Photo by Mr Niwat Tantayanusorn (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Tha Kha floating market
Authentic floating market
Tha Kha is a charming floating market with a local, authentic feel. Try local food and sweets, take a boat ride and watch the way people live on the farms and on the water.
The area around Tha Kha is rural and peaceful.
Picturesque
Tha Kha floating market on the Tha Sala canal is a picturesque place. Watch how old ladies navigate their boats through the canals, known as khlongs.
Morning market
A morning market, Tha Kha opens very early. It gets busy with vendors around 9 am.
Authentic
Tha Kha floating market is smaller and lends a more authentic feel than the better known nearby floating markets at Damnoen Saduak and Amphawa. Local people come to the market to buy fresh vegetables and fruits as well as ready cooked meals.
Rural area
The area around Tha Kha floating market is rural with coconut plantations, farms and orchards connected by a system of waterways called khlongs.
In the early morning local people bring vegetables from their farm and fruits from their orchard to the market. Local businesses produce coconut sugar, which they sell at the market.
Some locally grown flowers are sold at Tha Kha floating market, much is sold at Bangkok’s largest flower market, Pak Khlong Talat.
Boat ride
To get a feel of a floating market, take a boat ride around the market and the canals.
Getting around the area by boat you will get an idea of the way people lived when the main mode of transportation was by boat. See local farms and fruit orchards and visit a coconut sugar plantation where palm sugar is produced. Will some luck you’ll see large monitor lizards swimming in the water.
Trips last from twenty minutes to an hour. A twenty minute boat trip on a shared boat carrying five people costs 250 Baht.
Boat to Damnoen Saduak
Longer trips can be arranged with the boat driver. You can take a boat ride all the way to Damnoen Saduak floating market, about 45 minutes one way. Negotiate a price with the boat driver.
Food
There is plenty to eat and drink at low prices. Along the floating market are basic restaurants, some vendors cook food on their small wooden boats.
Among others you can try Thai street food as noodle soup, Pad Thai, fried chicken, dumplings, papaya salad or spring rolls. If you like seafood order crab, cockles, mussels or fish.
After the meal, try some desserts or fresh fruit like coconut ice cream, fried bananas, dragon fruit, pineapple or papaya.
Opening hours
Tha Kha is a weekend market. It opens every Saturday and Sunday from 6 am until about 12 noon.
Location
Tha Kha floating market is located in Samut Songkhram province, about 80 kilometers from downtown Bangkok.
How to get there
There is no direct connection between Tha Kha and Bangkok, other than by car.
The easiest way to get there is to take a taxi or to book a tour. The trip will take about 1½ to 2 hours by car depending on traffic.
To get there by public transport, take a van or bus from Bangkok Southern Bus Terminal (Sai Tai Mai) to Amphawa. From there, charter a tuk tuk at about 200 Baht one way.
Admission
Admission is free
Also visit nearby
Close to Tha Kha floating market are:
Other floating markets
Attractions in and near Bangkok
Attractions in Bangkok
Amphawa Floating Market & Maeklong Railway Market
- Private or group tour
- Stop at ancient temple covered by roots of a Banyan tree
- Optional small boat trip to watch the fireflies in the dark
Damnoen Saduak Floating Market & Maeklong Railway Market
- Private or group tour
- Optional longtail boat trip on the floating market