Damnoen Saduak Floating Market and Mae Klong Railway Market

Before our journey to Hua Hin, we decided to stop by at the famous floating market and railway market before we moved on our journey. Damnoen Saduak and Mae Klong, this two famous point of attraction, is about 2 hours drive away from Bangkok and it located in between the journey of Bangkok and Hua Hin. So we still will pass by it even if we don plan for it, so why don just pay a visit? haha. 

Along the way to Hua Hin from Bangkok, we only need to pay for 50 baht for the tol fee ( it is extremely unbelievable but it is true!) and along our way we can see the signboard heading to Damnoen Saduak in English. Thanks to Thailand tourism for the effort hehe. 

Damnoen Saduak is one of the famous floating market in Thailand. the famous Amphawa floating market also just nearby, but it opens only during weekend evening to night. Since it is a weekday so we just gonna miss it out. Mae Klong Railway station is famous of the scene :: Whenever a train approaches, the awnings and shop fronts are moved back from the rails, to be replaced once the train has passed. 

We reached Damnoen Saduak around 1pm after the terrible traffic jam in Bangkok. It is best to go a bit later to avoid the crowd of tourist around 9am to 11am. 

entrance of Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

You can catch the timetable of train to passby Mae Klong here too!

Boats awaiting for their customer. 

this was not the first time I visit a floating market, but this was my first experience to visit a market on boat! I visited once in Hat Yai but we were on the river bank. this is totally a different experience to me and it was really exciting! 

After bargaining, we got the price of 1000 baht per boat for 5 people for 30 minutes time. We don really wish to spend an hour in the market because the next train in Mae Klong was around 2.30pm. 

So here is me, my sister and my brother on the boat. Let's begin the journey on the boat!

the boat really fast enough to make my hair into mess. I guess will look better if my hair is long enough Xp.

life jacket was not provided, but it is quite safe on the boat. 

Along the river bank, we can see some souvenirs stalls along the riverbank. I wonder what if, just what if, the boat just bang on it and the souvenirs drop into the river??? 

now we reached the entrance of the canal of the floating market. It took us around 5 minutes boat ride. Along the way we can enjoy the houses of Thailand on the river and cute ducks haha. The river is clean and odourless compared to rivers in Malaysia LOL

souvenirs on the boat.

we did not plan to buy anything here because we knew that it was expensive over here. We can get the same thing at a cheaper price in Chatuchak Weekend market. 

a peek of the river view from the boat. It is really thrilling enough when the boats were passing through each other in a narrow canal, it was really squeezing its way! just don miss out such a unique boat experience here. Trust me besides floating market you wont get this experience anywhere!

souvenirs on the boat

one tips here: never ever ask the price if you don feel interested to buy their products. It was too commercialised here, and some of the people was not as friendly as the others. just my point of view

they sell fruits and vegetables here too! 

and some traditional thai food. They cooked the food on the boat, in such a limited space. Impressive! 

hats 

the price of a hat here sold at price of 600 baht. Don ask me how I know because I got a pair of angry bulging eyes from owner when she found out I was just asking for fun T..T 

whatever I got my hat at 150 baht in Plearn Wan afterwards. 

A view from the boat

Too bad we need to catch the train and we had to leave after 30 minutes. Honestly it was not enough yet, and I just missed out to walk to the central of the market and have a pic of the aerial view. 

The pier

Goodbye Damnoen. Next time, if I got the chance to visit Bangkok again ( based on my history, I visited it once a year =..=), I will go for Amphawa Floating Market, which is a more traditional one. 

Then we drove to Mae Klong Railway Market, which is about 20 minutes drive away from Damnoen. The train was scheduled at 2pm, can we get the chance to have a look?

the answer was no sadly to say. There was an accident to the train on the day, some repairing was on going so the people also had no idea at all when will the next train be there. After an hour of waiting, we just had to give up and go on with our original plan to Hua Hin. 

The look of the railway market. It is actually a local market where you can see fruits, vegetables, and seafood along the railway track. the track was not an abandoned one, the train will pass by this market for about 6-8 times a day. Im just not lucky enough to view the "dramatic" scene T..T

usually they will make an announcement 15 minutes before the train arrival so people can prepare for it. Do check the train timetable daily. and the train might not be punctual =..=

the vegetables were so close to the railway and when the train passed by, it will just sip under the train! 

My selfie in the market =)) 

Honestly, this place is extremely hot!! I sweat a lot and I could not stay more than 10 minutes in the market. the weather in Thailand was already humid and hot enough but it was worst in the market because of the poor ventilation. How the people stand it?? let's clap for them

Goodbye Mae Klong Railway Market. 

How to get to there?
you can get there by

• van from victory monument in Bangkok city at 70 baht
• join a one-day trip with local agency , which usually include Damnoen Saduak Floating Market too. 
•  drive there. GPS: set Damneon Saduak Floating Market. Once reach the small town, just follow the railway track for Mae Klong railway market =p
• hire a cab to both destinations

hope you enjoy reading and have a great weekend!!