Coconut market on the Thom River in Ben Tre

07/02/2023 1654 0
​Việc trao đổi hàng hóa diễn ra ngay trên ghe xuồng là hoạt động được nhiều du khách trải nghiệm tại chợ dừa Bến Tre.

In the Khmer language, Thom means big, Thom river means big river, some people call it "Thom" river. This is a large canal crossing Minh Island (the third largest island in Ben Tre). Thom River is about 15 km long, formed in 1905 connecting Ham Luong and Co Chien rivers, and is the shortest waterway from Ben Tre to Tra Vinh.

Thu Trang, born in 1985, Ho Chi Minh City, visited Ben Tre in early January. This is the fourth time she has come here, but every time she is impressed with the bustling trading scene of coconut products at a stretch of river.

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Thu Trang experienced the coconut market in Ben Tre in early January.

Trang said, if Can Tho has Cai Rang floating market, Tien Giang has Cai Be floating market, Hau Giang previously had Nga Bay floating market, An Giang has Long Xuyen floating market, then Ben Tre is associated with the coconut floating market on the Thom River. This is a pride of the people of Mo Cay Nam in particular and of Ben Tre in general.

From a small canal, Thom River today changes its appearance with a bustling trading scene of coconut products on the river. On both sides of the bank are coconut exploitation villages stretching over 3 km. Since then, the coconut floating market on the Thom River has become a brand of the province, unlike floating markets in other Mekong Delta provinces. The activities of the coconut floating market help develop the region's economy and tourism.

According to Ben Tre Electronic Information Portal, during the French colonial period, the French dug the Thom canal in Mo Cay district to connect Ham Luong river to Co Chien river. During the two resistance wars for national liberation, the Thom River marked the victories of the army and people. The river was also associated with the childhood of many generations of coconut people.

The exchange of goods often takes place right on boats and canoes, an activity experienced by many tourists. The coconut floating market takes place all day, regardless of morning or night, sun or rain. This depends on the progress of orders, or the arrival time of shipments. The main products traded and sold here are coconuts: coconut fruit, coconut fiber, coconut thread, coconut peat.

On both sides of the Thom River, there are many establishments operating overnight to provide goods for businesses to make many products from coconut such as: dried coconut meat, coconut fiber, coconut shell charcoal, clean soil from coconut peat, coconut oil, coconut candy, coconut fiber mats, coconut handicraft products. In particular, craft villages along the Thom River in An Thanh commune, Mo Cay Nam district, Khanh Thanh Tan commune, Mo Cay Bac district have created jobs for thousands of workers. One worker can peel about 2,000 coconuts every day, with a salary of about 400,000 VND. People who make as little as a thousand fruits earn a few hundred thousand dong a day.

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The coconut floating market gathers at the confluence of rivers, stretching for kilometers on a section of the Thom River. Many people call this coconut river.

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Thu Trang suggests that, on a one-day trip, tourists should visit craft villages, learn about activities such as grating coconuts, scraping coconut meat, making coconut candy, then move to Thanh Long islet to visit the mausoleum of Mr. Thuy Tuong, and have lunch at a local house with many rustic dishes such as sour snakehead fish soup, roasted coconut shrimp, and free-range chicken porridge.

In addition, visitors should also go to the "Special National Monument" Dong Khoi area to return to the resistance years of the Dong Khoi movement in the 1960s in Mo Cay Nam district, and find the roots of people's history.

From Ben Tre city, visitors can go by road to Mo Cay Nam town on Highway 60 and then get on tourist boats running along the Thom River or by water from the pier in the center of Ben Tre city to Ham Luong River to enter the Thom River. Currently, Ben Tre has many eco-tours for tourists to explore this special market.

Thanh Thu

Photo: JP Klovstad

Source VNExpress online (vnexpress.net)

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