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| A boat selling rice n noodles |
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| Visitors may sit beside the river to enjoy their food |
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| The SomTam Hawker? |
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| Yummy hot curry! |
There are about 15 floating markets around Bangkok and each has its own uniqueness.Some have many boats moving around with an asorment of vendors others have the vendors moored at the side of the river.Some have small shops built at the side of the waterway and have been around for perhaps hundreds of years,evolving as time went on. It is such a facinating site where one could spend some time soaking up the atmosphere around these floating markets,lazing around watching life go by. When in Bangkok do take time off your schedule and spend some time there.
Below Wat Nimmaronadi Riverside Market
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| Cool Transportation! |
Amphawa Floating Market is an afternoon floating market by the canal near Wat Amphawan Chetiyaram. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, during 12.00 p.m. – 8.00 p.m., the Amphawa Canal is occupied by vendors who pack their boats with food and drinks, such as fried sea mussel, noodles, coffee, O-liang (iced black coffee), sweets, etc. Visitors can enjoy a cosy atmosphere and music broadcast by the community members, explore the market, have food, and hire a boat to see fireflies at night.
There are also a few hundred 'home-stays' skirting the canal offering daily or long term accomodation.
Getting to Amphawa Floating Market - As of now, there don't seem to be any tour groups that go to Amphawa and taking a bus would take a long time and would probably involve several changes. The best way to get there, therefore, if you don't have a Thai friend who will drive, is to hire a taxi. A taxi driver will not only take you to Amphawa Floating Market, but he'll wait for you until you want to go back to Bangok too, and at a cost of around B900 for 3-4 people.
Once You Arrrive At Amphawa Floating Market - Amphawa Floating Market starts around 1pm, with most of the stalls being open by 4pm. The best time to arrive is between 1 and 2pm as there are less people there. By 4pm, it is absolutely crowded and, as the walkways are very narrow, it's difficult to see anything and difficult to walk around.
Places to Eat and Drink at Amphawa Floating Market - The food and drink is amazing at Amphawa Floating Market. When we got there, we started out getting coffee at a small coffee shop just before you walk over the bridge across the river. There are also other cool coffee shops, restaurants and pubs. We had coffee later in a little traditional Thai house, renovated for homestay, which had opened for the first time. Later on, we went to a huge wooden pub right by the water and had beer and snacks.
What to Buy at Amphawa Floating Market - Thai price, not tourist price, so everything is very cheap. Look for Thai snacks (all beautifully packaged and for less than B10 a bag), t shirts, jewelled silk flip flops, framed photos and prints, old-fashioned wind-up tin toys, clothing, garden ornaments (I bought an adorable hand-crafted clay rabbit for only B60), toys, hats, silk scarves and shawls, rings and bracelets, photograph frames, and thousands more items
Best Time of Year to Visit Amphawa Floating Market -
The best time of year to visit Amphawa is probably between the end of September and end of February, before the weather starts to get very hot. But, if you go during the hot season, just make sure you wear lose clothing and drink a lot of liquids
