Wat Saphan and the Floating Market @ Bangkok [Thailand]

There were two stopovers for the boat trip we took at Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market and the first one was Wat Saphan Floating Market where we were given 20 minutes to explore. 

20 minutes?! Guess it's a touch and go, and that doesn't bode well for my obsession with being trigger happy when it comes to photo-taking! We shall see! 

Now, the floating market was pretty small and definitely incomparable to Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market. Not much items for us, especially when our tummies were already filled with food purchased and ingested at Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market.

I was curious about this though. Having signs in Thai could only mean that the target audience was the locals, and not dimwitted foreigners like me. Thankfully, I had my Thai friend with me.

Turned out the pails housed fishes that could be purchased for release into the canal for merits. It's a Buddhist practice frowned upon in Singapore as it could impact the eco-system for our small nation.

Given the namesake, it's obvious that there would be a temple (known as wat in Thai) for us to check out. I know Thai temples as they are always decked out in opulence, often with generous displays of gold color, which dilate the pupils of a Chinese man!

Niches homed within a stone fence; definitely good use of space although I wonder if the stability of the wall would be compromised. I can't confirm give my weakness in physics and I am not civil engineer / architect. 

Main temple I presume?

Statues of Buddha inside and outside the building. Even though I am a Buddhist, I am more aligned with its principles, rather than the actual practices. To me, no point praying if you don't believe in doing good deeds. 

Half melted candles - a fire hazard in my opinion! Coming from a country where the majority of us stay in apartments, there were just too many fire incidents involving lighted candles on altars. From recent news, however, it seemed that batteries from electrical devices are bigger problems.

There is a reason why I seemed unsure on whether the building I shared earlier was the main temple. This roofed structure, with no walls, was much bigger. 

Aside from the many statues of Buddha under the roof, I also noticed many statues of roosters! What importance and relevance would the domesticated bird had in this temple?

According to my Thai friend, the temple was over 200 hundred years and previously known as the bridge temple. There was a war and the temple was destroyed. However, three Buddha statues were left standing and they were housed within this structure! 

I am showing two of them here; the black statue and the one that looked discolored. As you can see from the second photos, I am guessing that the broken tiles / rocks were remnants from the temple that was destroyed during the war.

The third statue was supposed to be a golden one and there were just too many golden Buddha statues for me to identify. To be frank, I am casting my best on this gold-leave plastered statue. 

Loving Google translate - this was supposed to have water to bath the Buddha statues. A bit strange though since the message was printed on cardboard material which will disintegrate with water. Maybe Google Translate is wrong?

This should be Kuman Thong, which is not part of Buddhist practices but accepted in Thailand. It's common to see sweets and soft drinks as offerings but I am surprised to see army uniforms. 

Niches again; at least this time, it addressed my question on the stability of the wall. Maybe when I am dead, I should have my ashes stored in the niche here. On second thoughts, I think scattered in the sea would be better. 

Quite a number of stray dogs in the vicinity even though they were likely fed up the temple or the street vendors. Cute they might be but I am always alert whenever I see stray dogs. Not that I am afraid of them.

It's because they often poo anywhere and everywhere and I sure don't wish to dirty my shoes! Just some advice, do avoid those sandy patches as the sand were used to cover the dog poo! 

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Address

38 ถนน ปากน้ำกระโจมทอง Bang Phrom, 

Taling Chan, Bangkok 10170, Thailand

Map

As above.