By Clever Tourists · Published · Last updated
Chatuchak Weekend Market is fully open on Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 6pm, right next to MRT Kamphaeng Phet, with MRT Chatuchak Park and BTS Mo Chit a short walk away. On weekdays only the plant section opens (Wednesday and Thursday, 7am to 6pm), and Friday night is wholesale only. For a floating market, pick by how much time you have: Khlong Lat Mayom and Taling Chan are small weekend markets inside Bangkok, cheap and easy; Amphawa (Friday to Sunday, best from 3pm) is a canal-side evening market popular with Thai visitors; Damnoen Saduak, the one on the postcards, is about 2 hours away, early morning only and now mostly a tourist market.
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The market's official hours:
• Saturday and Sunday, 9am to 6pm: the whole market. This is when to go.
• Friday, 6pm to midnight: wholesale trading only, with limited access to the rest.
• Wednesday and Thursday, 7am to 6pm: the plant and flower section only.
Individual stalls set their own hours inside those times, and some start packing up before 6pm. Arrive close to opening: by midday the covered lanes are hot and crowded.
• MRT Kamphaeng Phet (Blue Line): the closest station, with exits straight into the market.
• MRT Chatuchak Park (Blue Line) and BTS Mo Chit (Sukhumvit Line): both on the Chatuchak Park side, a few minutes' walk across the road.
From Sukhumvit or Silom, the BTS or MRT is quicker than a taxi on weekend traffic. If you are choosing a hotel for a market weekend, our where to stay in Bangkok guide covers which areas sit on these lines.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand counts over 8,000 stalls in more than two dozen numbered sections, selling clothing, bags, ceramics, home decor, handicrafts, souvenirs, plants and flowers, antiques, collectables and old books, plus a lot of food. Sections are numbered on signs and on the maps posted around the market; note the number of any stall you want to come back to, because the lanes look alike.
• Bring cash in small notes. Many stalls do not take cards.
• Bargain politely on clothes and souvenirs; food and drink prices are fixed.
• Carry water and take breaks: the lanes are covered but not air-conditioned.
• Plan around it: our Bangkok in 3 days plan fits the market into a weekend.
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Days and hours are from the Tourism Authority of Thailand where it publishes them; markets change hours on holidays, so check before a long trip out.
| Market | Where | When | Getting there | Honest take |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Khlong Lat Mayom | Taling Chan district, west Bangkok | Weekends and public holidays, 8am-5pm | Taxi or Grab from central Bangkok | Food first, mostly Thai visitors; short canal boat trips |
| Taling Chan | Taling Chan district, by the district office | Weekends, roughly 8am-5pm (check) | Taxi or Grab | Small and easy; more food stalls than boats |
| Amphawa | Samut Songkhram, about 1.5-2 hours | Fri-Sun, 10am-8:30pm; best 3pm-8pm | Tour, taxi, van or bus | Lively canal-side evening market; pairs with Maeklong railway market |
| Damnoen Saduak | Ratchaburi, about 100 km south-west | Daily, early morning is the market | Bus from the Southern Bus Terminal, first about 5:50am, about 2 hours | The famous one; crowded and largely aimed at tourists |
Damnoen Saduak is the market in the photographs: women in hats selling fruit and noodles from wooden boats on a canal. Today it is largely a tourist market, with souvenir stalls along the banks and tour groups arriving through the morning. Go as early as you can; the boats thin out as the day goes on.
TAT lists rowing boats at 300 to 400 baht per boat and longtail boats at 600 baht for 6 to 8 people, about an hour each. Agree the price and the length of the ride before you get in, and expect stops at stalls that pay the boat crews. By bus, air-conditioned services leave the Southern Bus Terminal (Sai Tai Mai) from about 5:50am, roughly every 40 minutes, and take about 2 hours. Most visitors go on a tour combined with the Maeklong railway market, which saves the early bus but means arriving with everyone else.
Amphawa, in Samut Songkhram, is an afternoon and evening market by Wat Amphawan Chetiyaram, open Friday to Sunday, 10am to 8:30pm. TAT suggests arriving between 3pm and 8pm, when boats sell grilled seafood, noodles and Thai sweets from the water and the canal-side shops are busiest. Evening firefly boat trips are offered to visitors who stay overnight.
Pair it with the Maeklong railway market, about 10 minutes away, where vendors pull their stalls back from the tracks as the train passes. Our day trips from Bangkok guide covers that day and the other options.
Both are in Taling Chan district on the Thonburi side, a taxi or Grab ride from central Bangkok, and both are weekend markets. Khlong Lat Mayom, on Bang Ramat Road, is the bigger of the two: TAT lists it as open weekends and public holidays, 8am to 5pm, with Thai food and desserts, crafts, and boat rides along Khlong Bang Ramat past canal-side homes. Taling Chan, beside the district office, is smaller; go for lunch.
Neither has the boat-crowded look of Damnoen Saduak, and neither needs an early start. If you only want a taste of canal life and a good lunch, these are the better use of a Saturday.
Only partly. The plant section opens Wednesday and Thursday, 7am to 6pm, and Friday 6pm to midnight is wholesale only. The full market opens Saturday and Sunday, 9am to 6pm.
MRT Kamphaeng Phet on the Blue Line, with exits into the market. MRT Chatuchak Park and BTS Mo Chit are a few minutes' walk away.
Amphawa for an evening food market (Friday to Sunday), Khlong Lat Mayom for an easy weekend half-day inside the city, and Damnoen Saduak only if you want the famous boat scene and can go early.
Only if you go early and accept that it is a tourist market. Rowing boats cost about 300 to 400 baht per boat; agree the price and length before boarding.
Air-conditioned buses leave the Southern Bus Terminal from about 5:50am, roughly every 40 minutes, and take about 2 hours. Tours and taxis are the other options.
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