Damnoen Saduak is the best known floating market of Thailand. It is only a short drive away from the capital Bangkok and provides a fun experience for the whole family.
Small boats loaded with fresh fruits & vegetables
Watch the bustling activity on the crowded canals of boats loaded with fresh local fruits, try some Thai noodle soup and make a boat trip around the market and the surrounding canals, providing many photo opportunities.
Known from several movies
The floating market of Damnoen Saduak is known all over the world from movies it featured in such as a classic James Bond movie and more recently “Bangkok dangerous” with Nicolas Cage. This trip will give you a good idea of a traditional market setting and a view of a Thai market as it used to be a long time ago.
Other floating markets in the area that are less commercialized are Amphawa and Tha Kha that can also be visited.
1½ Hours from Bangkok
This market is located in Ratchaburi province at around 100 kilometers from Bangkok and can be reached by car in around one and a half hours.
History of Damnoen Saduak
Around 150 years ago, during the reign of King Rama IV, a canal was dug out at Damnoen Saduak. In those days, the waterways were the center of economic activity and much of the transport was done by boat. Since then countless of smaller canals have been dug out to provide the surrounding land with water for irrigation.
Much of the land is very fertile and vegetables and fruits like papayas, grapes, coconuts, bananas and oranges are grown.
Today local people still use the waterways to bring their produce to the market. Damnoen Saduak floating market can be visited every day from around 6:30 am. As it can get busy and hot, best time to visit is early morning.
Fresh food at Damnoen Saduak floating market
Take a boat trip on the canals
This market is a place bustling with activity, crowded with small boats loaded with fresh fruits and vegetables from surrounding orchards, piloted by old ladies wearing straw hats.
Visitors can watch the market activity from a passage along the canal. A number of restaurants and shops are located here as well. A fun experience is to make a boat trip and observe the buying and selling, providing countless photo opportunities. Also a boat trip can be made on the surrounding canals where traces of more traditional life can still be observed as well as a number of temples and orchards.
Whether you walk on the passage along the canal or are in a boat, try some of the fruits or order a freshly cooked noodle soup.
Although Damnoen Saduak has become quite commercialized, the floating market is a very photo genetic place providing a memorable experience, easily visited on a short trip from Bangkok.
Selling fruit