Hanging on by a thread
In order to get to the Habito Mall and Hubba-to co-working space, I walked through the Secret Market, which is located not far from my apartment. I first wrote about this place back in 2007 and then again in 2009 and finally in December of 2104. This latest entry has links to the earlier posts, if you’re interested in reading them.
The secret market is an amazing place. Of course, it’s not actually called the secret market. I call it that because it’s generally hidden from all of the main streets and it’s virtually unknown by foreigners. This market is the place where locals go to buy the stuff they need, from clothing to food. The prices make sense for local people and this market serves as a way for local restaurants and small companies to also have a place where they can purchase the items necessary to run their businesses.
The secret market has not changed much in all of the years that I have been walking through it, except at its peripheries. Condominium tower development has been taking place, at great speed, all around the edges of the secret market. In the final paragraph of the entry back in December of 2014, I wrote:
“There are, however, worries about the Secret Market’s future. The Skytrain has a stop very near by and developers have been grabbing land close by and building condo after condo. There is little question that my Secret Market will probably be a target for such a development. I hope that this does not happen anytime soon.”
The condos have now arrived, at a very quick pace, like the one shown just at the edge of the market in the last slide above. The question is whether the developers will start to actually grab portions or all of the market for their condo buildings. This would be a disaster for the locals who depend on this market for their food and livelihoods.
As I walked through the secret market, I felt like I was walking back through time, into another era of Bangkok. I am not being sentimental or overly nostalgic. This type of market is not just some historical artifact. It’s an important and highly functional part of everyday life in modern Bangkok. Hopefully common sense will prevail and it will be allowed to continue doing its duty as a provider of necessities to the people who depend on it.
Maybe it really is a secret market. One can only hope
Somehow I don’t think it’s so secret because of its size. One way that Bangkok is no different from Toronto is that the condo developers are as uncaring about context and community. Some things are same, same, but not different.