Amphawa Floating Market

Amphawa Floating Market or Amphawa Evening Market is one of the largest and oldest floating markets in Thailand. The market is located in Samut Songkhram province, just 70 kilometers southwest of Bangkok and it takes approximately 1.5 hours to get there from Thai capital.

As Amphawa Floating Market is not far from Bangkok, it makes this place a popular weekend destination for both locals and tourists who like to come here and enjoy a relaxing Thai style shopping atmosphere. If you are staying around Bangkok during the weekend, try to get out from the city and spend at Amphawa Floating Market one evening.Amphawa has a long history reflecting Thai heritage. It was considered to be an important water transportation hub of Samut Songkhram province. Not surprisingly, Amphawa was also a commercial hub with a large floating market and waterfront community.

Food at Amphawa Floating Market

One of the highlights of Amphawa Floating Market is a large selection of delicious food. With the abundance of Samut Songkhram province, many fresh vegetable and fruit shops are lined up waiting for buyers.

At Amphawa Floating Market you can expect to see vendors selling food and beverages such as fried clams, grilled squids, noodle, coffee and Thai dessertson their boats. Actually, there are not so many boats floating on the river at the daytime, as most of the shops here operate at the riverside. You can easily walk around the market stretching for along the 800 meters on both sides of the canal and easily spend here several hours.

Shopping at Amphawa Floating Market

Amphawa Floating Market is also a source of art and crafts such as antique toys, household items and screen t-shirts. There are different types of souvenirs available at the market such as beautiful postcards, magnets and key chains.

Architecture

The charm of Amphawa Floating Market is its traditional wooden architecture. The houses and local shops surrounding the canal are not less than 50-100 years old and still well preserved.

Activities at Amphawa Floating Market

Amphawa Floating Market offers various other activities for the visitors.

Boat Tour

There are a number of operators offering boat rides for a really affordable price at Amphawa Floating Market as it costs only 50 baht per person. You can take a long-tail boat which will bring you through the canals of Amphawa to visit 5 local temples and see local life on the Mae Klong River. The whole trip takes around 2 hours.

Amphawa-Chaipattana Nurak Conservation Project

Amphawa Chaipattana Nurak is the royal project under the initiative of H.R.H Princess Sirindhorn in order to preserve the way of life of Amphawa people.

The area of ​​this project is divided into 3 main sections. The first section is an attractive demonstration garden for learning of the King’s Sufficiency Economy and Agricultural Farm. The second section is a cultural playground for multi-purpose activities of community such as traditional Thai puppet show, Thai traditional musical band and demonstration of coconut leaf weaving. The last section is the platform and shops of villagers that can be seen when walking by the waterfront area.

Firefly Watching Boat

When the sun goes down, going on a boat trip for seeing the pretty fireflies is really a good choice. You will see fireflies at quite and dark areas of Mae Klong River. The price of the tour is 50 baht per person and it takes about 1 hour.

Homestay in Amphawa

If you want to experience the way of life of those who live along the river, you can choose to stay overnight at homestay along the canal or the nearby areas of Amphawa Floating Market. You will be amazed by the simplicity and vitality of Amphawa community’s atmosphere.

Opening Hours

Located near Wat Amphawan Chetiyaram, Amphawa Floating Market is open only on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Unlike most of the other floating markets in Thailand, Amphawa Floating Market is not opening early in the morning. The market starts around noon with only some shops opening a bit earlier. If you wish to experience Amphawa Floating Market in its full glory, you should visit it later in the afternoon. Amphawa Floating Market stays open until 8:00 pm.

How to get there

Van/Bus

As there’s no longer van station at Victory Monument in Bangkok, you can take a bus or van to Amphawa Floating Market from Bangkok Southern Bus Terminal. It costs about 100 baht per person and the duration of the trip is about 1 hour and 30 mins.

There are buses and vans running from Mochit Van Terminal and Eastern Bus Terminal to Samut Songkhram town for 90 baht per person. From there you can take a local songthaew to Amphawa for  8 baht.

Train

The trip to Amphawa Floating Market by train consists of 4 main steps:

- Taking the train from Wongwien Yai Railway Station (not Hua Lamphong Railway Station) to Maha Chai Railway Station (10 baht, 1 hr).

- Taking the ferry crossing between Maha Chai Pier and Tha Chalom Pier (3 baht, few minutes).

- Taking the train from Ban Laem Railway Station to Mae Klong Railway Station (10 baht, 1 hr).

- Taking songtaew from Maeklong to Amphawa Floating Market (8 baht, 15 mins).

Private car

From Bangkok, take Highway No. 35 Rama 2 Road (Thon Buri - Pak Tho Road) to Km 63. Take the left turn and drive to Samut Songkhram town.

At the intersection of Samut Songkhram town, turn right and cross over the railroad. Go straight for about 6 km to Amphawa intersection and cross the bridge over the Amphawa Canal to see the entrance gate on the left.