Hello Paradise Seekers, thanks for stopping by! Today, I want to share my experience in two incredible markets, located in the outskirts of Bangkok. The Damnoen Saduak Floating Market and the Maeklong Railroad Market.
The Damnoen Saduak Floating Market
One of the things I was looking forward to the most when I was planning my trip to Thailand, was visiting one of the floating markets in Bangkok. I wanted to experience the hustle and bustle of the place and be part of the picturesque scene with hundreds of tourists riding long boats, trying to decide whether they should eat the exotic fruits and unique foods the local vendors were selling from their own boats.
The Damnoen Saduak market is one of the most popular and busiest floating markets in that region of Thailand. It is located southwest of Bangkok, about an hour and 20 minutes from the city. While this particular market is mostly known as a tourist attraction, and there are certainly other floating market options that are visited more by locals than tourists, my boyfriend and I chose Damnoen for several reasons:
The guy behind us on the boat prepared the meal that is pictured above. It was a full bowl of rice, pork, veggies and sauce, which he prepared from the ingredients on his boat in under 20 seconds! Now, this is fast food done right!
- It is the closest to the city so a half-day trip is enough time to experience the market. This is important to consider this when you have so many activities in your itinerary and not enough time.
- Since it is tourist-friendly, the vendors are used to interacting with people from all over the world; some of them even know a bit of English so it’ll be easier to negotiate price of goods, especially if you visit without a guide that can translate for you.
- This market has a diverse assortment of goods; from exotic fruits to meals prepared in front of your eyes from a vendor boat, to clothing and other souvenirs.
- The Damnoen Saduak floating market is very close to the
Maeklong railroad market, which is a MUST in your itinerary. You can see a complete guide to Maeklong market here.
The Maeklong Railroad Market
This unique market has expanded so much during the years that vendors have had to set up shop on the actual railroad tracks! A train still passes through these tracks at least 4 times a day.
A passenger train passes by every day, 4-6 times a day! 
Exotic fruits, peppers and veggies, there’s fresh produce all around!
The Maeklong Market is definitely one of a kind and a total surprise for me! Our tour guide had recommended the visit and we agreed to go but we had not heard of it or seen it while doing our research before our trip.
The vendors are all native to the region and they bring their fresh produce and other variety of products to sell to locals and tourists alike. There are some definitely unique “food” items for sale…
Would you care to eat a grilled-frog skewer? 
I’ll stick to the veggies…
The working women of the Maeklong Railroad Market
If you’ve started planning for your Thailand vacation, make sure to include these two markets in your itinerary. They are full of life, unique experiences and great souvenirs. They are definitely worth visiting. Also, if you’ve started packing for your trip, you may want to take a look at this post, where I mention five essential items to pack for a Thailand vacation.