Update: February 2020
Over the past 7 years, we have tried our best to showcase the beauty of Thailand, be it people, culture, food or the land.
Last year, we had the honour of documenting a local tour, following local expert Khun Maitree as he brought us on a personal journey through Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market, which ended with a heart-warming cooking session with his grandmother, who showed us how to cook from scratch, her Pad Thai, which is a key part of her labour of love for her family, whom she cooked for everyday for many decades of her life.
With a heavy heart, we would like to share that Grandma has passed away late last year, and would also like to express our deepest gratitude to Khun Maitree and his family for allowing us the opportunity to experience grandma’s loving heart. It was a moment we will not forget.
It also reminded us that what we are doing is not limited to showcasing Thailand. We are also celebrating life. We are immortalising people and encapsulating precious moments. It is a privilege that we cannot take for granted, and a responsibility we will hold even closer to our hearts moving forward.
PS. Khun Maitree has now resumed his role as TakeMeTour’s local expert and is conducting the same tour, and teaching his Grandma’s delicious Pad Thai personally.
You can’t come to Thailand and not visit a floating market. Mention floating market and two names will come to mind – Damnoen Saduak and Amphawa. However, these two floating markets are located outside Bangkok and requires you to travel at least 1.5 hours on the road. We recently came to know about a very local and hidden floating market within Bangkok – Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market. We booked a tour on TakeMeTour because they are specialised in private tours where a local expert will bring you around for the tour.
The local expert are locals from the area who know the place very well and hence would like to show you the hidden places that you will never know. It is something special which tours from travel agencies will not be able to offer.
We arrived at Talad Phlu BTS station and headed to Exit 2 to meet our local expert – Maitree. Well, if you are travelling with a family, perhaps it’s better to book the optional Hotel Pickup as it’s more convenient.
After arriving at Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market, we embarked on a boat tour around. Bangkok is known as the “Venice of the East” so it’s interesting to see the local way of life along the canal!
First stop – Wat Saphan Floating Market
This is a small floating market just beside the temple called “Wat Saphan”.
At the temple, Maitree taught me about how the locals pray and also taught me how to “wai” properly.
We then went to explore the market around Wat Saphan and the locals here are extremely friendly. We got to see so many local vegetables and classic desserts that are not easily found nowadays. The local vendor even gave us a very sour fruit to try, just look at my expression!
Before leaving Wat Saphan Floating Market, Maitree bought his favourite street food – Khanom Bueang, for us to try.
Second stop – Niyom Orchid Farm
Niyom Orchid Farm is one of the largest orchid farm in Bangkok and flower lovers will definitely love this place.
Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market
Amazingly huge! Khlong Lat Mayom is so much bigger than what we expected. Maitree told us that the market consisted of old and new zones because it’s so popular with the locals that they had to increase the capacity of the market. There is so much food to eat but unfortunately, we couldn’t try all of them because we had a cooking class with grandma later!
Alright, we got to try some street food first because we were hungry and Maitree highly recommended this! Really good!
We left for Maitree’s house and got to meet his grandma who is 82 years old! Every morning, she’s the first person to wake up to cook for the family! Their family is so blessed!
These are the ingredients required for our Pad Thai cooking session, all already prepared for us!
Grandma started by showing us how to cook the Pad Thai. My task was to watch and learn so that I could replicate it when I cook my own Pad Thai later.
And now, it’s my turn! Grandma was beside me all the way and patiently guided my through the process. Just by looking, she knew what was wrong with my Pad Thai and taught me how to rectify it. A true master of her craft.
The lunch spread, aside from the Pad Thai. So sumptuous!
Can you guess which Pad Thai was made by me?
With grandma’s secret sauce, every Pad Thai will taste good easily! I’m amazed that I was able to cook up such a delicious Pad Thai! I was secretly hoping she would sell her sauce so that I can replicate the same Pad Thai back home for my family and friends.
After lunch, Maitree even gave us a handmade souvenir by his wife and then proceeded to drive us back to Talad Phlu BTS station so that we could head back to the city conveniently.
So glad to have booked this private tour by Maitree from TakeMeTour because Maitree is indeed a local expert. He knew the places so well, explained in detail and also showed us which were the must-try food at the floating market, especially in the old zone. If I were to visit Klong Lat Mayom on my own, the experience would totally be different! The overall experience was just so heatwarming and we were glad to be able to make a new friend through this tour – Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market Tour and Home-Cooked Pad Thai Class!
TakeMeTour offers authentic experiences from the locals which you won’t find anywhere else. Since every tour is a private tour, it is more flexible and can be adjusted to our needs. At the end of the day, you don’t just meet a typical guide, you make a new local friend who shows you around his hood!
We can’t wait to join more tours on TakeMeTour platform!
This post is brought to you in partnership with TakeMeTour.
