Floating Market & Bridge on the River Kwai Combo

Floating River Market 1+hr outside of Bangkok

Loved going here, but you have to be prepared for the event! It costs a lot of money just to get IN… we weren’t told about that after our hour long journey from Bangkok to the location (withOUT traffic). But once you’ve made that journey you definitely feel compelled to pay it… Personally I loved it in there, however it wasn’t without its downfalls! The sales people can be slightly pushy in trying to get a sale, also the language barriers can be problematic. But there are plenty of foods, gifts, art, clothes and decor to buy. Some of the prices are escalated!!!! Try to convince your boat driver to bring you to the Temples to visit them, they’re definitely worth the visit… and along the way you’ll see beautiful homes along the water, and how the locals live (with a variety economic scale). We saw snakes and large lizards in the water, that the locals weren’t afraid of… I was terrified and excited! My personal suggestion… DO NOT support the elephant ride or seeing the lions. You pay for seeing animals not in the kindest living conditions. Instead use the sanctuary’s for that. But I LOVED my visit there and I would definitely recommend this to everyone… however be better than me, be prepared!!!!!

Floating Market and Bridge over River Kwai

Went on the Floating Marker and Bridge over the River Kwai private booking as was cheaper than group booking We had the best experience. Chin and Mr Tum were amazing. Chin was full of information and such fun. He may have done this trip lots of times but he made it feel unique and was still very genuinely saddened by the cemetery. Great trip to do. 5 adults on ours. Well done IAsia

Full day of sight seeing, just wonderful

Mon and is driver picked us up at the hotel. Just in time, just perfect. The minivan was superb. And the tour was really good, so many things to see. Although it was a full day with a lot of locations it never felt like a rush. Mon as our tourguide made our day! The private tour is more than worth the money!

Jennyp

It is lot of fun and it trully a unique experience , I would encourage more people to try it, the variety and products for sale is really impressive. As for the River Kwai experience is truly moving. The display at the museum is a real historic treasure. And the cemetery was also very moving. The fact that we got to experience the arrival of the train was an added bonus. The movie does not do justice to what really happened.

Unfortunately it was cancelled

Our trip was cancelled at the last minute due to insufficient people. We are now awaiting our refund.

A walk down history lane

Had read about the PoW camps and have always wanted to see the place. Plus Chu was a great guide who took us back into history.

The highlight of our trip was booking this tour!

We had a really early start for this trip with I Asia Thailand. Nok our guide was very knowledgeable and as we were only 8 people it was very personal throughout the day. Our first stop was the Coconut farm before taking a 30 minute long tail boat ride through the canals which was great fun. We visited the floating markets and had time to shop and snack on the local Thai food. We then drove to the River Kwai and had a quick boat trip down the river. A visit to the JEATH museum was very informative and then we went and had a Thai lunch in a floating restaurant. After lunch we went on to the Bridge. Despite the crowds of people I found this very moving especially when you realised just how many men had died building the railway. We then went to the cemetery to walk around and pay our respects. The trip back to Bangkok was long, but the guide kept us informed and the time went quick. This is not the cheapest option but what I Asia Thailand offered us with all inclusive and no hidden charges, this was the highlight of our trip to Bangkok.

fantastic day out

Absolutely fantastic day, the floating makes are a must with time to taste the coconut ice cream and the fresh mangoes. The River Kwai, well, very emotional and thought provoking. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the history aspect. Was very hot so take plenty of water!!

Don’t Book

“Please Please read before booking” We booked this trip to visit the bridge over the river Kwai for Friday 24th. We started off visiting the floating market which we enjoyed however it was very touristy and busy. After this we were taken to an elephant camp which was not mentioned to us before visiting and was not part of the itinerary. This is not something we signed up for and we would have never booked this trip having known that they would take us to an animal circus! The way the animals were treated was inhumane; tigers drugged and left in an unstimulating concrete pen, monkeys put in clothes, elephants being ridden with chains around their necks and poked with a sharp spear, baby elephants squashed inside a tiny pen at the entrance. This place needs to be shut down and we sat outside as we couldn’t bear to watch how they were being maltreated! I’m more angry that the company we booked through took us there without telling us because I do not want to support the maltreatment of these animals. We are both utterly disgusted and traumatised. All we wanted was to see the bridge on the river kwai which we enjoyed. It was a good experience but I would just suggest booking through a company that doesnt lie and support the exploitation of these animals. As for our tour guide - he was incredibly unsympathetic and told us that he asked us about the elephant camp before going which he did not! He mentioned that it’s not been the first time people have gone unknowingly so why do they carry on sending people here! To say that we are upset and disappointed is an understatement. DO NOT USE THIS TOUR OPERATOR!

