The “NEW” Train Night Market: Ratchada

Also known as New Rod Fai Train Night Market Ratchada, Train Market, Rot Fai Ratchada, New Rot Fai (and various combinations of those words). Why is this important to know? Well, there is another Rot Fai Train Market (on Srinakarin Street near Seacon Square) that is still in operation. My post about that is HERE and the directions on how to get there is HERE.

What’s the difference other than location? The Ratchada one has more bars (some two storey ones too) making it a bit more lively and the Srinakarin one has more vintage stuff. Both have a really good selection of food and the usual clothing / accessories shops. Ratchada’s premises is also way more crowded due to the tour groups, which are mainly Chinese from what I’ve seen/heard, the two times I’ve been there. Having said that, the main crowded area is only the entrance where the market’s signage is because that’s where the meeting point for the tour groups are, as well as the selfie point for all the other visitors. Once you get past that crowd in that area, it’s not so bad inside. You won’t have the run of the place nor will you herded around. It may get a bit squeezy in the shopping rows if some people wearing backpacks stop to shop.

While not as big as Chatuchak it’s still pretty big. Actually both Rot Fai Train Night Markets are big and spacious. A lot less narrow than Chatuchak (especially the inner covered areas). I like the layout of Rot Fai Ratchada the best, nice and straight rows of shops, making it pretty hard to get lost in there, even for me (I got turned around at both Chatuchak and Rot Fai Srinakarin), haha.

Although I wanted to have dinner at Bangcroc (first choice) to try the croc meat dishes or the seafood (2nd choice), I lost the vote 2-1 on both venues/dishes. We had ribs instead which was pretty good, tourist prices but not that exorbitant. We didn’t dine in the bar zone because my youngest wasn’t old enough, lol. Speaking of drinks, according to my kids there’s some interesting bubble tea flavors goin on at this night market.

The one thing my daughters liked most at this Rot Fai Train Night Market was the local artisans peddling their goods. For example, hand made, animal shaped, clay earrings that look like they’re biting your earlobe when you wear them. We hadn’t seen these anywhere else and found them quite “cute”. I can’t remember what the deal was and how much I eventually had to fork out (hard for me to resist cool looking local art especially when my kids ask for it), that’s how I ended up with orcas and sharks (my kids picked them for me to fulfill the deal), I was looking at something else already. Anyways, I bought a couple of sleeveless T-shirts from an artist (I like to support local talent whenever I can) and got an auto discount (I didn’t have to ask, when this happens I won’t bargain even though my Thai friends tell me I should). I even had a pleasant chat with the chap about Thai art and the local art scene!

Other shops we found were a couple of vintage shops and a toy shop (unboxed figurines) but I prefer the variety, quantity and quality of such items at Rot Fai Srinakarin.

I think both are pretty much the same (earring stall and embroidered sleeveless shop aside) on the new things. Rot Fai Train Night Market Srinakarin has a lot more vintage items whereas Rot Fai Ratchada has more bars that are actually in a separate section with age limit entry signs, making it more lively with the blaring music and the touting waitress’. Oh, if you’re looking for pets, the Srinakarin premises has more pet shops. That’s pretty much it, if you’re pressed for time and had to pick only one, I hope this posts helps you to decide. If you have time to visit both, why not? I think it’s worth it.

Thanks for viewing and best wishes!

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Talad Rod Fai Night Market behind Seacon Square, a haven for vintage stuff

Other names for this “Train Night Market” are Old Rot Fai, and Srinakarin Road Night Market and pretty much any combination of those words (and small spelling changes like Talat or Rot).  Why does this matter? Well because the “New” Rot Fai Train Market is located at Ratchadal. I’ll post about the Ratchada one shortly but I have to say, I like this one a lot better!

Once we got to the market, I understood why my daughter wanted me to check this place out. It’s full of vintage / used stuff. I found it absolutely amazing because I love looking at old/history stuff and I collect certain things (currently I’m looking for a Scottie Pippen Dream Team jersey and a Richard Brodeur ‘V’ Jersey, at affordable prices lol). Anyways, I was quite impressed as I found quite a lot of pro sports jerseys (NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB). There are big shops with a lot of really old things in them. Walking through some of them made me feel like a “picker,” you know from the TV show, “American Pickers,” haha.

