Damnoen Saduak is a world-famous floating market about 100 kilometres southwest of downtown Bangkok, Thailand. Whilst it’s grown into a tourist trap, the bustling Damnoen Saduak floating market is a lively experience and fabulous colourful scenes for photography!
After taking a motorised long-tailed boat round the klongs (canals), we walked through the cheap souvenir shops and came out at the main bridge overlooking all the chaos below. Go with a hunger as you will have plenty to choose from. The first boat was serving up fried bananas, they were amazing, and she served you from a long stick to reach over the boat in front of her, genius idea. There were spicy noodles, deep-fried squid, fresh coconut juice, these floating kitchens are piled high with tropical fruit and vegetable ready to cook up a storm on their stoves on board. If you’re an ice cream lover, don’t miss the coconut ice cream, decorated with colouful sticky rice and a flower, it’s a taste sensation.
The groups of tourists on the long-tail boats in the thick of it were pretty much grid-locked and unable to move, we didn’t have too long there as we were rushing to catch the Burma Death Railway so no time to get stuck in the middle.
Damnoen Saduak: the essentials
Best time to get there
The Damnoen Saduak floating market opens daily from 7 am until about 12 noon. We got there when the madness of the market has begun but I hear sunrise is a great time to go for photographers to catch the light and the setting up.
Getting there
Public transport – If you’re on a budget, public buses leave from Bangkok Southern Bus terminal to Damnoen Saduak from 6am. Expect to pay around 50 Baht for a single fare. On arriving at Damnoen Saduak, hire a boat to get you to the market.
Taxi – Expect to pay around 800 Baht for a round trip with around 1.5 hours at the market. If you get a super cheap price, let the alarm bells ring as they will attempt to lure you onto a boat at Damnoen Saduak with an overpriced fee where they get high commission.
Organised tour from Bangkok – You can jump on a group tour to Damnoen Saduak floating market to make life easy. They even combine with Amphawa Floating Market, Maeklong Train Market or Chedi Temple if you have more time on your hands.
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