In shortTha Kha floating market sits at Moo 2, Tha Kha subdistrict, Amphawa district, Samut Songkhram, 8.7 km and roughly 9 minutes by taxi from Amphawa. Check the moon before you fix the date: stalls set up on the 2nd, 7th and 12th day of the waxing moon and again on the same three dates of the waning moon, six mornings in every lunar month, with Saturdays and Sundays added on top, and trading runs from around 06:00 until noon.
8.7 kmFrom Amphawa by road
6 daysLunar market days a month
06:00 to noonMain trading window
about 50 kmAmphawa district from Bangkok
Where Tha Kha floating market sits
The market is at Moo 2, Tha Kha subdistrict, in Amphawa district of Samut Songkhram, which puts it in the same canal grid as Amphawa rather than out towards Ratchaburi. From Amphawa it is 8.7 km, about 9 minutes by taxi. Measured from Bangkok, the district you are driving into is about 50 km out and under 90 minutes in normal conditions, although the Tourism Authority of Thailand puts the drive into Samut Songkhram province at nearly two hours; for a market that gets going at 06:00, work from the longer figure.
Everything else worth stopping for is close. The Maeklong Railway Market is 7.2 km from Amphawa, roughly 7 minutes by taxi, and Wat Bang Kung is 6.6 km from Amphawa, about 8 minutes, reached across the Somdet Phra Sri Suriyendra bridge and open daily from 08:00 to 16:30. A morning at Tha Kha and an afternoon anywhere in that cluster involve almost no driving.
Tha Kha floating market opening days and the lunar calendar
Tha Kha keeps a trading calendar no other market near Bangkok uses. Its traditional market days are the 2nd, 7th and 12th days of the waxing moon and the 2nd, 7th and 12th of the waning moon, which works out at six days in every lunar month. Because those dates wander across the week and rarely land on a Saturday or Sunday, the market also opens at weekends on top of the six lunar days.
Trading starts early and finishes early: roughly 06:00 to noon, with the Thai press describing stalls thinning out around 2 to 3pm. A guide last checked in October 2026 lists the same lunar days, weekend mornings as well, and the same 06:00 to 12:00 window. No market office publishes hours, so treat every figure here as something to confirm for your date.
Checking the date matters more at Tha Kha than at any other market in this part of Thailand. At Damnoen Saduak you can turn up on any day of the year, and Amphawa simply runs Friday to Sunday. Here, a Wednesday can be the busiest morning of the month or a canal with nothing on it, depending on where the moon is.
- Waxing moon: the 2nd, 7th and 12th day
- Waning moon: the same three dates again, the 2nd, 7th and 12th
- Saturdays and Sundays, added because the lunar dates rarely fall at a weekend
- Hours of roughly 06:00 to noon, winding down by 2 to 3pm
What a market morning looks like
This is a produce market first. Vendors bring sea goods up from the river mouth, salted fish, shrimp paste and fish sauce, and sell them alongside orchard coconuts, palm sugar, vegetables, shallots, garlic and chillies. Boats on these canals are traditionally paddled rather than driven: the old firefly trips through the Tha Kha and Amphawa waterways use paddle boats, with a large one seating eight.
Coconut sugar is the thing to watch being made and the thing to carry home. Producers along these canals tap the palms twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, then reduce the sap on a sugar stove until it thickens enough to go into tins or be shaped into lumps, which is the form you see stacked on the tables. Dried fruit and snacks turn up beside it, along with the handmade soaps, woven bags, herbal products and wooden crafts that come out of the Samut Songkhram canal villages.
Set your expectations on scale. Tha Kha is small, it runs for about six hours at most, and it carries none of the afternoon crush that Thailand's own government guidance tells visitors to dodge at Amphawa by arriving before 10:00. Nothing is published about toilets, parking or seating, there is no visitor centre to ask at, and plenty of stalls here will want cash in small notes.
How it compares with Amphawa
The two markets run on opposite clocks, which is why they combine so well on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Tha Kha is done by noon. Amphawa's own site puts its week at Friday to Sunday, 2 pm to 9 pm, and lists Monday to Thursday as closed, while a secondary listing that gets copied around runs an hour later at each end, so check it against your own date. By the time Tha Kha has packed up, the grilled seafood boats at Amphawa's central bridge are only starting, and they keep cooking into the late evening; the small food carts there trade at weekends alone.
