On a Saturday during my trip to Bangkok, we also got to visit the Ko Kret Island and the Chatuchak JJ Market. We took this tour together with my friends Ursula and Gunther of MyVideoMedia, with whom we also visited the Chao Phraya River And The Royal Barges Museum (here).
Ko Kret Island
Ko Kret is separated from the rest of Bangkok by the Chao Phraya River. It originally dates to 1722, when a canal was constructed to create a shortcut that would bypass the Om Kret branch of the Chao Phraya River. As a result over the years, due to natural erosion the canal widened making it a separate little island which can only be reached by a boat. There are no cars on this island, so people commute either by foot or bicycles.
Local transportation on the island of Ko Kret
The Ko Kret island is a home to the Mon Tribes, who dominated Central Thailand between the 6th and 10th centuries and are known for their distinct pottery making techniques.
The Koh Kret island is open to the public on weekends, and this is when the locals get the chance to trade their goods and foods to generate income. The island is renowned for its food and most of it has a unique flavour prepared using the Mon Tribes traditional recipes. There are these flowers that are fried in syrup that have an interesting flavour, we got to sample a few.
Fried flowers
Our sweet guide Dom was explaining about the traditional recipes
The landmark of the Ko Kret island is the Wat Poramai Yikawat temple, inside you will find a rather interesting ceiling and of course a gold statue of Buddha. Some temples prohibit photos, we were lucky to get a shot of this one.
Wat Poramai Yikawat temple
Ceiling inside the Wat Poramai Yikawat temple
Pagoda at Wat Paramaiyikawat in Koh Fret
Local cat
Traditional Ko Kret dessert
It is part of the Buddhism ritual to buy turtles and to set them free
Pottery
The Mon Tribes are known for their pottery making techniques. The clay which is used for making the pottery is collected on the island. Walking around the island you will spot a number of local vendors who sell their pottery on the sidewalks, we also visited a pottery making shop where you can actually see the pottery makers in process, making creations based on the skills which have been carried on through generations.
The clay is collected on the island
Chatuchak JJ Market
Mini bus selfie
After spending our morning at the Ko Pret island we headed to Bangkok’s most famous weekend market Chatuchak Market which is also known as JJ Market. Here visitors can find more than 8,000 stalls. First thing first we had lunch which is found inside the market place in section 2. Unfortunately I cannot read the name since it is Thai but from the photos you can see what the restaurant looks like.
Shrimp dish in coconut shell
After our traditional Thai lunch we had time to go shopping. The market is huge and all the alleys are grouped into sections depending on what they are selling. You can get a map of the market place which will help you to get around.
The day was organised by the hosts of TBEX Asia 2015. All opinions stated are my own.
