Private Tour: Floating Markets of Damnoen Saduak Cruise Day Trip from Bangkok

I’d skip it

Staff was pleasant, but this was NOT a tour, more like an expensive ride to the market. I booked the private tour for my wife’s birthday thinking we’d get some quality one on one time with a knowledgeable guide, but we got minimal info or discussion on the 1.5 hour trip out. It was disappointing as we’ve been on Viator tours where the guide was incredible and made the tour worth it. Honestly, I’d find a cheaper way to get there (probably Grab) and do it myself. Felt very pressured to take a little paddle boat (extra cost) and it really just passes by the tourist trinket stalls. Also, our guide insisted that you needed to take this boat to get food, but food was available 2 min walk away so we felt scammed. The long tail boat trip from the car drop off to the market was the highlight (included), but you can really get the same experience in Bangkok on the Chao Phraya. I’ve been to many markets all over the world, and this was one of the more touristy I’ve seen (not in a good way). Save your money and spend it on a dinner cruise instead (now that was awesome!)

A Terrific Experience!!

An unforgettable adventure! First stop was to see how Palm Sugar is made and the family run place had many excellent handcrafts at good prices. Then the longtail boat trip through the floating markets was fantastic. An entirely different world! Highly recommend!!

Treated Us Poorly; Borderline Unethical

OK. I made a mistake. I booked this tour with Tour East Thailand on a day that we could not take it because we were leaving that evening to go home. And it was the day before, so we were within the tour's 24-hour cancellation period. However, I realized this mistake within a few hours, during dinner, and contacted both the company (through Trip Advisor) and had my hotel concierge do so. I apologized. Tour East Thailand acknowledged that they received the message, and no one came to pick us up in the morning, so there was no inconvenience to anyone. Given this honest mistake, corrected within a few hours, and since there was zero cost to them, I requested that they not charge me, but they insisted on doing so. I replied and indicated that we could perhaps compromise and they could refund half of the fee, but they were completely inflexible, and emphatically said no. Technically, they are within their contract, but THEY HAVE NO SENSE OF CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS, AND THEY CLEARLY WILL NOT CARE ABOUT YOU EITHER. They are keeping my money after having to do NO WORK. Does that seem ethical to you? Not to me. I am also going to dispute this charge with the credit card company. So I am leaving this highly negative review of their business practices, and I SUGGEST THAT YOU NOT PATRONIZE TOUR EAST THAILAND.

Very disappointing

Very disappointing 😞 It's quite a long ride The guide took me to 2 places on the way not in the tour trying to make me purchases activities and souvenirs! One was a horrible tiger encounter and elephant ride place . The speed boar takes you only close to the floating market not inside it so u just get to see it from outside ,so u don't get to ride inside the floating market ..the guid didn't provide any useful information or history.. So this tour is so over priced not worth it !

Great Floating Market Trip

Seeing and learning how Coconut Sugar is processed from start to finished product. The long boat ride to the Floating Market was a experience to see the old building on the water way. The small boats full of items to sell and the bartering going back and forth. Make sure to take small BHT notes as they seem to have a hard time making the change. Lots of 100 bills. LOL. I would recommend this tour to everyone.

So much fun!

This was such a fun experience, our guide was absolutely wonderful and helped with translations at the market and was extremely knowledgeable about the history of thailand aling the way. She made it such a fun experience and took us to a few different place along the way and you can tell she cared about supporting the small businesses which since covid i really appreciated. Would definitely recommend 👌

Expensive and not to my expectations. Not suggested

Unfortunately the market is very touristic and my guide was not prepared at all. She didn’t share any interesting story and her English was very poor. However she was a lovely person and very accomodating of my needs. The paddle boat is not included. Only the boat to get there. Too expensive and finished to hours earlier than expected. I guess also because I was alone with no group.

Don’t take this tour with this tour company

The Tour East company give the wrong hotel location to the tour guild so we have to contact the tour guild to give them the correct hotel location. The tour was late 30 mins. On the tour, the tour guild don’t even talk to us ( we are on the private tour) so the tour is very boring. Waste of my time

I was forced to pay extra...