Vintage vehicles are cool too. These are spread out all over the place, I’m not even sure I saw them all as, I got turned around (ie lost) a few times. Although not too crowded, it was lively and comfortable to walk around, shop and eat.

Aside from the antiques, the other unique thing I found in this night market are the pet stalls. These aren’t the SPCA baby animals on display asking for donations booths, but stalls actually selling kittens, puppies, bunnies and even hedgehogs!

There were two things that I saw in this night market that I’ve never seen (live and up close) anywhere else in the world, a scooter with training wheels.This little guy zipped by so quickly, I only got off 2 shots, this is the better of the two. I was too tired to get up and go get a better shot.

Anyways the second amazing first for me at Rot Fai Train Night Market was this . . .

WTF is that?! I couldn’t get a good picture because it was scampering around trying to avoid the kid that was trying to pet it. Then when it could find a spot to hide, the owner just dragged it back out, sometimes using his foot to move it. I felt kinda bad for it and moved closer to try to get a picture of it (because I still had no idea what it was at that point but it looked cool). As soon as I squatted down it ran over to me and stood up trying to climb up, I think? Or maybe it was asking me to pick it up, I don’t know. I put my hand down and it grabbed my hand with its’ two little paws and just stood there looking around. It was so cute! So I petted it for a while. Its’ fur was kind of rough except the belly, that was really soft. Then the kid came back and this rodent looking creature positioned itself so that my hand was between it and the kid, lol. Anyways, I stood up to leave and had to ask the owner what it was that I was petting and he said “prairie dog.” I walked away thinking how the !%@$@# did he get a prairie dog? I was greeted by my scowling kid and wife both trying to squirt hand sanitizer on my hands and legs. Apparently they didn’t think the prairie dog looked that healthy because it had some bald spots, most noticeably on its’ hind quarters. Other than that I thought it look healthy, felt bad for its’ situation though but what can you do? The owner is openly “walking” it through a busy night market, so it must be ok, right? I thought prairie dogs were indigenous to the Canadian Prairies so it’s not like I could swipe the thing and let it go in Bangkok, right?

Anyways, if you’re into vintage stuff you’ll want to come check out this night market, there’s lots of the usual things to see and eat but if you’re hunting for vintage stuff you’ll spend at least a whole night looking through racks and racks of stuff! Here’s some pics:

I think it’s best if you find something you like, not to show too much interest when asking for the price, as some of the shop keepers were very heavy handed in naming their price. A lot of the things we were interested in did not have a price tag and some shop keepers would not budge on their price. For example, my daughter wanted this wind breaker type jacket with a crocodile logo on it (I don’t know what brand it was but she did apparently) The shop keeper wanted $2000 BHT for it, I reluctantly offered $1200 (my daughter really, really liked the jacket…sigh) and the shop keep just said, “no.” My wife inquired about some other articles of clothing and still no budging on the prices. So we left. An aisle or two later my kid found a another jacket, as did I, and the price on the sign was $300 BHT, the lady dropped the price to $200 BHT when she saw we had a few items in our hands. We didn’t even have to ask which made my kid happy and instantly forget about that other jacket, lol.

Oh, I found a two story shop selling anime figures too, prices were relatively the same as in the Mega Plaza (my post about Mega Plaza, HERE).

Anyways, lotsa cool stuff with a wide spectrum of prices at Rot Fai Night Train Market, so look around before committing to something a bit too pricey. Thanks for viewing and best wishes!

All the photos (unless otherwise noted in the post) were taken by me and are available for sale. If you’re interested in buying an image or three, 😃 please don’t hesitate to contact me for more details.

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Getting to Talad Rod Fai Night Market in Bangkok, Thailand

Around the corner from Seacon Square is a night market named Rod Fai night market. The best way to get here as of this writing is via taxi. We took a Grab taxi to Seacon Square earlier in the afternoon to do some shopping/exploring. If you’re interested HERE‘s the post.

