A WINDOW ON PAI (PART 3)

MARKETS: BETWEEN LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL

#attimidiordinariafotografia

The night market held daily in one of the town's main streets - Pai, Thailand.

A night-market 'bike stand' - Pai, Thailand.

A woman works behind her stall while her son sleeps in the sling on her shoulders - Pai, Thailand.

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Tourism inevitably changes the economic and social dynamics of a place on different levels and in different ways: it commodifies and cashes in, enhances and reinvents. In any case, it produces, changes features and lineaments, tracing a boundary between what has always been and is experienced by those who are part of that place, and what is now highlighted, 'embellished' and coloured in strong colours because it has become an event, a package, a product of which an 'other' subject does experience. In this sense, it can be considered one of the realms of interculture, one of those terrains where actors belonging to different contexts come into contact, partly get to know each other, together and separately act in that precarious equilibrium that on the one hand sees the possibility of monetising and on the other that of narrating an identity.

It is by looking at this process that one is able to identify and contextualise the various layers of reality: some accessible only to those who live there, others more widely shared, others still created specifically for those who are only passing through that place. During the trip I had the opportunity to observe this distinction in different situations, but in one context in particular I was able to grasp it clearly: the markets. In Pai, as in the rest of Thailand, there are various kinds of markets, from those that take place during the day to those that are exclusively nocturnal, from those that only sell streetfood to those that sell all kinds of products, but beyond the different characteristics of each one, it is easy to distinguish which are designed for tourists and which for inhabitants.

The town, as I said, has two main streets and one of these hosts a night market that undoubtedly belongs to the group of places modelled for tourists. Generally a street used for commerce and services useful to foreign visitors - hotels, clubs, motorbike rentals, tattoo shops, companies that organise tours and excursions - if during the day it is decidedly less busy, in the evening hours it is transformed, filling with stalls, people, music and lights. Although there is no shortage of stalls offering a wide range of items and souvenirs, the main product sold is food. The most interesting thing is to pay attention to the type of dishes on offer: alongside the 'classic' Thai recipes, one can in fact find international culinary proposals perfect for those tourists in search of something more to their palate.

Very often one only has to leave these entertainment-themed 'bubbles', which have earned Pai the title of 'Khao San Road of the North' - the name of Bangkok's most famous and touristy street - to enter a totally different environment. Here, tourists are welcome but scarce and the atmosphere takes on a more everyday feel.

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A man and a woman work at their sweets stall - Pai, Thailand.

A woman in the back of her van packs portions of food - Pai, Thailand.

Customers in front of a stand selling different types of barbecued meat - Pai, Thailand.