Amphawa is the bigger, louder and better supplied of the two, with boat counters by the bridge and food cooked on the water until late. Tha Kha gives you the morning version of the same canal system and far less company. If your date is a lunar market day in the middle of the week, Tha Kha is the only one of the two that is trading at all.
| Tha Kha | Amphawa |
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| Trading days | Lunar days 2, 7 and 12 of the waxing and waning moon, six a month, plus Saturdays and Sundays | Friday to Sunday per the official site, listed as closed Monday to Thursday |
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| Hours | About 06:00 to noon, winding down by 2 to 3pm | 2 pm to 9 pm per the official site; a secondary listing gives 15:00 to 22:00 |
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| Rhythm of the day | Early morning | Afternoon into the evening |
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| Where it is | Moo 2, Tha Kha subdistrict, Amphawa district, Samut Songkhram | Amphawa district, about 50 km from Bangkok, under 90 minutes in normal conditions |
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| What is sold | Salted fish, shrimp paste, fish sauce, orchard coconuts, palm sugar, vegetables, shallots, garlic, chillies | River prawns grilled on boats and priced by weight, boat noodles, hoi tod, coconut ice cream, khanom sweets, Mae Klong mackerel |
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| Distance apart | 8.7 km, about 9 minutes by taxi | 8.7 km, about 9 minutes by taxi |
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Private day in the Mae Klong canals
A 6 to 7 hour private day with your own vehicle, driver and guide is the format that can be built around a market finishing at noon, from THB 4100 and rated 5.0 ★ (877 reviews).
★ 5.0/5 · 877 reviews
Reaching the market, and what to pair it with
Plan Tha Kha as one stop on a day of driving around Samut Songkhram. The whole market is over by about noon, and public transport into the province is routed at Amphawa: that market's own site sends visitors via BTS Bang Wa, then Sai Tai Mai, then a minivan, in as little as 90 minutes. Covering 50 km of road in time for a 06:00 start means a vehicle and an early departure.
The natural partners are the Maeklong Railway Market, open every day from 07:00 to 16:00, and Amphawa in the afternoon, with Wat Bang Kung between them if you have an hour. On the railway line only four services a day run into Mae Klong, at roughly 08:30, 11:10, 14:30 and 17:40, and those are the moments the awnings come off the track, so the railway stop has to be timed rather than wandered into.
Two tours on this site cover that corner of the province. Private Excursion to Maeklong Railway and Floating Markets is the shorter day of the two at 6 to 7 hours, from THB 4100, rated 5.0 ★ (877 reviews). It runs on private transport with pickup and drop-off at a Bangkok hotel, excluding hotels near the airport or outside the city area, and carries a licensed English-speaking Thai guide, a private long-tail canal tour of about 20 to 30 minutes, local fruits, desserts and a drink, and accident insurance, for which full names as shown in passports are needed at booking. Bangkok: Amphawa Float Market & Maeklong Railway Evening Tour is the later-starting option, 8.5 hours, from THB 1420, rated 4.5 ★ (88 reviews), with an air-conditioned vehicle, bottled water, an English-speaking guide and hotel pickup and drop-off when you select that option. Meals stay outside the price, as does the paddle boat at the floating market at THB 150 per person, and travellers gather at the MBK Shopping Center G floor entrance next to The Beef Master restaurant.
- Maeklong Railway Market: 7.2 km from Amphawa, open daily 07:00 to 16:00, four train arrivals a day
- Wat Bang Kung: 6.6 km from Amphawa, daily 08:00 to 16:30, root-wrapped ordination hall
- Amphawa: 8.7 km from Tha Kha, Friday to Sunday from 2 pm per its official site
Questions people ask
Is Tha Kha floating market open on weekdays?
Only when the date is one of its six lunar market days, the 2nd, 7th and 12th of the waxing moon and the same three dates of the waning moon. Those dates move against the ordinary calendar, so some weekdays are market days and most are not. Saturdays and Sundays are added on top of them.
Can I see Tha Kha and Amphawa on the same day?
Yes, on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, and the two fit together without a rush. Tha Kha trades from about 06:00 until noon, Amphawa opens at 2 pm according to its own site, and the drive between them is 8.7 km, roughly 9 minutes by taxi. Confirm Amphawa's hours close to your travel date, as listings differ.
Are there fireflies in the Tha Kha canals?
Firefly trips through the Tha Kha and Amphawa canals traditionally use paddle boats rather than motorboats, with a large paddle boat seating eight. The season for them is the rainy half of the year, May to October, and dark nights show them best, though nobody can promise you a sighting. Adult numbers of Pteroptyx malaccae peaked between September and November in a Thai study, so the late end of that season is the stronger bet.
What should I buy at Tha Kha?
Palm sugar and the salted fish, shrimp paste and fish sauce brought up from the river mouth are what the market is known for, along with orchard coconuts, vegetables, shallots, garlic and chillies. The coconut sugar on the tables comes from sap tapped twice a day, in the morning and again in the evening, then boiled down on a sugar stove and packed into tins or lumps. Many stalls take cash only.
Do the tours on this site stop at Tha Kha?
No tour listed here names Tha Kha among its stops; the two that cover this corner of Samut Songkhram are built around Amphawa and the Maeklong Railway Market. The private excursion is the one with its own vehicle, guide and hotel pickup, which is the format that suits a market ending at noon. Check the itinerary and availability on the tour page before you plan a lunar market day around it.
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