The floating markets on the waterways of South East Asia are a traditional platform for trading in agricultural commodities and allied agrometeorological commodities... fisheries included.
Vegetables, fruits, dairy, fisheries, sericulture, textiles, used n thrown bikinis to local parfumes and local brands of alcohol, handicrafts, even illegal wildlife trade, flea markets, you name it and it can be found in the floating markets. It prompts one to believe that Amazon, E Bay and Flipkart together are no match for the floating markets. One can even find petrol stations, super markets on floating markets. shopaholics can be very excited at the sight of the floating market. Its a paradise for those seeking a bargain! its a colorful riot for shutterbugs. And a walking encyclopedic tour for hungry journalists like me! The Mekong and her tributaries provide an umbilical chord for the people living in the hinterland to the vast world beyond the frontiers of Vietnam. To ;learn more enjoy this photo blog!
Floating markets are found on almost all rivers and the cities on river banks across South East Asia: Yangon, Mandalay, Napidaw, Taunggyi, Mawlamyine, Bago, Myitkyina, Pathein, Sittwe, among others Largest Towns in Myanmar
Amphawa,
An agricultural floating market in Can Tho, Vietnam. The Mekong Delta, it seems is the ideal destination for the bounty of Mother Nature!
These sampans are the supply chain for the agricultural produce. The boatmen and women steer the sampans through the creeks and canals of the Mekong Delta and synchronise their supply trips with the tides of the delta region. One has to respect the nascent wisdom of these boatmen and women. Amazing: though they know the tidal behaviour at the tip of their fingers, as part of traditional wisdom, their livelihoods are the most vulnerable in times of Climate Change, World Trade Organisation notwithstanding. That is because they lack the understanding of the complexity of international trade, market access, and certainly lack negotiation skills at World Trade Organisation. The sampan boat people in the Mekong Delta are directly dependent on trading agricultural produce in the floating markets. These sampans are so utterly small and sustainable that the big markets deprive them of livelihood security. big aint boutiful for the small time sampan boat owners.
One bright smile of the Leechie fruit seller in Long An says it all.
The Vietnamese Gent depends on the floating market and tourism to secure his livelihood: selling soft drinks in the heat of the day near Ben Tre, Vietnam.
A young tourist relaxes on a sampan boat excursion near Can Tho. Sampans are leased out for tourism during the non agricultural season. Tourism supplements their income in the lean agricultural season. Alternate Livelihood Options are the mainstay of sustainable agriculture advocates of WTO argue.
Much as they look so photogenic the clutter of floating markets can be congested. Visitors will do well to eat lite, as toilets are not easy to find, & if at all they are found, they are not the most hygienic seats.
Among the threats to the people dependent on floating markets ... river pollution caused by inadequate sanitation infrastructure as well as polluting sources like aquaculture farming, industrial scale de-husking of rice and fuel leakage from the boats ... trigger poisoning of fresh water fishes. Fisheries, needless to reiterate provides food security to millions of people. It matters a great deal to people of the South because not only their livelihoods but food security too is at stake.
Despite hailing from the economically weaker sections this woman smiles optimistically at the start of her boat trade day in Bangkok's Chowpraya River Floating Market.
This frail elderly woman is actually tougher than she looks. Age has given her unparalleled wisdom as she sells coconuts on the Chowpraya River Floating Market near Bangkok, Thailand.
He is happy to sell the attraction of an Indian Rock Python. The deadly reptile is starved for his (the vendor's) livelihood security. He and his ilk who poach wildlife to earn their living, need to alternate means of livelihood if serious attempts at protecting wildlife from illegal trade has to reach its logical end. "Some floating markets sell snakes
and water rats, fishes....I'm (not) sure illegal or legal...but you can do that". Laws do not forbid / ban or proscribe l trade in wildlife derivatives in Vietnam like in most Southeast Asian countries. The legal loophole is exploited by traders hawkers poachers and smugglers... to the detriment of endangered wildlife.
Vietnamese paddy hats are rendered into tourist souvenirs. A hot pick at the floating markets.
Traffic congestion at the floating markets Long An, Vietnam
A tourist boat in a floating market bedazzles an Asian tourist.
This is the rustic charm and colour of rural Vietnam.
She sells Pho Bun for breakfast at the floating markets. While selling breakfast is her livelihood, other vendors need her services for their food security! Such are the intricate ways of traditional livelihoods.
An abandoned fishing boat drops anchor for maintenance and makeover to the floating market.
The best bargain for Crochet lovers. Crochet is the art of handcrafting textiles... one can get the best crochet stuff in floating markets... this one near Bangkok.
