How to Get to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market from Bangkok

The three ways to get to Damnoen Saduak floating market from Bangkok

The market sits roughly 100 km southwest of Bangkok, in Damnoen Saduak district, Ratchaburi province; another source gives the band as 80 to 100 km. Both come out the same in practice: an hour and a half to two hours of road each way.

Timing is what makes that distance awkward. Selling is heaviest in the two hours after 07:00, the main canal fills with tour-group boats from about 09:30, and on-site writers put real trading at roughly 07:00 to 12:00, while the operator at Tan Luang Pier states daily hours of 8:30 am to 2:00 pm, so confirm on the day. Arrive at ten and you will have driven two hours to photograph other visitors.

• Road, at the wheel or with a driver: southwest out of Bangkok, 1.5 to 2 hours, and the two large car parks sit beside the market itself.
• Minivan: departs the Southern Bus Terminal (Sai Tai Mai), about two hours running time, and the drop-off is not at those car parks.
• Organised day trip: a set departure point in the city or hotel pickup, with the pre-dawn start and the boat already arranged.
• Onward from the market: the Maeklong Railway Market is 20 to 30 minutes by road, Amphawa about 14.4 km and roughly 15 minutes by car.

Driving yourself, and where you park

Head southwest out of Bangkok and across into Ratchaburi province; the 100 km takes an hour and a half to two hours when the roads behave. To be in a boat at 07:30 you are leaving the city in the dark, with the alarm set accordingly.

Two large car parks sit beside the market, so a private vehicle gets you closer to the canal than anything else here. The market entrance is on the public canalside street, and no admission charge is collected there. If a driver stops you about a kilometre short and staff announce that an entrance ticket and a boat are both compulsory, you are standing at a private pier. Cheap private trips offered by taxi drivers are a documented version of that setup, so walk on.

Add the railway market while you have the vehicle. It is 20 to 30 minutes down the road and open daily from 07:00 to 16:00, but the tracks only clear around the four Ban Laem to Mae Klong arrivals, at roughly 08:30, 11:10, 14:30 and 17:40. A 07:30 start on the canal sets you up for the 11:10.

Damnoen Saduak floating market from Bangkok by bus

Minivans to Damnoen Saduak leave from the Southern Bus Terminal, Sai Tai Mai, and the run takes about two hours. Reaching the terminal is its own leg: Amphawa's own site sends travellers there by BTS to Bang Wa and then a taxi, which is how most people do it from central hotels. No operator timetable for the Damnoen Saduak service was reachable, so first departures and frequency are worth checking at the terminal rather than assumed.

Public minivans do not pull into the two large car parks beside the market, so you are dropped on the road and finish the last stretch on foot, at the hour when touts are busiest and nothing is signposted in English. Anyone meeting you there with an entrance ticket and a compulsory boat has intercepted you short of the market.

Count the connections as part of the trip. Crossing Bangkok to Sai Tai Mai before dawn, waiting for the van, then two hours of road and a walk at the far end adds up to three legs in front of a window that shuts at 09:30.

Working backwards from 07:30 on the water

Set 07:30 as the time you want to be in a boat and the rest of the day sizes itself. With 1.5 to 2 hours of road each way, a private vehicle leaving the city around 05:30 makes it. A minivan day needs an earlier alarm, because the two hours of running time sit on top of the trip out to Sai Tai Mai and the walk at the far end. A booked day trip folds both of those connections into the seat.

That 07:30 start then carries a schedule that holds up on any day of the week: roughly two hours on the canal, the Maeklong Railway Market from 10:00 for about 1.5 hours, and Bangkok again by early afternoon. The tours on this site are built around that shape, 6 to 7 hours for the private excursion and 9 hours for the shared day.

Pairing Damnoen Saduak with Amphawa looks tempting on the map. They are about 14.4 km apart, roughly 15 minutes by car, but Amphawa's own site gives its hours as Friday to Sunday, 2 pm to 9 pm, so the combination only works at the end of the week and only with your own vehicle. Budget a very long day for it, and do not go looking for a shared tour that covers both, because they are not sold that way.

Starting from Hua Hin instead of Bangkok

Travellers already on the coast do not have to relocate to Bangkok for the morning. The Damnoen Saduak Floating Market Small-Group Tour from Hua Hin runs 10 hours from THB 2400, rated 4.7 ★ (3 reviews), with an air-conditioned vehicle, a long-tail boat trip, a professional English-speaking guide, bottled water and lunch, the only tour on this site where lunch is covered. Tips are not included.

It is the longest day of the options compared below, and that is the trade: no night in Bangkok, no crossing the city before dawn, and the same canal inside the morning window.

Comparing the options side by side

The table sets the organised day trips against the public minivan from Sai Tai Mai, on the figures that decide the morning: where the day starts, how long it is stated to last, and what kind of vehicle and group you are in.

• Ratings for the three tours above, in order: 4.9 ★ (1703 reviews), 5.0 ★ (877 reviews) and 4.7 ★ (3 reviews).
• Lunch is included only on the Hua Hin tour; the 9-hour day covers admission to attractions, bottled water and transfer to and from the meet-up point.
• Minivans do not stop at the two large car parks beside the market, and the three tours do not drop passengers at private piers.

Questions people ask

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