How to Pass Time in Trang: Eating

At the end of our island hopping in Trang, we had one day (and night) to explore a bit of Trang City. I don’t know if this is my next favorite city in Thailand, but maybe it could be. As tourism expands in the Krabi area (which I love) and Chiang Mai (which I also love) is sometimes looking like a foreign city with a high number of Thai residents, we found Trang to be a bit different.

The food was outstanding; the markets offered a pretty comprehensive variety of Thai regional fare including a lot of southern specialties I might not find very easily up north or even in Bangkok. The buildings were a bit nostalgic, reminiscent of Charoen Krung Road (literally New Road, though Bangkok’s oldest) area in the capital. As Peung noted, “This is what Bangkok used to look like when I was a kid.” There are some billboards touting the coming malls, future development and such, but for the most part all the little non-franchise shops are where you buy your things. No taxis, just tuk-tuks which are for the most part easy to negotiate with. (Good luck with that in Bangkok!)

The Trang night market starts around 5 pm and gets hopping with Thais picking up their meals on their way home from work. I was surprised by the variety and there wasn’t a lot of overlapping in dishes. There are also a number of clothing vendors and others at either end of the street, but otherwise it’s two rows (or three) of food carts all the way down.

The only downside of this Trang food market is that there really isn’t a place to sit down and eat. Tables are limited to one or two tiny collections. Most of this food is heading to someone’s dinner table or can be eaten while standing there looking like a tourist. I’m OK with that, but it would be great to gather everything, cover a table with a dozen Thai dishes, and just let yourself go.

Starting a bit later and only on Saturday is the night market by the train station. While I’d say the variety it not near as much as the normal evening market, it does offer some areas to sit and is supplemented by restaurants and shops on either side of the long street of food carts.

See more photos from the market below. And stay tuned for a great place for Trang coffee as well as the best dim sum in Trang! (Subscribe to this blog and don’t miss a thing!)

Read more posts about travels in Trang (especially the islands) and check back in for Thai coffee and dim sum in Trang…