Tha Kha Floating Market : Picture

Tha Kha Floating Market

Samut Songkhram Province: Tha Kha Floating Market

This is a rendezvous of vendor boats at Tambon Tha Kha, 10 kms. from the town along Route NO. 325 (Samut Songkhram-Bangpae) until the 32nd km., turn right when pass the road to Wat Ko Kaw and go 5 kms. along an access road. The floating market takes place on the 2nd, 7th, and 12th days of both the waxing and waning moon of the Thai lunar month, and also operates on every Saturday and Sunday from 7.00 a.m. till noon.

Most tours to the Floating Market will include some side trips, such as a visit to the Sugar House where you will see how Thai's make sugar from coconuts tree.

Thai fruits in floating market

In addition to such choices as bananas, oranges, limes, grapes and watermelons, Thailand’s wide range of fresh fruit also includes others that may not be as familiar to outsiders. Among them are the following.
1.Carambola (Mafueang)
Has translucent, yellow-orange flesh, refreshing and slightly tart; often eaten in pickled form, squeezed for juice, or as a snack with crushed chilli and salt.
2.Custard Apple (Noina)
Resembles a small green hand grenade, filled with white, sweet-scented flesh: eaten ripe, in coconut milk, or made into candy: also makes delicious ice cream.
3.Durian (Thurian)
Regarded by many as the king of Thai fruits, with creamy yellow flesh encased in a large spiny shell: numerous different varieties, those with smaller seeds generally being regarded as the best: usually eaten raw accompanied by sticky rice and coconut milk but also made into preserves and candy.
4.Guava (Farang)
Greenish-yellow fruit with white aromatic flesh: often eaten in its hard unripened form with a spiced dip of salt and sugar.
5.Jackfruit (Khanun)
Largest of all cultivated fruits, with a spiny shell and yellow or yellow-orange flesh: eaten raw as a snack, as a sweet with sticky rice, and cooked as an ingredient in vegetable curries.
6.Longan (Lamyai)
Small fruit with a tough but thin skin and translucent white or pinkish flesh that is sweet, succulent, and has a distinctive musky flavour, somewhat similar to a lychee: usually eaten raw with sticky rice and coconut milk or over crushed ice.
7.Mango (Mamuang)
Found in at least ten varieties in Thailand, all different from those of Hawaii and tropical America: oblong in shape with either dark green or golden yellow skin and whitish or yellow flesh: traditionally eaten ripe with sticky rice and coconut milk but also pickled, made into delicious preserves or juice, or used in traditional medicines. Thais also like slices of raw green mango dipped into Nam Pla Wan.
8.Mangosteen (Mang Khut)
Sometimes called the queen of tropical fruits, with a dark purple skin and white, sweet, scented flesh divided into segments: eaten raw, poured into drinks, made into tarts, or added to seafood curries.
9.Pomelo (Som-O)
Largest of the citrus fruits, weighing up to one kilogram, similar to a grapefruit but much sweeter, can be eaten fresh for breakfast or as a dessert, used as an ingredient in numerous salads, or squeezed to make a refreshing drink.
10. Sapodilla (Lamut)
Oval-shaped fruit with brown skin and sweet, succulent reddish-brown flesh: eaten as a dessert with sprinkling of lime juice or boiled into syrup and made into jams and sweetmeats.
11. Sweet Tamarind (Makham Wan)
A tough brown pod with sweet dark brown flesh surrounding several seeds: made into sweets, candied fruits, or concentrated pulp: pods in pulp form may be soaked in water and pressed through a sieve to produce tamarind water: used in soups or as a sauce.

Ratchburi Province: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

The Most Popular Floating Market
The Damnoen Saduak Floating Market is located at Damnoen Saduak District, Ratchaburi Province, about 105 kms from Bangkok. According to history around 1866 King Rama IV ordered that a 32 kms long canal be dug at Damnoen Saduak. This canal would connect
the Mae Klong River with the Tacheen River.

Experiencing the Floating Market
Most of the tourists go to this floating market with the conducted tours, using large air-conditioned buses.

Some travel on mini-bus and van. Also, there are many people
from Bangkok and every where coming by private cars.
Tourists normally take a short trip by small boat. It is
once in a life time experience to come to Damnoen Saduak
Floating Market.

How To Get There :
Travel from Bangkok via Thonburi-Paktoh Highway to
Samut Songkhram Town. Follow the sign to Damnoen
Saduak (Highway No.325).

The Association of Thai Travel Agent (Tel: +662 237-6046-8) can provide details. Independent visitors can use air-conditioned buses that leave Bangkok’s Southern Bus Terminal (Tel: +662 434-5558) throughout the day. The single fare for the 2-hour trip is about 63 baht. Trains leave Bangkok’s Hualamphong Railway Station (Tel: +662 223-7010, 223-7020) for Ratchaburi throughout the day. Fares and trip duration vary according to the type of train-ordinary, rapid, express or sprinter-and class (1st, 2nd or 3rd).

General Information

The floating market happened in the reign King Taksin when Thonburi was the capital city. The original city moat dug during the reign of King Taksin when Thonburi was the capital city, this moat was on the East of the Chao Phraya River and included the section that passed Wang Na to the Pak Khlong Talat. Each section had differrence names and the section in front of Wat Ratchanatda; from the mouth of Khlong Lot and from the section at Wat Ratchabopit to the Chao Phraya River it was called Khlong Talat.
Thailand's floating markets are among the most-photographed destinations in the country. The river and 'klong' markets give a realistic glance of how daily life must have been in earlier times. The floating markets are where the sellers, their boats laden with a wide variety of tropical fruits, flowers, vegetables and fresh products, come to meet and barter their products with other traders. These days, modern supermarkets and department stores have largely replaced the traditional floating markets, but a few still survive.
The most popular floating market, one of the must-see one-day trips from Bangkok, is at Ratchaburi, about 101 km to the west of Bangkok. The Ratchaburi market is the largest of its kind, attracting a large number of tourists each day. The lively and colorful images of boat vendors trading their agricultural products is one of the most fascinating and endearing images of Thailand.
There are also some interesting floating markets in Bangkok itself. The Taling Chan floating market is a weekend market in front of Taling Chan district office. Another one is the Wat Sai market in Bangkok's Thonburi area.
Efforts are being made to revive the old markets and reorganize them to support tourism. One example is the Wat Lam Phaya floating market in Nakhon Pathom, which was recently recreated and is now being promoted.
The best way to fully appreciate a floating market is to hire a long-tailed boat for the day. A tour along the klongs also gives you an appreciation of Thai homes and gardens. Don't forget to get up real early for a trip to see the markets. Usually they kick off at dawn, and most traders have already gone back home by late morning.
But the only night floating market is Amphawa in Samut Songkhram. It opens around 3.00 p.m to 22.00 p.m. After visiting the market, the people usually go to see a lot of fireflies cover the trees along the klong bank by boat and stay at many home-stays in Samut Songkhram.