Some boats are dedicated to only one horticultural produce - be they water apple as in this case or sweet pumpkin / pineapple / jackfruit / plantain starfruit, leechy, mango, sweet potato or whatever. Here she is also hawking star fruit, custard apple and yams.
Mangoes are grown all twelve months of the year in Vietnam, such is the horticultural blessing Vietnam enjoys! Avocadoes are also a staple in Vietnam. Star fruit although native to the Temperate zone are grown in northern Vietnam and traded all over Vietnam. Cabbages, custard apple water apple plantains or bananas ar sold by this woman on a boat in the Mkong Delta region
Bananas and maize are the staple he sells!
Traffic jam of a different kind. This is a familiar sight in rural Vietnam.
Visitors chill on the pier of a floating market. Lots of natural food stuffs like juicy fruits, sugar cane juice, tender coconut, fresh fruit juice can be found almost anywhere. Only problem is they add too much su=gar to the fruit juices. Dispensing with the waste is another challenge.
A meat seller on a boat in Damneon Saduak Floating Market in Thailand.
Much as it looks so photogenic in reality the floating markets have a hygiene quotient. The clutter, the lack of hygiene, the callous discarding of waste and the congestion make a disappointing rendezvous. But the wares are fresh... That's an advantage.
The floating markets make an interesting anthropological study.
A little order will make it so much more pleasing.
Tourists float towards a stationry boat market.
A hat vendor in a floating market in Tan An, Vietnam.
A floating market near Bangkok, Thailand.
Another floating market near Ben Tre, Vietnam.
A hat seller in a floating market, Can Thos, Vietnam.
A vendor is seen cutting fruit. He also apparently sells ammbutan Dimsums and jasmine.
A woman poses for the camera selling hr fish and shrimp.
Sellers gather in the floating market to start trading. The women garnr the produce and bring it to the floating markets to sell. They finish selling by 9.00am and return home to complete their other domestic chores including cooking, cleaning at home taking care of their children and other dependents and also arranging micro finance for the next day.
A sampan in Thailand supplements the owner's income with the tourism economy.
Tourist gondolas of South East Asia bring a native charm and colour
Vendors of a floating market catch up during a break.
A colourful pier of a floating market, Chowpraya River, near Bangkok, Thailand.
Now that's spectacular lighting for a floating market!
Pineapple, starfruit, avocadoes, bananas, strawberry, pomegranate, mangoes, plantain ... tropical fruit lovers' paradise!
Plantain, Tapioca,, custard apple, Citron, oranges, Lotus flowers spring onions, Moringa, and stem... these are the genesis of agrometeorological traditional cuisine of Southeast Asia.
Floating markets are a tourist attraction, but infrastructure does not match the requirements.
Here is a rare glimpse into the back alleys of a floating market.
The congested waterways of a floating market in Damneon Saduak Thailand.
This is the human face of floating markets and traditional sustainable economies of Southeast Asia's hinterland. She and her sisterhood sell Kiwis, bananas, avocadoes, asparagus. Apart from the horticultural produce they utilise Bamboo for boatmaking cane and cotton textiles for hats and boxes to cart her wares. studies reveal how intrinsically dependent they are on natural resources for their livelihood security as well as their lives...
A vegetable vendor specialising in sale of pumpkins in Vietnam.
A vegetable vendor drifts after her day's sale, in a floatig market in the Mekong Delta.
This is a floating market on the Dal Lake in Srinagar, in Jammu and Kashmir, India.
Another glimpse of the face of the sustainable economy in Dal Lake, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
A vendor readies her boat to launch her trading dy in the Floating Markets in Vietnam.
A woman sets asail to start to start trading in horticultural produce - bananas in her case.
Damneon Saduak Floating market Thailand before the tourists rrive and chaos starts!
A photogenic start to the trading day.What a contrast from trading Day in the NY Stock Exchange!
Tourists sail through a floating market in Ben Tre, Vietnam in the heart ofthe Mekong Delta.
Elderly women set sail for the trading day in hinterland Vietnam.
This lady sets asail with palm saplings among other greens.
This vendor brings his horticultural wares to a floating market in the Mekong Delta. Note that his sampan is filled with pineapples and potatoes The bigger boat which sells in the floating market is filled with pumpkin.
Their whole life revolves around sustenance on the rivers in the Mekong Delta.
This sampan is filled with cauliflowers, potatoes, ginger, and onions...
This boat market is stuffed with water melons and potatoes
This sampan is laden with clay bricks testifying to the reliance on natural resources of the rural economy in hinterland Vietnam.
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This woman farmer has just brought her wares - lotus and water lilies to the flower market....
