Bangkok--Dec 1--TAT At Talat Ban Mai, the local community has revived its 100 year-old riverside market on the eastern end of Chachoengsao province. Open during weekends and public holidays, the well-preserved market offers visitors glimpses of traditional town life and an opportunity to taste a myriad of Thai and Chinese delicacies for which the area, an 80-minute drive east of Bangkok, is known. Though the name means ‘new village market’, this labyrinth of over 120 wooden shophouses and stalls has barely changed since King Rama V paid a visit on 25 January 1907. The Sino-Thai settlement prospered from waterborne trade at the confluence of the Klong Ban Mai canal with the 230-kilometre-long Bang Pakong, one of the major rivers flowing into the Gulf of Thailand. Disuse over many years helped preserve the teak shuttered structures, which are of an architectural style dating back to the reign of King Rama V (King Chulalongkorn), from major changes. Following the establishment of the Baan Mai Conservation Club in 2004 and growing local enthusiasm, the community won support from the Tourism Authority of Thailand and also secured some grassroots development funding allocated by the government for small and medium enterprises. Original residents have re-opened their shophouses to trade in goods not just for outsiders, but also local produce to give the market a self-sustaining function. The market was built to face the river and the best way to reach it is by the frequent ferries running there from Wat Sothorn Wararam Worawiharn temple pier between 10.30 and 15.00 hours. End.