To get to Rod Fai night market from Seacon Square, exit out the main entrance and turn left. If you’re not walking parallel to the (as of this post) under construction BTS tracks and with the flow of traffic, you’re in the wrong place for these directions. Keep walking until you reach an intersection at which you will turn left again (don’t cross the street though). It’s only about 100m away and at 6pm you’ll see street vendors setting up shop on the sidewalk.

After turning left keep walking and keep to the sidewalk, you’ll find yourself walking through a tunnel sort of thing with bars and some shops. This is not the start of the night market it’s like a warm up or opening act. Further down, it’ll open up a bit and you’ll see a bunch of stalls/shops. After walking maybe 200m through shop houses and crossing a street or two. When you cross the street where there’s a pointy roofed structure (picture below), that is pretty much the start of the market.

If you’re into antique’s and vintage things (sports jerseys especially) I found the biggest selection of all the night markets I’ve gone to in Bangkok. There’s all of the usual night market shops there too. If you’ve got kids and stroller for them, I think a day trip to Seacon Square mall and then to Talad Rod Fai Night Market (post upcoming) is a worthwhile day trip!

Thanks for viewing and best wishes!

All the photos (unless otherwise noted in the post) were taken by me and are available for sale. If you’re interested in buying an image or three, 😃 please don’t hesitate to contact me for more details.

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Siam Amazing Park – Bangkok’s Guinness worthy amusement park

If you find being swung around in circles repeatedly at speed, then this is the park for you. I was never a fan of the spinning rides. Roller coasters, yes but spinning ones, hell no! Having said that I’ll keep an open mind whilst writing this post/review and let the images do most of the persuading/dissuading for whether or not this park is worth a visit, ok? Oh also keep in mind that I’m comparing this amusement park with the many others I’ve been to and that opinions on the rides are my daughter’s, not mine, haha.

The best way to get to Siam Amazing Park is via taxi because I have no clue how to research which bus, if any, goes there and the BTS/MRT does not go anywhere near there. It’s about a 40 minutes car ride away from Bangkok. My taxi ride cost $220 TBH from On Nut BTS station. Here’s some details you may need:

Address: 203 Suan Siam Rd., Kannayao, Bangkok 10230
Tel: 02-919-7200, 02-105-4294
Website: www.siamamazingpark.com

Our tickets cost $650 TBH each and included a free lunch buffet. The tickets in the picture above are the coffee coupons for $10 TBH off a coffee at the café inside the park. The wristband is the entrance “ticket” and serves as your ticket for the rides as well. We purchased our tickets online while in Bangkok as the prices are a bit cheaper as opposed to buying them online whilst in Singapore because the prices shown was in USD.

The biggest roller coaster is the orange one called ‘the boomerang’. The roller coaster does go 360 and also falls backwards….so don’t wear any glasses, hats or slippers The scary factor according to my kids is 4/10 but keep in mind they are comparing these rides to some of the other major theme park coasters or maybe they didn’t want me to think they’re wimpy.

This ship looking thing is a 360 viking ship ride You will be looked in by a padded bar that will be snug against your belly with just enough room for your thighs. Its kinda tight but you’ll understand why and appreciate it once you’re hanging upside down and the only thing preventing you from plunging head first is that padded bar. Don’t worry, it’s not that drastic, there’s also a metal ‘cage’ above that can serve as ‘handles’ should you need something to hold on to. DO NOT EATING ANYTHING BEFORE GOING ON THIS RIDE, haha.

There is also a drop tower ride but I forgot to take a picture. Nearby, there’s the Grand Canyon Express, which is a smaller ride and then there’s a very small choo choo train. Cool, right? Something for the little kids. Well, maybe not. I didn’t think too much of it but the others thought that the animals are all creepy looking. Further along there’s a hunting scene (hunters and a dead tiger laying on the ground). If that’s not “dark” enough, how about a crucifixion scene (picture below)? These aren’t things, in my opinion, you’d wanna show a 4 yr old kid. In hindsight, I should’ve known this safari ride was going to get dark because right at the beginning there’s a screaming lady that’s being attacked by monkeys.

