Thai Mobile Market...
I pulled up to the main traffic lights by Big C (an interesting choice of name for a supermarket!) in Sai Mai and suddenly saw my chance to sneak a post into the @marketfriday community. If I can't get to the market, let the market come to me!
Many years ago, I remember a mobile grocery coming down the street where I lived as a kid, a van full of all sorts of tins and dried foodstuff along with the more unusual bits of hardware. I distinctly remember my Mum once going out and buying a two and a half-inch plug (please note that no word was left out from in front of the word 'plug')! That was about all she bought as she always complained about the freshness of their food and the high prices.
There was one thing in common to those old days back in 1970s Britain, the weather. I was going to the post office and it was tipping it down, albeit slightly warmer than it would have been back home!
This guy takes mobile grocery shops to a whole new level. At first sight, I thought it was Amazon Thailand testing out a new driverless vegetable drone until I saw one leg sticking out from under the tomatoes. How in god's name did they manage to strap all those plastic bags of fruit and veg onto a little motorbike?
I ought to be running a 'count the bags of veg' competition!
My next thought was, @marketfriday post! But then, the lights changed!
We set off in the rain, me on my little scooter clutching my phone in my left hand, my thumb hovering over the shutter button, my right hand trying to twist as hard as I could to keep up with him...
"Ma nee khun bugger Khrap, bpen au photos Market Friday post khrap." I screamed after him.
(Come here you bugger, I want some photos for my market Friday post please!)
We hurtled down the carriageway, me still clutching my phone, grabbing an occasional shot of the 60mph flying broccoli...
The rain was beating down, stinging my eyes but I didn't give up, huge upvotes filling my brain with motivation...
I saw a gap appear up the inside and a chance for a full-frontal shot...
Of course, the problem was, it would have to be a clever crossbody shot as I had the phone in my left and was wrenching the twistgrip back in the right, my wrist at an impossible angle and we were doing 45mph, in the rain, one-handed but no problem. By some strange twist of fate, I was actually wearing a helmet. Only pool ball type with no visor but at least I was safe!
HIVE OR BUST! An extra few degrees of wrist and I shot up his inside!
First attempt. I got the whites of his eyes and he was an Arsenal fan! A mobile Gooner grocery seller. The angle wasn't great as I was trying to also keep my eyes on the road as well as the screen...
Let's try another...
Hang-on. Where's he gone? I stopped and looked back just to see him disappearing around the U-turn along with my dreams of a three-figure reward dissolving in the rain...
I was left at the side of the road in a wet T-shirt and red-eyes and a phone that was beginning to mist up with condensation...
https://twitter.com/CuthbertNathen/status/1525045785175674881
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Trader using vehicles are widely used in Asian Countries such Thailand, Indonesia, but what see on the photo ,its dangerous the driver cant't see.
Very interesting what you take photos. Thank you.
You should have flagged him down to buy some veggies, that would have got you a full post and interview
Interview him? I cant speak more than a dozen words and half of those are swear words! I actually thought I knew where he was going and wanted to get ahead to see him arrive...but I was wrong. I just wahted to see how the bags were fastened to the bike!
Hahaha this made me laugh out loud @nathen007 thanks so much for that 🤣😂🤣😂🤣
What a fun. I can so see it all in front of me. What an effort you made to capture the photographs hahaha
Well done you!
Amazing to see how loaded up he was on his motorbike.
When I lived in Malta in 2019 we had little vans coming through the streets selling vegetables, fruits, eggs and water. Everyday another person came by. With different qualities of produce. Once we found out the one with the best quality we stayed with him.
Also the baker comes round with a van in Malta. It was great, if we couldn’t go out we could at least get food. Especially helpful when we had the lockdowns.
There are of course grocery stores and markets.
Oh I love those little Piaggio van things that can sell anything. I once had an idea to have a little coffee shop one like you sometimes see in beautiful European town squares. I just didnt fancy being stuck in a dodgy car park in the UK soaking wet and freezing my bits off though....we were never any good at being European :-(
Bakery on a bike would be nice here. I just cant get nice bread unless I go to the city and pay an arm and a leg at one of the French boulangeries, everything else is just awful and sweet.
