ncr]

There are also two kinds of the road-side stores. One is a very plain shop, one person sitting in the open with just one or two products on display, and of course many of the same kind next to each other like you described. The second is a long row of small huts, where also one product dominates, but it usually has many more things like plastic souvenir, an eating place in between, and so on.

Not exactly sure what you mean by the second one, but I also noticed a somewhat different type - for example around Amphoe Pak Chong (west of Khorat) there are one or two places that are more like rest areas in appearance, with the stalls packed wall-to-wall, adjacent parking spaces and (I think) some restaurants thrown in. These are also brightly lit at night time and presumably selling 24/7.......

Not quite sure what they are actually offering (since I never stopped there), but it appeared like things pre-packed in plastic and is most probably khanom of various kinds.

[ncr]

Then of course, a related, but quite different variety of roadside shops are what I would maybe term "souvenir wholesale markets", for lack of a proper word.

This is where the tour buses stop and release groups of (Thai) tourists, ready to go on a shopping spree for their loved ones and colleagues. (Because it is an unwritten rule that when you travel, you have to bring something back for those who stayed at home.)

Like the big highway restaurants, they are more like factory halls, with cold neon lighting and row upon row of the same or similar products. They also sport huge advertising boards (sometimes kilometers in advance).

Must be very popular with Thais, while I guess the average farang finds the concept less appealing.

Among the most memorable ones are the humongous moji (a local pastry somewhat resembling a Chinese moon cake) shops in Kamphaeng Phet. Between Cha-am and Phetchaburi there are also some of these establishments, selling, among other things, a tasty coconut/caramel dessert prepared in something like a rectangular cake pan (heck, forgot the name). (I think it's similar to this - though not made with pandan, and thus not greenish in color -, but the bastards don't mention the Thai name.)

[Ahoerstemeier]

Seems like I haven't done any photo of these road side stalls or markets despite traveling in Thailand so often already. But I could find two photos on the web to illustrate the two type I was talking about.

The small one-product sale point is a bit like this, though the one the photo look like a rather luxury version already.

The larger markets look like this.

[ncr]

The small one-product sale point is a bit like this, though the one the photo look like a rather luxury version already.

That's a hi-so stall indeed!

The larger markets look like this.

Yes, that's similar to what I described for Pak Chong.

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Slightly off-topic (urban foodstall), but this shot is really great (found by searching Getty for "Thailand+shopping+road"):

[Jromerz]

Even coming into Bangkok along Borom Rachachonanee Road from Nakorn Pathom there are several stalls selling pomelo and others selling a kind of stewed/marinated duck (Ped Palo เป็ดพะโล้), both of which are specialties of the area. Mostly in Nakorn Chai Si and Sam Phran districts, though in the past there used to be many more stalls, many selling directly from the orchards and duck farms (when there was more agricultural land).

Also cannot forget the stretch of highway in Samut Sakhon where they sell salt directly from the salt fields for a few kilometers.

Seen some highway stretches in the northeast where there are loads of kite sellers.

As for the ones near Pak Chong, if its the same one I'm thinking of, they are large rest areas connected to gas stations selling foodstuffs and souvenirs, food courts, and even some little massage stalls for weary travelers. There are quite a few of these large rest stops near each other. Mostly private coaches and private cars stop there.

[ncr]

The small one-product sale point is a bit like this, though the one the photo look like a rather luxury version already.

The larger markets look like this.

Another difference is that the small ones usually have a hand-written sign announcing the single product that they are selling, while the big ones don't (and offer a certain variety of things).