Interesting Sites- Needs better organization and to avoid unadvertised stop at elephant/animal park

The sights we visited- the floating market and the museum, cemetery, and river- were interesting and worth seeing. Unfortunately, the tour itself was confusing and disorganized. In the morning our minibus drove for over an hour, nearly all the way to the floating market, before any guide met us or explained the plan for the day. There were no clear explanations of what we were seeing and we then all switched buses/guides. The second guide announced that we would drive for an hour to the lunch venue in Kanchanaburi, but the drive ended up taking two hours, at which time we were dropped off at a restaurant without instructions on when lunch would be over or what we were doing next. While in Kanchanaburi, the guide did not provide much explanation or context to what we were seeing. We ended up looking up the sites on Wikipedia to get some background information. But the most disturbing part was the surprise visit to an animal park in between the floating market and Kanchanaburi. This stop did not appear in the itinerary of the trip I booked. If I had known that the trip included this park I would have looked for another tour option. The park had young elephants confined in small pens, monkeys dressed in clothes doing tricks, and other “attractions” that made me question the way the animals there are treated. Another disturbing aspect was the guide told the group before we arrived at the park that she did not want to hear any concerns for the elephants’ welfare, as she was focused on the needs of the people who made a living from the park. I thought this comment was dismissive. We ended up spending over an hour at this animal park, and those of us who chose not to go in had to sit outside in the parking lot for over an hour. This unadvertised and unwanted stop added an unnecessary delay in an already long day and took time away from the other sights and attractions that we had actually signed up to see. It was after 2pm by the time we had lunch and after 7pm before we returned to Bangkok- all of which could have been earlier without the stop at the animal park.

Had a lot of fun

It’s was long drives (expected) and got multiple tour guides, but met great people along the way and had a blast. Glad I did/saw both. My only real complaint is on the way home- driver dropped off everyone in party and then told me to take BTS to my hotel bc it would take an hour by van. 1) thank god I was a tourist who knew the BTS system 2) could he have not told me when he dropped off first couple so I could have saved an hour? Either way- pretty sure no one else would have stood for that.

Great Trip Except the Animal Exhibit

Overall, the trip was excellent. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and professional. However, the one negative was that we were taken to an animal exhibit were animals were mistreated. A three and four year old elephants were kept in a tiny pen tied to a post with only a couple meters to move. There were baby monkeys kept out for people to touch. One of them grabbed me. Everything there had to be paid for. My wife and I walked around once and then walked out. This would have been a perfect trip other than that.

Awesome day tour!

We had the best time on our day trip to the market and to River Kwai. Our guide, Aey was wonderful and our driver was a very good driver! The markets were fun and busy and we enjoyed the boat trips. We brought the mango and sticky rice and also had some noodles all before 10am. Aey took photos of us which was nice too. Lunch was fantastic and by this time we were full. We then took the drive to the River Kwai and first to the Death Railway Museum. The memorial visits were very interesting and touching. The Bridge itself was an amazing experience and we had a nice amount of time in each place. Thank you for a fantastic trip, I Asia!