This lady sells a bottle of Coco-cola to a tourist on the near Kangya in Vietnam, Mekong Delta. Charm is her middle name no doubt.
A familiar routine in Floating Markets... the traders buy and sell wares in the floating market.
A trader launches his Sampan to head to a floating market. He is likely to buy stuff from the floating market return to his village in the hinterland and sell the wares to the people in the rural areas...
Interview, Le Trung, Tour Director, Mekong Eyes, Can
Tho, Vietnam
1.
What are the commodities that are normally
traded on the floating markets in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam?
Fruits and vegetables and fish,
all essential commodities needed for daily life.
2.
What are the supplies from the tributaries of
the Mekong that feed the floating markets (Please give me a broad perspective
without going into too much detail)
So many rivers and canals in
Mekong delta, estimated 40.000km, rich alluvium
growing plenty of Agricultural products, floating markets epitomise the traditional
lifestyles of waterways...
3.
What are the agricultural commodities traded?
Can you get me statistics of the quantity of rice traded on the Mekong Waterway
say till 2018?
Tropical fruits and rice,
Vegetables, bonsai, flower, water
coconuts leaves for making the houses roof, bamboo, paper barks tree...
4.
What manufactured items are traded? (clothes/
kitchen ware/ vessels etc)
Bricks, wooden boats, coffins, claypot, pottery...
5.
I saw a floating petrol station on the Mekong
near Cai Be. While this is very interesting. How does the petrol station import
the petroleum and store it on a floating petrol station?
By petrol vessel, there's a big tank to store petrol
6.
What other economic activity take place on
floating markets? Restaurants? Concerts / Entertainment?
Floating restaurants, Karaoke
bar, lottery ticket boats, floating supermarket boats (like seven eleven mart)
7.
Are sampans essentially supply boats for the
floating markets? Are there sampans dedicated to only one produce like say rice
or Sake/ pineapple / sweet pumpkin / vegetables / fruits / dairy / fish etc?
Sampans belongs buyers
8.
Are there illegal wildlife trade markets in the
floating markets?
Some floating markets sell snakes
and water rats, fishes....I'm sure illegal or legal...but u can do that.
9.
Is there a gender based division of labour. I
ask because I saw a lot of women trading. in the floating markets... leaving me
wondering if the men folk are engaged in harvesting the produce and leaving it
to women to trade the products...
10. Please
tell me how this traditional means of livelihood is threatened by tourism,
modernised economy, World Trade Organisation and modern global trade, extreme Women
are better for bargaining, men carried heavier things...all of them are
traders, not famers.
11. Please
tell me how this traditional means of livelihood is threatened by tourism,
modernised economy, World Trade Organisation and modern global trade, extreme
weather events / Climate Change, river pollution, aquaculture farming ... what
are the general threats to people dependent on floating markets... (5 sentences
/ points are enough).
Modernised economy, modernised
life...motor way development, truck can
drive through the farm, we don't need
the boat anymore....now floating markets like transit markets from farms to
local markets or supermarket.
12. Where
do the floating market boat owners source their supplies from? Meaning where
are the produce transported from?
Mainly from farms in Mekong delta
13. What
are the working hours of the floating markets?
Whole days but more busier from 5
to 7am
14. Are
fish catch also traded in these floating markets?
Sometimes but depending on which
floating market ...Fish catch are sold only in some
locations / some floating markets and at restricted times like 5 .00 am to
7.00 am., when the catch is fresh…
Interview conducted by Malini Shankar, Digital Discourse Foundation
Links for further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_Delta
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_and_largest_towns_in_Myanmar
https://gocity.com/bangkok/en-us/attractions/damnoen-saduak-floating-market-tour?
https://www.bangkokfloatingmarkettours.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhN27h4yo5wIV0gorCh2kCQBoEAAYAiAAEgJluPD_BwE
https://in.hotels.com/go/thailand/bangkok-floating-markets
https://mychiangmaitour.com/damnoen_saduak_floating_market/
https://theculturetrip.com/asia/vietnam/articles/guide-mekong-delta-vietnam/
https://www.roughguides.com/destinations/asia/vietnam/the-mekong-delta/
https://theculturetrip.com/asia/vietnam/articles/11-must-visit-attractions-mekong-delta-vietnam/
You Tube Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IEw_CmUDKk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm9PYdBlKQ0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gr23NBvZDM
Some boats are dedicated to only one horticultural produce - be they water apple as in this case or sweet pumpkin / pineapple / jackfruit / plantain starfruit, leechy, mango, sweet potato or whatever. Here she is also hawking star fruit, custard apple and yams. 
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