There’s another roller coaster called The Vortex that looked really cool. It’s the sit in a chair with your feet dangling but it was closed for maintenance. Besides this there’s an ok water log ride, you won’t get wet though. A few other spinning rides pretty much finishes off the grown up rides. There’s a kiddie rides sections that we didn’t go to because my kids said “we’re not kids anymore!”…they grow up so fast!

Other than rides, there are some market like stalls selling souvenir-ish stuff and a haunted house but no carnival games.The food isn’t anything to write home about nor was it bad, since the lunch buffet was free, I have no complaints! As you can tell from the photos, there really weren’t that many people there even though it was a Sunday which was great because lining up for rides in the scorching sun isn’t fun.

Something I wished I had known before going to Siam Amazing Park, is that there is a water park on the premises and has the distinction of being the largest wave pool in the world according to Guinness World Records but we didn’t get around to checking it out nor had we the attire to do so, so sadly, no pictures. The water slides looks like loads of fun too, oh well, maybe next time.

Overall, for me, it was an ok place to spend some family time here even though I’m not a big coaster fan. It would have been more fun for me if there were carnival games or the usual “carnival foods” lol. My kids didn’t find the rides that exciting either (comparing to Disney, Universal, Six Flags etc). I’m guessing that the wave pool probably makes up for a lot though. I bet it’s extremely refreshing on those hot Bangkok days, wait, that’s like every day it’s not raining.😄

Thanks for viewing and best wishes!

All the photos (unless otherwise noted in the post) were taken by me and are available for sale. If you’re interested in buying an image or three, 😃 please don’t hesitate to contact me for more details.

Consider following me for updates to find not only my other (usually travel) bloopers, blunders and shenanigans but also photography related news/reviews and the occasional contest entry. I might even post a rant or two when I just can’t help myself, haha.

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What it’s like wearing my new metal partial dentures

What a weird topic to post about, right? To coincide with Steemfest I decided to get my dentures done in Bangkok, since I already have accommodations in Bangkok it was cheaper to have my partial dentures done in Bangkok rather than in Chiang Mai where I had all my previous dental work done. Yup, it’s all about cost cutting. Anyways, if you’re interested in a dental holiday, consider coming to Thailand. HERE’s my post about my dental work done in Chiang Mai. My last dental appointment/checkup in Bangkok is next week so the post regarding the clinic will be forthcoming.

Now the point of this post is to try and help anyone who is thinking about or about to get partial dentures but even after reading loads of stuff on Google, is still unsure about what it’s going to be like . . . Here’s my experience, hope it helps!

I’ve never had dentures before and had to Google the pros and cons of partial dentures before deciding to get the metal one as opposed to a fully acrylic one. I know it looks kinda gross, but it’s hard to explain without seeing it.

After agreeing the consultation and my agreeing for service, the dentist started making grooves / attachment points on my existing teeth then makes molds of my upper and lower teeth. So those metal hook looking things are what’s going to ‘clip’ onto my teeth to hold the dentures in place. It doesn’t look very secure but it fits snugly and securely because on the other side the acrylic is molded so your gums sit snugly in the groove. I haven’t had my partial dentures fall out or become dislodged yet and I can’t dislodge them using my tongue.