Sales pitch

We went on this particular tour because of its excellent rating. We and the others on the tour beg to differ. We had Ange and what a sales woman. She repeated her pitch for all the things she could get commission from three times on way to floating markets (very annoying). She told myself and husband we should get a canal boat on our own as they weren’t that big which I found insulting as we aren’t even big and we could easily gone with the family with 2 young adorable children. So we had to pay $35 Australian (700bt) instead of 300 like the other couples only to go in a square with an old lady who kept stopping to chat at places we didn’t ask to stop at and back to the start and get off please. Rip off. Also this lovely Indian woman travelling on her own didn’t want to go on a canal boat so Ange told her off!!! It’s her choice if she doesn’t want to Ange! Then we were taken to this stupid elephant/tiger sanctuary which none of us wanted or asked to go to for an hour which was NOT on the schedule. And then she pressed all of us separately to go on something or hold a drugged up tiger even when we said no she’d press for us all to try again. Ridiculous waste of our time. Then we were taken to lunch and no water supplied only food. In fact I’ve never been on a tour in Thailand or even a short taxi ride where they don’t give you bottled water. So over a 13hr tour we weren’t offered one measly bottle. Still can’t figure how this got an excellent rating. The river Kwai was the best part and guess what ... no money to spend except the museum entry 50bt which again for such an expensive tour should’ve been thrown in.

full day but very well organised

Pick up from our hotel was early and we didn't arrive back until after 7pm in the evening. Our guide Aeya was very knowledgable and spoke great English. The floating markets were very interesting to see, and the boat ride into this was fun. We tried the tom yum noodles and also the mango and rice. The buffet lunch provided at a river side restaurant was excellent and had so much choice. We the drove to the River Kwai. The War Cemetery and Bridge on River Kwai were highlights of the day. Day was full of positive surprises and we learned a lot, for example, that the film and the reality of the Bridge on River Kwai were not the same!

Highly recommended tour with I Asia Thailand

This tour has an early start but dont let that put you off. The I Asia Thailand minibus arrived at our hotel on time. After pickups at 2 more hotels we arrived at the main departure point and transferred to a new coach.There were only 7 of us on the tour so plenty of space. The floating market was excellent although it was very busy but our guide YUI was so helpful and passionate she walked us around the quiet areas too. We then drove to journey to Kanchanabur area for the JEATH war museum, then a very good thai lunch (we had seconds!) and the immaculate war cemetery and bridge of the river Kwai. The trip was well worth the long journey home and long day. 2 trips in 1. Highly recommended if your time in Thailand is limited.

Wonderful experience with I Asia Thailand !

This tour was excellent and our guide was very informative. The floating markets were very interesting and we had time on our own to shop. Bridge on the River Kwai is a long bus ride from Bangkok (dont let this put you off) and was an amazing area to explore. I liked how the guide was very passionate to let us know the history. The ride on the long tail boat was fun. We took many pictures at the river Kwai too. Thai food was very good at lunch. In all a wonderful day!

wonderful day with lots of shopping and history

Excellent tour. So interesting to see the floating market and the boats on the river. The long boat boat ride was really fun through the canals to the market. We really enjoyed the time at River Kwai too and the bridge was a nice way to remember the past will all its history. Great guide Mr Moo from I Asia Thailand!

the best two tours in one day, amazing!

An early start, the minibus arrived at our hotel on time. There were only 9 of us on the tour so plenty of space on the big bus.The floating market was excellent although it was very busy. The boat trip was fun and exciting and something you need to experience. We then had a reasonably long journey to Kanchanaburi for the JEATH war museum, a very good thai lunch, the immaculate war cemetery and bridge of the river Kwai. The trip was well worth it and long day but full with interesting sights and the guide Ms Tip was the best part of the tour. Highly recommended if your time in Thailand is limited.

Best of both worlds!

What a fantastic day out. We brought our tickets with Viator at very short notice. The office of I Asia emailed us back efficiently with our pick up. We took the bus to the floating market early and stopped on the way to a coconut farm. The market was very touristy but well worth it. We tasted the mangos. We drove to the river Kwai and arrived at the bridge by boat which was fast and fun. Learned a lot from Tip the guide. We also visited the cemetery and also the museum. It’s a long day but well worth the price and must do when in Bangkok. I have to say thanks to the guide and driver who were amazing.

Très bien

Très bonne visite Guide au top Combo Kwai et marché flottant Départ tôt le matin Visite perso du marché puis départ pour kwai. Resto le midi très bien