Hope you have a lovely weekend :-)
They are so much fun to see indeed @nathen007 😁
O what a shame… yes, the UK and other Northern European countries are wet and the weather in general isn’t great, one the reasons I moved countries…. but there are other countries, like Portugal, France, Italy or even Spain… that will work weather wise. Who knows… one day.
The bread here in Spain is the same, to sweet and not great. Mostly I bake myself hahaha
Thank you so much, you too have a lovely weekend!
How did the driver managed to fit everything without crashing? Insane skills! 😅
Come on! At your place Ive seen them strap a plank across the seat and sit half a dozen people on a little scooter !
Hahaha You got me there! Haven't seen 12 people fit in a motorcycle in my area but yeah resourcefulness. I've seen 5 at most, 1 in front of the driver. How do they even drive? 😂😅
I enjoyed your post. How they ride with all those items on their bike I will never know. I wobble when I have a bottle of water strapped to my bike!
Haha pictures or I dont believe you! A photo story of you on a bike has to be worth a post!
I've done the odd bike blog. Hopefully, will be out again soon. I will be travelling light though! 😁
Come on. Just one little bag of Brocolli wouldn't hurt!
Ha ha! I will give it a go. 😆
That bike is so small compared to what he brings! I've seen some crazy stuff (a mobile market that also brings laundry machine) but that one is also one of the craziest mobile market I've seen.
Everywhere in Asia there are these amazing people running businesses that revolve around their motorbikes.
Do you have a scooter?
I never tire of peoples ingenuity to achieve solutions to whatever they want to do in SE Asia.
You have a great weekend Mac :-)
Wow this is a unique market on a person! Great capture!
Thank you! Always lots of surprises in Thailand.
That is really a lot of stuff to carry on a small motorcycle. We used to have these here but now it is getting less and less.
Yes, we have to capture these things before technology and improving wealth make them obsolete forever. It's nice when life improves for people, but I'll be sad when there are no longer sights like this around.
Development will bring a lot of changes to our lifestyle. Sometimes we miss the good old days.
No even in Venezuela ( which is the land of the impossible things I had seen this 😂)
WoW! He is a super rider!
Good job catching the scene .
Thank you! he is not a super rider...if he falls off the veg will cushion his fall lol I have been to Venezuela, many, many years ago. There were many wonderful sights such as this. times change :-)
Thanks for dropping by and I hope you've had a wonderful weekend :-)
Glad you 've gone to Venezuela . Where did you go there?
Hilarious! I love the fact that you had to go chase down your #MarketFriday! :) That first shot, I thought was veg piled up, and when I saw the feet sticking out! Yikes! Buried in veggies. I know it is insane, but, in some Asian countries, the most amazing sights have been seen through these eyes.
Long gone are the pushcarts from here, they used to be in the cities, but, now those carts remain in place and you come to the carts.
Was this guy going to a market you think, or was he delivering? I can't believe you actually got a shot of him! This is a #MarketFriday extraordinnaire! Thank you for thinking of us and so you know, they don't have to be typical markets... I put the suggestions down at the bottom for you!
Thank you for being part of #MarketFriday! I am honored.
#MarketFriday began as a way to reach out across the globe and learn about different cultures through their markets, especially local markets and farmers' markets, and eventually branched out and evolved over time from straight shopping to a cultural affair as it highlights how we differ and then again, how much we are alike. We have become a melting pot of culture, but, it is still the Rituals, Festivals, food, architecture, and even your language/languages that separate us... Along with the fact that is these things are normal for us. There are unwritten rules that rule our social behaviors. I see this as allowing for increased tolerance between cultures and nations, and opportunities to come together on an even playing ground. A strong culture can be beneficial to a country as it promotes unity, especially during a crisis, peaceful debate, and open dialogue. I have learned so much about all of you and it has been an amazing experience. I can only hope that learning about each other can help us work together for a peaceful world.
Fridays are all about the #MarketFriday Challenge! Looking to take part in it? Here is how:
Take pictures! Be creative!
5. Drop the link into the MarketFriday comment section so I can find it
**7. You must put #MarketFriday by @dswigle somewhere on your post.
As always, please remember! #MarketFriday loves you!
Upped and reposted