Pak Khlong Flower Market
Bangkok’s historic Pak Khlong Flower Market has a long and most illustrious history. During the reign of the first king of the current dynasty, Rama I, there was a floating market at the site where the market is today; back in the 18th century.
Later on toward the end of the 19th century the fresh market had become primarily a fish market. The fish market eventually became the produce market that has been on the site for more than 60 years at this point.
The shift from produce in general to flowers specifically started happening after Talat Thai – the sprawling complex of numerous warehouses on the outskirts of Bangkok – started sucking in more and more of the wholesale produce customers.
Flowers are ubiquitous in Thai society; on top of being used every day by many people in ceremony and prayer, flowers are also used as decorations, for their fragrance, in cuisine, and in more ways than I know of or can imagine. Flower sellers push carts or knock on the windows of cars stopped at red lights throughout the city at all hours of the day and night. Many of them start their mornings at Talat Pak Khlong (or at least their suppliers do).
It is probably the most fragrant and colorful of all of Thailand’s countless markets and is filled with a dizzying range of flowers throughout all three of the seasons.
The smell of the market hits you even over food stalls tens of meters before you are even upon it and the range of factory stimulus that hits you when you’re in the thick of the market is almost overwhelming. A sensory explosion all together.
While fresh flowers don’t necessarily make the best souvenirs, but Pak Khlong flower market is a most worthy destination for its dizzying multi-sensory natural aesthetic.
