Koh Kret, an Island just north of Bangkok is home of the ancient Mon people.  Every weekend the island is open to outsiders and it attracts mostly Thai people from around Bangkok.  On the island you will find an awesome walking street with so many different food.  You can also take a boat trip around the whole island that stops at temples, traditional Batik painting and a traditional Thai sweet shop.

Our trip to Koh Kret was with TakeMeTour, a local Thai company that runs trips with local guides all around Thailand.

TakeMeTour

First I have to say that I usually HATE taking tours anywhere.  In fact in my 6 years travelling I have been on less than 10 organised tours.  I have collaborated with TakeMeTour before and its not like normal tour companies.

I find their trips actually feel just like exploring places with a local Thai friend.  For that reason I recommend TakeMeTour if you want explore Thailand with locals.

Getting there

Our guide Boom picked us up from our AirBnB in Bangkok (maybe one of the last AirBnB’s as they have now been banned in the city).  Koh Kret is about 1 hour north of Bangkok and on arrival you must take a ferry boat across to the island.

Our guide Boom

Boat trip around Koh Kret

From the pier where the ferry dropped us we boared another boat that took us around the island.

First stop was the traditional Thai sweet shop where we got to try a range of different sweets.  My favourite is the one made from egg yoke, Tong Yod and Foi Thong.

Some of the food we got to try including ice chilled rice and peanut sauce skewers of pork

Next stop was at a temple famous for some winning Thai lotto numbers and a small black Buddha.  Apparently the black Buddha was stolen by thieves and the police thought they could not find it.  However apparently the policeman found the Buddha using his dreams.

Along the river you see traditional Thai houses.  Apparently every morning the monks come past on small boats and stop to pray for each house.  There is a table at the front of the house sitting above the water.  That’s where the monks pray.

Our last stop was to see the traditional Batik painting.  I even got to have a go at painting the wax onto the fabric.  After this they add colour and produce some pretty cool pictures.

Walking Street

My favourite part of the day was the weekend market/walking street.  Boom took us along and we tried so many different types of food together.  Mostly they were sweet but not all.  Some are spicy too and the strangest was fermented rice.  Not really for my taste but that’s not to say it doesn’t taste delicious for some people.

For me it was good because it made me try lots of different foods I haven’t tried before even though this is my 5th time in Thailand.

Lunch was in a small restaurant overlooking the river and we tried even more foods.

The traditional dance show. The little kid on the left certainly stole the show with his dancing

Pottery

Apparently Koh Kret is quite famous for its Mon style pottery.  Halfway along the walking street we visited a pottery shop/factory.  There was an old guys making the pottery.  So cool to watch.  And we even got to have a go ourselves.  Its not as easy as it looks….  This was actually my first time ever doing pottery.

After a couple more temples and some traditional dancing we headed back to the pier.  It was a long but very rewarding day out.

Video

Here’s a video that Sarah made of our day out!

A massive thanks for Boom from TakeMeTour for showing us around Koh Kret and being our friend for an awesome day out.

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