It's hard to imagine how exciting a daily shopping trip can get, but a market which sits on a railway track in Thailand gives visitors just that. Nicknamed "Risk your life", the market, a short distance from the capital Bangkok, has to be seen to be believed.

The "Risk your life" market sits on a railway track.

At first sight, everything looks normal. Umbrellas and awnings cover stalls offering fish, meat and vegetables. But eight times a day a train passes through.

This market straddles a working railway track, and as the trains approach traders have just moments to dismantle their stalls and move out of the way. Umbrellas come down, awnings are collapsed, people step back. Some produce is quickly wheeled away, some left where it lies, and trains rattle overhead.

To the locals this is known as Talad Sieng Tai, which translates as the “Risk your life” market. The obvious question is: Why put a market here in the first place? The traders come because camped out on a railway track, they pay no rent.

There's mutual tolerance between stall-holders and the railway. "There are no bad incidents. The trains go slowly, they look after the vendors well," a market trader named Chokchai Kitruk said.

The market is at Samut Songkhram about 60 kilometres from Bangkok. Many come to see the spectacle for themselves.

The stalls have been on the track for some time, and there are no records of any accidents.

The traders fear that one day they may be forced to move on. But for now the “Risk your life” market continues to thrive.

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