So it’s been 5 days since I’ve had my partial dentures fitted and frankly, it kinda sucks. The first day it was just a weird feeling and I found myself speaking a bit weird although everyone said they didn’t notice any speech impairment. It was neither painful nor uncomfortable putting in the partial dentures nor taking them out. The first thing I did after I left the dental clinic was find something to eat. My dentist (as well as everything I read on Google) recommends starting out with soft food so I figured rice with some thinly sliced beef should be ok. Just my luck, I was passing a Japanese restaurant so I ordered a beef don. My dentures wiggled a bit and see sawed if I only chewed on one side. Food seemed to be everywhere in my mouth. Even after swallowing the mouth full of food, it still feels like there’s food everywhere, much like sand in your swim suit. I think it’s because food catches on the ridges of the acrylic (top of the groove) as well as between the metal and the roof of your mouth. Having a glass of water on hand is helpful to rinse your mouth but for me nothing but a full on gargle gets the bits out.  Not something I’d recommend doing in a restaurant. I remember thinking, this feels so weird but at least it’s not painful. Later on, I decided to have McDonald’s for my “midnight snack,” I couldn’t even eat a fry, it was really painful to chew on both sides. So I waited until I got home to eat. After taking out the dentures, I ate my upsized meal without any issues, no soreness or pain anywhere. Weird, right?

Day two…putting on the dentures sucked. There was a slight pinch of pain when the clamps clamp on one particular tooth and I could feel the soreness around that tooth but it quickly went away. Chewing hurts and the pain is contingent on how much bite force I use. I’m pretty sure my denture is not sitting on my gums because with no food in my mouth I can bite down and there’s no pain at all but even biting a Pringles chip causes discomfort depending on how hard I bite. It’s been days now and still the same so I’ve pretty much resigned my self to eating noodles cuz those are the least painful (udon is the best, it’s thick but soft and there’s enough resistance so you can feel the bite and adjust). If I can’t find any noodles then it’s rice.

Having the dentures in my mouth doesn’t feel awkward or unnatural. For me, it’s only the metal bar across the roof of my mouth that I can feel and since the plate is narrow and slim it doesn’t feel like it taking up space. I suppose over time, I wouldn’t even notice it’s there. Does my partial denture make me feel like gagging? No. Although once, on the first day, right after I left the clinic and was waiting for my food, I was using my tongue to ‘fidget’ with the dentures and that brought on a gag reflex. Needless to say, I don’t do that anymore.

The wiggling around of the dentures while chewing can feel disconcerting which is probably why there’s denture glue? At the moment I’ve found that taking smaller bites than normal and trying to chew evenly, as in have food on both sides of my mouth to even out the pressure helps prevent my dentures from wiggling to the point where I wonder if they are going to get displaced. Smaller bites also helps me to remember not to bite so hard. I don’t notice any temperature difference of the metal (or acrylic) when I’m eating hot or cold foods either.

The care and cleaning of my partial dentures is what gives me the most problems, my dentist said, “just soak in water when you take out at night and brush them (regular toothpaste is fine) before you put them back in, in the morning. Also best to take them out and rinse them after each meal.” Yeah, I’m not taking them out after each meal when I’m out but honestly there has been times when I really felt like I needed to. A few discreet gargles solved that problem. There’s so many conflicting info on how to “properly” clean dentures, that I gave up reading and just did what I feel like. My routine is so far is, I take them out, rinse them off with water, (it’s really amazing how much “stuff” I can rinse off. It’s pretty gross, haha). I then brush them (as part of the 2 minute per quarter cycle of my electric toothbrush) then dip them mouthwash (Listerine) for a bit then rinse and store with plain water. In the morning I take them out, rinse with water, then mouthwash, then brush them. Oh I usually use alcohol free mouthwash but I bought the wrong one this time and I don’t really know how big a difference that makes.

Anyways, I figured I’d add my 2 cents in on this topic since I can relate to the apprehension, even though I read up on it and had gotten solid advice from my bro, who’s a dentist. He recommends that I just use the partial dentures but it’s such a pain, literally but it is nice to have a fuller set of teeth though. Anyways, I’m hoping I’ll get used to the pain soon or the the pain will go away, if not, I’m not entirely sure I won’t stop using them.

Consider following me for updates to find not only my other (usually travel) bloopers, blunders and shenanigans but also photography related news/reviews and the occasional contest entry.

All the photos (unless otherwise noted in the post) were taken by me and are available for sale. If you’re interested in buying an image or three, 😃 please don’t hesitate to contact me for more details. Thanks in advance!

Comments & Critiques are always welcome, as are upvotes and resteems.

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