Floating Market Boat Ride & Maeklong Market by Train Tour from Bangkok

The Canals of Ratchaburi by Longtail Boat

After pickup, the drive south-west from Bangkok takes about 1.5 to 2 hours into Ratchaburi province, a flat land of coconut groves, fruit orchards and canals. Here you board a longtail motorboat, the narrow wooden boat with a long-shafted engine at the stern, for a ride through the waterways that lead to the market, passing a traditional village where wooden houses stand on stilts above the water.

From the boat you see daily life on the canals: people washing, tending gardens, selling from their doorsteps and paddling small boats loaded with goods. The ride is fast in the open stretches and slow in the busy channels, and it is the classic way to arrive at the floating market. The longtail boat ride is included, and our guide explains how these canals shaped life in central Thailand.

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market grew along a canal of the same name, about 32 kilometres long, dug in the 1860s by royal order to connect the Mae Klong and Tha Chin rivers. For more than 150 years farmers have brought their produce here by boat, and the market became the most famous of Thailand's floating markets. Vendors in wide straw hats sell tropical fruit, coconut pancakes, grilled bananas, boat noodles and mango sticky rice straight from their boats.

After the boat ride you have free time to explore on foot along the canal-side walkways, sample snacks and browse crafts and souvenirs. Is Damnoen Saduak worth visiting? It is busy with visitors, but the scene of boats packed with fruit and the cooks working on the water remains unique. The best time to visit Damnoen Saduak is the morning, before about 11:00, exactly when this tour arrives.

The Local Train on the Maeklong Line

Next, a short drive brings you to a small station on the Maeklong Railway, a single-track line opened in the early 1900s to carry fish, salt and produce from the coast to Bangkok. You board a local train for a ride of about 40 minutes through the countryside, with salt flats, mangroves, palm groves and village stations passing by the open windows.

Riding the train is the most exciting way to see the railway market, because the line ends at Maeklong station right in the middle of it. As the train slows, the stalls are just centimetres from the carriage, and you see the market from the inside before stepping out onto the platform. Train times are fixed, so the order of the two markets may be switched on some days to match the timetable.

Maeklong Railway Market

Maeklong Railway Market, in the town of Samut Songkhram, is one of the most extraordinary markets in the world. Its stalls of fish, seafood, fruit, vegetables and spices are set directly on and beside the railway track. Locals call it Talat Rom Hup, the umbrella-closing market, because several times a day, as the train approaches, vendors fold back their awnings and pull their goods from the rails, then put everything back as soon as it has passed.

With your guide and free time, you can walk through the market, photograph the train passing and try local snacks. Stand where your guide shows you, as the train passes very close. Visitors on a Maeklong railway market tour often find it the highlight of the day; the market is busiest in the morning and around the scheduled train arrivals, and it is quieter on the rare days when trains do not run.

Return to Bangkok and Khao San Road

After the railway market, the group returns to Bangkok by air-conditioned transport, a drive of about 1.5 hours depending on traffic. With the hotel pickup option, the tour ends at the meeting point on Tanao Road, beside Khao San Road in the old district of Banglamphu, rather than at your hotel, so plan a taxi or ride-hailing car for the last stretch, or stay to explore.

Banglamphu is a pleasant place to end the day. Khao San Road itself is lined with food carts and shops, the Democracy Monument and Ratchadamnoen Avenue are a short walk away, and Phra Athit Road and Santichaiprakan Park by the Chao Phraya are lovely in the late afternoon. If you prefer to be taken back to your hotel, choose the private option, which includes drop-off, when you book.