The 'Talat Nat', the cornerstone of Thai commerce | Bangkok Post: food

There is hardly a single well-travelled road in Bangkok that isn't home to at least one supermarket, either a big or a small branch. There are supermarkets in provincial centres as well _ even in the smaller districts there are offshoots of big chain stores and a convenience store or two. And the combined annual income of them all is many billions of baht. But that doesn't mean these supermarkets have the show all to themselves here in Thailand.

Traditional Thai markets are still very much with us, and have retained their importance _ their influence on the Thai way of living and Thai society has not changed.

Fresh markets are just a superficial, everyday manifestation of the traditional Thai marketplace. The talat nat, or informal markets, that convene regularly on specified days have deeper roots in Thai culture. They can be found everywhere, and are the only kind of markets to be found in small villages and tambons.

The most important feature of the talat nat is their great age. They came into being right at the birth of Thai society, and have been held floating on rivers and canals, on flatlands and in valleys, every place where people lived, and they tell a great deal about the culinary habits, population density, and the status of the community in the locales where they appear.

At the talat nat of long ago, the sellers and the buyers were one and the same. People brought what they had and exchanged them for what they needed, with an appropriate exchange rate determined and agreed upon amongst themselves. No money was needed as a medium of exchange. Rice might be exchanged for salt, or fruit for knives, hoes or shovels. A handwoven basket might be traded for a fishing net. There was bargaining until both parties were satisfied.

Household items and both fresh and dried food ingredients were not the only things available at these markets. There might also be a kind of food centre where dishes like noodles and sweets that people didn't have the chance to eat every day were on offer. Children would also get new toys on market days.

Sellers and buyers would agree on a place and time the market would be held. It would also be known what people needed at that time of the year, and the kinds of goods that should be brought for buying and selling. For example, in places where there was a river or a canal, it would be decided whether the market would be a floating one, using boats, or held on land, where it would convene, on which day and at what time.

The reason why all these details had to be decided beforehand had to do with the boats that would be used to bring the goods and buyers to the market. The distances to be paddled had to be short enough for buyers and sellers to be able to get there and back without exhausting themselves too much. In cases where a lot of merchandise had to be transported _ rice, charcoal, salt, tools or heavy equipment _ a bigger boat that needed two or three rowers might have to be used. Boats like these might come from outside the area, and their owners had to know when and where a floating market was going to be held. The intervals between the days when markets were held couldn't be more than five to seven days, because fresh and dried ingredients could only be kept for so long, and this way they could be replenished just as they ran out.

Floating markets held in different areas were not very far from each other, and the days on which they were held did not coincide but differed by a day or so, one way or the other. This schedule made it convenient for people who found it easier to get to one of them rather than the other on a particular day.

Markets held on land were arranged in a similar way. If a market was held in a farming area, goods would be carried there in baskets suspended from a plank balanced on the shoulders. Here, again, the market couldn't be too far away from the homes of the people who used it, otherwise the trip from home carrying the goods to be sold or new purchases brought back would be too tiring.

These are the features of the talat nat as they were in the past.

Today, the goods sold may have changed to suit modern requirements, but the location and time the talat nat are held is still agreed upon by the buyers and sellers, just as it was in the old days. Since small seaside villages in the South usually only have a single shop that sells dried goods, household items and perhaps some fresh vegetables, a market will also be held at a particular place and time agreed upon by members of the community. Lorries will bring pork, beef and chicken for sale, as well as coconuts, charcoal, tinned goods and clothing. If the community is rather big, there might already be a morning market, but on one day each week there will also be a talat nat with additional kinds of goods brought in from outside.

In communities like this where there is already a regular fresh market, on days before Buddhist holy days, items such as flowers and special floral displays might also be brought in for those who want to buy them as religious offerings.

Talat nats are not only held in the provinces. There are many of them in the Bangkok area, too, especially in nearby provinces such as Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan and Samut Sakhon. There are factories in most of these provinces with workers from Isan. Talat nat in these areas offer local Isan vegetables, fresh and preserved fish, as well as ready to eat Isan dishes. There are so many choices that it's almost as if Isan itself has been brought to the market. Besides, the prices are low.

So, supermarkets may proliferate and prosper, but talat nats are happy to coexist peacefully with them.

They are the cornerstone of Thai commercial and culinary culture, and will always have a role in our society.n