An old fishing port at the mouth of the Tha Chin river. The railway line is still used to carry fresh fish from the port to the markets of Bangkok.

The station is in the middle of a huge market, and though it was quiet at the time of the photograph, it is usually heaving with people. Where the track crosses a road, about 100m up the line, vendors find a convenient resting place for their trays of vegetables, fruit and fish between the rails - until the next train is due.

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The market lies between Rat Banchop Road to the north, and Sukhaphiban Road to the south. It is one of the largest fresh seafood markets in Thailand, and if you want to sample it, many stalls and small restaurants serve fish, prawns, crab and other seafood, freshly cooked in Thai style.

Beyond the fresh-food market and alongside Rat Banchop Road is a general market, where you can buy clothing, electronic goods and some handicrafts. As the train drops passengers right in the middle of the busy fresh-food market it can be quite disorienting: if you get off on the right hand side of the train and walk through the market at right angles to the track, you come soon enough to Rat Banchop. A left turn and a walk of another 100 meters leads to the main street of the town, not far from the river.

As in many sea ports in South East Asia, the Chinese influence is still very strong (the name Tha Chin means Chinese Port), with several Chinese Buddhist Shrines and temples. There is a small Chinese temple in the center of town, near the market, but the best known of these is the temple dedicated to the Goddess Kuan Yin, with a huge image of the goddess on top of the temple.

To get there, take the ferry to the west bank off the river (2 baht per person) and then a samlor bicycle taxi. The distance is about 3 km along Sutthiwawithi Road.

Kuan Yin, originally a Chinese deity, was later identified with Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion in Mahayana Buddhism. Known in Thailand as Guan Im, she is much venerated by Thais of Chinese ancestory. In her right hand is a flask from which issues an endless stream of compassion and mercy; in her left hand she holds a sprig of rice, a symbol of fertility.

Kuan Yin is sometimes presented in male, sometimes in female form: pictures and statues, in both forms, can be found in Chinese and Thai temples all over Thailand.

The temple at Samut Sakhon has a particularly beautiful inner shrine, often visited by couples who have yet to conceive their first child.

On the other side of the road from the Kuan Yin shrine is Wat Chong Lom, a Thai style temple from the Ayutthaya period. This is also well worth a visit and, afterwards, if you walk through the temple grounds, you will find a very pleasant restaurant, Krua Chong Lom (Chong Lom Kitchen) on the banks of the Tha Chin river. Seafood here is excellent and inexpensive, the setting very pleasing.

Rather than take a samlor back to the ferry, I found it pleasant to walk back to town along the river.

On the west bank of the Tha Chin river is Bahn Laem Railway Station and the Mae Khlong section of the railway. Trains to Samut Songkram are quite infrequent: according to timetables published 01-07-2002, departure times are 07.30, 10.10,13.30, and 16.40. Return trains leave Samut Songkram at 06.20, 09.00, 11.30 and 15.30. The journey takes about 60 minutes. Phone No. for Mae Khlong station (Samut Songkram) is 03-471-1906.

If you miss your train, there are also frequent bus services between Samut Sakhon and Samut Songkram, and between Samut Songkram (in front of the central market) and Bangkok's Southern Bus Terminal.

Samut Songkhram, known locally as "Mae Khlong", is a fishing port at the mouth of the Mae Khlong River. Much of the land between Samut Sakhon and Samut Songkhram is salt marsh, as can be seen from the railway, and the production of salt is an important local industry.

The main attractions of the town are the fresh seafood restaurants, the Mae Khlong River and Wat Phet Samut Worawiharn..

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This temple is located in the center of town by the river. It dates from the days of the Burmese wars with Ayutthaya in the 18th Century, when villagers from Bahn Laem, a fishing village north east of Petchaburi, fled from the invaders and set up a new village (also called Bahn Laem) on the site of modern Samut Songkhram. They renovated an existing temple (Wat Sri Champa) and gave it the name Wat Bahn Laem.

It is said that the standing Buddha image Luang Pho Bahn Laem, which resides in the temple, was recovered in fishermen's nets along with a seated Buddha image. Unfortunately the alms bowl originally carried by the figure was never recovered and so has been replaced by a blue glass bowl.

The temple was later given the status of Worawihan (a class of Royal Temple) and given its present name of "Wat Phet Samut Worawihan" by the king.

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One reason for visiting Samut Sakhon is its proximity to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. This is the most famous floating market in Thailand, but it is quite far from Bangkok and the market starts around 6.00 a.m. (the best time to see it). One way to visit the market is to overnight in Samut Songkhram and then catch a bus or boat (from in front of Wat Phet Samut Worawiharn) to the market early morning. There is also a small hotel, the Noknoi, in Damnoen Saduak itself, not far from Thanarat Bridge.