Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market: A Guide

The market grew out of the small canal-side markets of the neighborhood, and it's still used by the people who live here. The main trading happens on land, in covered halls and open-air lanes spread across seven zones, with fresh vegetables bought in bulk, cooked food, Thai sweets and snacks, potted plants and orchids, and a souvenir section toward the back. A few boats on the canal sell fruit, vegetables and plants, and some restaurant boats cook in the water.

Go early on Saturday or Sunday. In the morning the crowd is mostly residents doing their shopping, and it's cooler. By lunchtime the tour groups arrive and the dining areas fill up. Allow two or three hours, enough to eat well, take a boat ride and walk the lanes.

Food is the reason to come. The dining areas have shared tables, first come, first served, so grab one, then buy from the stalls around you and bring it back. The signature is pla pao, a whole fish, usually snakehead, tilapia or barramundi, packed in salt and grilled over charcoal until the flesh is moist, then eaten with herbs, noodles and a sharp chili sauce. One stall in the middle of the market has a dozen grills going at once.

Then look for goong ob woon sen, river shrimp baked with glass noodles, garlic, ginger and pepper in a clay pot, and hoi tod, the crispy oyster omelet, khanom jeen, fermented rice noodles with curry, and grilled chicken. The Thai sweets and fruit are cheap enough to try several, and the coffee and fresh juices keep you going.

Longtail boats leave from the canal in the middle of the market on tours of the surrounding canals, about ฿100 for roughly an hour, and they're a good break between meals. They pass houses on stilts, gardens, orchards and small businesses, and stop at a temple or a homestay or canal-side café you can only reach by water, depending on the route. Expect some concrete as well as greenery. Different zones sell different tours, and one runs a direct boat to Wat Arun, which is handy if you're heading back to the old town.

There's no station at the market, so the simplest way is a metered taxi or a Grab from central Bangkok, about 30 minutes without traffic. By rail, take the BTS Silom Line or the MRT Blue Line to Bang Wa, then a taxi, Grab or Grab bike for the last 15 minutes. A shuttle also runs from Bang Khun Non station on the MRT Blue Line. Tell the driver Talat Nam Khlong Lat Mayom, or show the address, 30/1 Moo 15, Bang Ramat Road, Taling Chan.

Many tours combine the market with a canal boat ride, an orchid farm and Khlong Bang Luang's Artist's House, with hotel pickup, if you'd rather not deal with transport.

Taling Chan Floating Market, a short taxi ride away beside Khlong Chak Phra, also runs on weekends, from 08:00 to about 16:30, and the two make an easy double. Taling Chan is smaller and older, from 1987, and also mostly on land, but its fish grilled to order on floating platforms is the reason to go. Do Khlong Lat Mayom in the morning, when it's freshest, then Taling Chan for a late lunch on the water.

Damnoen Saduak is the famous floating market, the one in the photos, about 90 minutes from Bangkok and built around tour boats and souvenirs. Khlong Lat Mayom is closer, smaller and more local, a market where Bangkok families come to eat on the weekend, with far fewer boats but better food and a relaxed half day. If you want the photo, go to Damnoen Saduak early. If you want to eat like a local and see Bangkok's canal life without a long drive, choose Khlong Lat Mayom. Our list of the best floating markets near Bangkok compares the others.