amnoen Saduak Floating Market

The floating market has long vanished as a useful facet of daily life in Thailand. Still, the image of these markets continues to persevere in the picture postcards and other marketing strategies that the Thai tourism industry relies upon to entice visitors.

If you’re entertaining family and friends on their first visit to Thailand, one of their first requests may be to visit a floating market. 

By taking a day trip to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, you can satisfy their need to see the ‘real’ Thailand, and still have a fun day yourself. 

A Different World Close to Bangkok

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market is within an hour’s drive south-west of Bangkok, but it seems like it’s a world away. You’ll be surrounded by coconut groves and canals, with no high-rises insight. 

The floating market itself is within easy walking distance of the carpark. There are steps forming a sort of amphitheatre where you can look down on the boat vendors going about their business and buy food from them to enjoy eating on the steps. 

 

Take a Boat Ride to See the Sights

But confining your visit to the steps of the floating market would cause you to miss all the charm of this old and peaceful area just outside the city.

Take a boat ride along the canals to truly get a sense of how everyone used to live in Bangkok. Houses line the canals. They serve as the streets for residents of the area, and it’s a picturesque way of life.

You can visit an old, small candy factory along one of the canals and buy some of their products made by hand from palm sugar and flavored with coconut. You can visit a reservoir with a dam that teems with fish just under the spillway and buy food to feed the fish from a nearby vendor. 

The boat drivers offer a one or two-hour tour of the surrounding canals. You should choose the two-hour tour and immerse yourself in an enjoyable vision of old Thailand.