Samut Songkhram Province: There is a unique market in Thailand which instantly transforms with the sound of a horn. This daily market sits next to Thailand's Maeklong railway station in Samut Songhrkam province.
The market transforms seven times a day as daily seven trains pass through this small bustling market, laid out across about 100 metres of railway track.
As soon as vendors hear the horn, they remove their low hanging awnings and umbrellas, that is why the market is locally-known - "Talad Rom Hoop Market" or "Umbrella Pulldown" Market.
But, once the train passes, everything returns to normal.
Now, hundreds of people arrive to see the market and click photos of the amazing view.
Its popularity increased after Thailand's tourism authority (TAT) launched its "Unseen Thailand" campaign in 2003.
The campaign was an effort to manage any negative impact to the country's tourism from the 2003 SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic.
According to TAT, despite tourism numbers dropping by ten percent, over ten million people visited Thailand that particular year.
In 2018, a record 38 million tourists visited Thailand. At least two million of them visited Maeklong and its railway market.
The history of the market back to more than fifty years. The market existed before the railway tracks were built and when Maeklong Rail Company built the line, local sellers decided to continue with their market as usual and rather would just move their produce out of the way when the train approaches.
"This is an activity that all shops here have been doing for at least 50 years, this is not complicated for us," says Noppadol Imemkosa, who runs one of the market's busiest restaurants.
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"It is somehow beneficial for the market, as it has made it an attraction to tourists and more tourists are coming to see this reaction," he further says.
Every year more and more tourists arrive to watch the scene.
