Bangkok’s Floating Food Markets

Pilot Guides Food, Thailand

Damnoen Saduak is the most famous of Thailand’s extraordinary floating markets. Though these days it is somewhat commercialised and mainly full of tourists, it’ll give you an idea of the authentic Bangkok shopping experience in the days before the canals were paved over to make way for modern developments.

Damnoen Saduak is located about 35 miles from Bangkok in the Ratchaburi Region, but it gets very crowded during the day so get up early and arrive in time from breakfast.

Shopping Essentials

Where: Damnoen Saduak, near Bangkok, Thailand
What’s in Store: Fresh fruit, vegetables and spices
Go there for: Colourful stalls, waterside ambiance and a hot breakfast

Foods to Find Here

Thailand is renowned for it’s fabulous spicy cuisine. Most dishes require fresh ingredients and the wooden boats at Damnoen Saduak are laden produce grown by the farming communities on the fertile banks of the canal: red peppers, chilies, coriander, eggs, bean sprouts, fish, oranges, papayas, cabbages, bean, onion… to name but a few.

You can also buy snacks at Damnoen Saduak, but beware that breakfast in Thailand is a completely different experience to the light meal favoured by Westerners: typical start to the day includes fried peanuts, pickled vegetables in a hot sauce and a glass of beer.