At that point there's the situation when genuine quality other options to customary pail list things develop. Amphawa Floating Market bears impressively less name acknowledgment than its hyper-promoted partner Damnoen Saduak yet offers guests a more legitimate chance to encounter the Thai custom of water-borne business.
Behind Bangkok’s Waterborne Bazaars
The city of Bangok, and its storied predecessor Ayutthaya, is situated in a massive region of wet lowlands and expansive valleys, once covered by dense jungle. When the region was first populated, residents quickly settled along the riverbanks, opting to travel and trade via boat rather than trudge through the still-sprawling tropical wilderness.As Bangkok developed as a capital city and international trade hub, the wetlands were drained by organizing an extensive system of canals – a feature that served to further entrench the budding floating market economies of the time.
Then into the 19th Century, the early leaders of today’s Rattanakosin Kingdom oversaw the construction of road and rail networks to replace many of these canals, but the longtime tradition along the city’s still-existing klongs never quite abated, and today floating market communities are considered a valuable cultural heritage.
Damnoen Saduak Floating Market
In the late 1800s the 32-kilometre Damnoen Saduak Canal was constructed by order of the king to connect the Mae Klong and Tha Chin rivers. While the region’s new maze-like canal system remained active commerce channels for decades, modern infrastructure largely replaced most of this floating market activity.
Then in 1971, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) established the formerly bustling Lad Plee market as a tourist attraction for foreigners, constructing a new road for easier tour group access. Within a few years, about 20 private entrepreneurs – mostly community leaders and government officials – joined forces to run and promote what is known today as Damnoen Saduak Floating Market.
The market was used for years by the TAT as a promotional feature to attract visitors, and the local community reported that their quality of life increased dramatically with the arrival of these curious tourists. Soon, the community members began to realize that they could charge higher prices than usual and that their Western guests were highly receptive to things like high-level customer service and friendliness. Some experts even credit this “social experiment” with the development of tenets trademarked by Thai tourism, like the world-renowned Thai notion of hospitality and more controversial elements like farang pricing.
Today, thousands of tourists visit Damnoen Saduak every month to the tune of a THB$1,500 entrance fee and faced with nearly double the average prices for everything from food to souvenirs. While still widely touted as a must-visit bucket list item, and rarely disappointing with its energy and uncontested photogenic nature, other long-standing and truly authentic – that is, not government-established – floating markets are beginning to endanger this TAT charade.
Amphawa Floating Market
This small community to the Southwest of Bangkok is one that has long flourished in trade and agriculture. Today, evidence of this water-based community’s land use, livelihoods, and ways of life remain strong, developed over centuries of existing in harmony with their local ecosystem of mangroves, seashore, salt pans, and orchards.
Whereas Damnoen Saduak is characteristically tourist-driven to re-create markets of lore, as is evident in the vendors’ historically traditional dress and style, and of course, the premium price tags, Amphawa, on the other hand, is frequented primarily by Bangkok weekenders. While visually, its historical accuracy may not be as comparable, this evolution of a centuries-old trading style into modern day is unique in and of itself. Along the 50-kilometre stretch of the Amphawa Canal, Buddhist monks still paddle in the morning to accept alms from villagers, residents patronise the floating markets for their produce and other groceries, and those settled along the waterfront continue to rely on its resources within routines of their daily lives like cleaning and bathing.
Because of this legacy, the canal continues to influence the community’s way of life. Its eponymous floating market is only open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., in contrast to Damnoen Saduak’s daily public accessibility.
How to Visit
Amphawa has become increasingly popular among locals and tourists alike and so many hotels and travel agents are available to arrange transport or entire tour packages at no hassle. Alternatively, you can take advantage of the Transport Company Limited’s daily minibus service from its Sai Tai Mai, or Southern Bus Terminal on Borommaratchachonnani Road. The hour-and-a-half minibuses run from 6 a.m. – 6 p.m. and drop off right near the floating market.
