The Damnoen Saduak Floating Market is a vibrant and bustling market where vendors sell everything from fresh fruits and vegetables to handmade crafts and souvenirs – all while floating on boats along the canal. It’s truly a sight to behold, and the perfect place to sample some of the delicious local food.
Overall, the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market and Maeklong Railway Market day trip is a perfect way to spend a day outside of Bangkok, immersing yourself in the local culture and experiencing something truly unique. So pack your bags, grab your camera, and let’s go through some of my tips & tricks!
Markets are just a part of Thailand’s culture. Any place, city, or remote area you visit while there, you will certainly receive recommendations to include one specific market on your itinerary. Damnoen Saduak and Maeklong Railway are not the only ones of their kind. There are a few more floating markets, actually a few of them in the Bangkok area as well, some of which are actually a bit more “recommended” in order to get a less crowded and more traditional experience compared to the most popular Damnoen Saduak.
On the other hand, Maeklong Railway is by far the real experience of its kind. The two markets are quite close to each other, and you can easily see them both on the same day, so it makes perfect sense to go for both of them. They are popular, crowded, and touristy, but they’re worth it!
What are the options to see the markets from Bangkok?
The two markets are approximately 20 km away from each other and a 2-hour drive from Bangkok, making it super doable in one single day.
Depending on your budget, the overhead you’re okay with having, and whether you’re willing to spend the full day or return to Bangkok before evening, there are a few options, such as using public transport, hiring a private driver, or joining a guided tour, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
The public transport option is probably the most complicated one. Since the Maeklong Railway market is really on the train line, you can actually arrive there by train. However, keep in mind that this means you would see the market from the train and not from the baseline, which is the most impressive option. I studied this option, but the train schedule, the changes required to get from Bangkok there, and then paying for a taxi to go to Damnoen Saduak seemed like quite an overhead, especially because we needed to be back in Bangkok before 17-18. The next two options are not that expensive, so I would honestly suggest forgetting about this option as it’s not worth it.
The second option you have is hiring a private driver, a common practice in Bangkok. Looking for some options, I saw different prices, but the range is usually $60-90 for a car to stay with you for 7-8 hours, just the right amount of time to check out the two markets. This also depends on your negotiation skills, as negotiation is part of experiencing Thailand, but I would not expect less than $60. Some companies charge more depending on the group size (2, 3, 4 people), even though there’s still one car (once again, negotiate). If you go for this option, be super careful when you go to Damnoen Saduak. As I mentioned, this market lives on water, so it’s a must-do to experience it by boat. It’s a common practice for these types of “private drivers” to take you to the wrong public/starting point of the Damnoen Saduak boat trip, where locals charge you a lot of money to take you on the boat trip (I heard stories for more than $100).
Be super careful about that and act super confident when the driver tries to fool you. The boat trips should not cost more than $15 if you’re taken to the right starting point of the market.
The third option is joining a guided tour, which comes with clear advantages and disadvantages. In this case, the disadvantages are that you can’t really make your own schedule and you’re part of a bigger group. The advantages are that you don’t have to deal with any preparation and everything is already planned. I’m not a big fan of guided tours, just because I want to enjoy the time myself, plan my photo sessions and go to the key points of interest to me instead of a tour itinerary. I made an exception in this case however, just because this day was planned during a busy time in my trip and I didn’t have enough time to study in depth the foods, the snacks and the details of interest to me, so it was the perfect chance to find out more from a local guide. Also, the two markets are busy and touristy in general so you would anyway visit them alongside many people in the market itself, the idea of the “tour” is more about the bus ride itself + the information you get from a guide. And honestly, the price was super fair and for 2 people, cheaper than hiring a private driver. Now let me tell you more about the tour itself.
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How was exploring the markets by being part of a tour?
Not only for this trip, but in Thailand in general I recommend checking the klook app for different tours. You can find so many diverse tours and it’s a great starting point for seeing some baseline prices and the different options available. For this specific trip I went with the tour here, which I’ll be detailing below. Quick tip, here’s a link to get 5$ for your first trip on klook when you create your account. To get the biggest benefit, I recommend each member of your trip uses this so that you get the maximum discount possible wink wink.
After exploring the boat by water, we were parked somewhere in the market which gave us the opportunity to explore it for 20-25 minutes on the actual ground. There are some vendors that sell things in a more stable environment, with access to the water, but not really on a boat, basically. We grabbed one more quick snack (one of the spiciest meals I had while in Thailand actually) and some last-minute souvenirs. The souvenirs are quite generic, I would say. Most of the things you will find here are overpriced for the area, and you will surely find them in other places in Thailand as well. I would try negotiating anything you find there (in terms of souvenirs).
All done, up in the bus and next to Maeklong Railway Market to catch the train just in time for passing the market. The market is like a last stop for the train, making it pass 8 times through the market: 4 times each way:
- Train Arrival times: 8.30 a.m., 11.10 a.m., 2.30 p.m. and 5.40 p.m.
- Train Departure times: 6.20 a.m., 9.00 a.m., 11.30 a.m. and 3.30 p.m.
We arrived at the market at 10:50 which was just perfect. We initially went to the ending side of the market and waited for the train to come. Find a good spot and stick to it, it’s worth it! Once the train stopped, you could go and climb it for a “touristy” picture. The train arrived at 11:10 and it was planned to leave at 11:30. After the parked train picture, I recommend going to the other side of the market by super easily going along the train line. This is a short 5 minute journey. Why so? Because this gives you the chance to see the train from the other side as well and enjoy both angles. They are both nice and the experience is similar, the ending side of the market has a few more vendors with vegetables right on the train line, whereas on the other side there’s mostly small restaurants and souvenir stores that close, but you won’t really see food on the line. Once the train left, we had 1 more hour of free time in the market to try some local food and look for a meal. I tried different snacks, bought some pants that you will see at every single tourist while in Thailand haha and had a real meal at one of the small restaurants in the area.
I can’t really complain about anything, I honestly feel like I had enough time for everything I wanted to do, see and try. As I was saying, I’m not a big fan of group tours, but this one was really ok, especially with the longer boat trip included. Regardless of the option that suits you better, add the two markets on your list when in Bangkok!
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