Amphawa is a city in Sumut Songkram Province (on the way to Hua Hin)
Amphawa is a great place to stay overnight and a popular holiday destination, located about 90 km from Bangkok.
Most well known for the floating markets, the morning floating market is Damnoensaduak which is about 13 Km from Amphawa but it’s an early morning market only and starts closing up around noon.
Unlike Damnoensaduak, Amphawa’s afternoon floating market starts around 3pm Monday – Thursday but a little earlier (about 1pm) on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Amphawa’s afternoon floating market is a short distance from Bangkok to Samut Songkhram – but for us, it’s kind of a long ride with the big motorcycle!
From Bangkok, take the Dao Khanong exit and proceeded along Highway 35. I took the ramp to National Hwy No.325/Route 3093.
When you see “Welcome to Amphawa – Bang Khonthi”, just follow the signs to “Amphawa Floating market”…kind of easy!
For GPS: 13.424978 and 99.955029
My first look when I arrived at the Amphawa Floating market about 1pm on Saturday, it was just getting started, and not too crowded…
This is the Mae Klong River…Amphawa is the name of the City, it’s quite different with Damnoensaduak’s Floating market, which is named for the River the market is on.
Here you can see many home stay properties in the area, along with private houses, that really gives you an insight into everyday life in Thailand
The firefly trip is the most well known and popular trip at night by boat (start about 7pm). Because Amphawa is rich with nature, and there are so many fireflies around the town at night. (firefly is HING HOY in Thai). It’s very interested trip at night but we didn’t make it this time…
During the day, they have service boats for sightseeing along the river.
The most famous stop is a temple called Wat Bang Kung (or Bang Gung) which is a chapel kind of in a tree, or at least the tree grew in and around it. Check to make sure this is included before getting in the boat.
Each boat tour includes more than one temple, as we (Thai’s) believe “the more (merit), the merrier…”
The boat should cost about 50 baht for 5 stops (5 temples) which takes about 2 hours. This offer is very cheap – and free for kids!
The first stop is Bang Koh Thep Sak Temple. This is general temple with nice area for you to walk around.
Next stop is Wat Bang Kung, the temple that I mentioned before about the chapel in the trees. Nothing more amazing to me than the beauty made by nature
This temple was built in the Ayutthaya period, it was a military camp for King Taksin (before Bangkok became the capital) manned with Thai-Chinese soldiers.
After I visited 2 temples, the boat took me on the back to the Floating Market area but others continued on for another 3 temples as per the tour program. If you have limited time to travel, you can ask the boat driver to take you back the floating market (It’s quite close the floating market area. The boat driver will drop other tourists at the temple and take you back to the pier and then he will come back the temple to get all his tourist for another temple.
Totally it will take about 1.5 – 2 hours to visit all 5 temples as listed in the program. But you should ask to make sure – they provide different services!
It was getting crowded when we came back to the floating market around 3 pm.
You will see fresh food/seafood for sale right off the boat.
It’s pretty fun to eat around the side canal. They will have some stands in front the boat to sit and eat.
It’s fresh and reasonable price!!! Or you can find a nice restaurant to sit and eat, you also can buy some food from the boat and eat in their restaurant (but that means you buy something from the restaurant as well)…
Walking through the market along the canal bank, there are so many shops that you can get some souvenirs, the most popular are local T-shirts with sayings like “I love Amphawa” or something about Amphawa lover.
Should try! The Tuna fish from Mae Klong River is the most delicious tuna fish in Thailand!
In the Ampawan temple (where you can park your car and still get shops) which is nice garden of “King Rama II”…
There are many things to do and see in Amphawa if you can plan for 2 days trip it’s well worth your time.
Or visit both floating markets in one day, check out the most famous floating marking in the early morning “Damnoen Saduak”, then come here in the afternoon!
The most famous of the floating markets is Damnoen Saduak, about 100 kilometers southwest of Bangkok. This buzzing market is at its best in the early morning before the crowds arrive and the heat of the day builds up. Our tour further includes a visit to Phra Pathom Chedi in Nakorn Pathom, supposedly the largest pagoda in Southeast Asia.