I was forced to pay extra for another boat to go into the floating market although it was advertised as floating market

Nisha ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Our guide Nisha was the best ever - make sure to ask for her. And our driver was great as well. Nisha knows everything about everything, was so happy to be showing tourists around again after Covid and even bargained for us when we bought things so we didn’t get ripped off. She was amazing - highly recommend her

Such a boring day

I am not sure if this was the guide fault. The floating market is less than 50% as vibrant as it was, most of the stores are closed and you may end up being one of the 10 people at the market. If you are going for the experience I would skip this and watch a video. The coconut farm experience is just as stale. If you have only a few days in Bangkok you might want to try the train market or the River Kwai.

Great experience.

Amazing guide Tum, she was great! Good at communication and made the experience very enjoyable. Would recommend.

This market pre COVID saw better days

There were more tourists than market boats. It was a two hour drive each way from Bangkok for one hour visit to market

Good to try once!

Indeed a nice view! We enjoyed the tour but we were too hungry because it started late, the travel was long too! But in away its worth it! the Pork BBQ is still a top notch! Im not sure how many sticks my brother finished!

Floating Market is a must see if in the area

Greetings, The tour guide was very knowledgeable and engaging. The driver was also very professional and safe. The trip to the Floating Market in the long boat was very fun. Once at the FM, we needed to pay for the paddle boat for a 1/2 ride through the channels. This was also very fun. For the price we paid for the tour, this should have been included and for a longer period.

Damnoen Saduak floating market private trip

Arranging the trip was simple and the cost very competitive. Our private guide, Pearl was both friendly and knowledgeable. The length of the trip was just about right, with the part if the trip by (James Bond) long tail boat being the highlight

Amazing Floating Market

We took a traditional long boat to the markets and got out upon arrival. The traditional means of selling local product was amazing. Great place to eat a traditional Thai meal made and served off of one of the boats. While very touristy, this added to the overall chaos. Watching the multitude of boats vying for space on the canals was very entertaining. Definitely recommend.

Interesting 👍🏽

From start to finish, very good and informative tour guide excellent.. floating market, long boat excellent.

Watch out for tour guide scam

We enjoyed the experience and are glad we did it. However, everything is much more expensive and they are very pushy in selling you stuff so it can be overwhelming. Best to go with the attitude of enjoying the experience than to shop. The tour guy was nice until he tried to overcharge us for a small local boat by 400B. BEWARE! He said the price advertised was for a shared boat but when we managed to shake him, the lady explain this was not true. At this point he lost our trust. But we still enjoyed the experience.

Floating market Bangkok

This was an excellent private tour, which was also incredible value. Both the guide and driver were first class.

Floating market Thailand

It is just an experience to have. It is over rated and over priced. The tour operator pretty much picked us up from the hotel and dropped us by the floating market. Everything was additional. The stop to the coconut grove was not necessary and just to add activity to dull trip. If you have to just visit it for the experience. It is not what it was supposed to be where local used to buy and sell but more of a tourist hustle market

A Perfect Morning

Everything about this tour exceeded expectations. First, this company is very professional. We received confirmation of our pickup time and contact information for the guide the evening before the tour, as advertised. Our guide arrived at our hotel early and ready to go and spoke fluent English (not always the case, as we discovered). Throughout the tour, our guide provided lots of interesting information about Thailand, but was also very attuned to our specific interests and didn't try to push any of the tour options that didn't appeal to us. We arrived early enough to enjoy the floating market before the crowds showed up. We were primarily interested in taking photos and being there early permitted us to get some great shots! Since we weren't really there to shop, we didn't need the extra time to hang out in the town after doing the canal boat part of the tour. We were able to easily locate our guide and had no problem coming back to Bangkok early. Definitely worth it for the private tour!

Great day out

Really enjoyed this trip, boats around the market was good, although it appears that all the stalls have been to the wholesalers. Elephant riding on the way back to Bangkok was super.

Something to do once to say you’ve done it

This tour started early however after seeing what it entailed we could’ve definitely started later and slept in. The coconut farm is something that could be left out all together. This floating market definitely reads as a tourist trap...although I do not regret going, it’s one of those things you do once for the experience and never have to do it again.

Floating market half day private tour

We did this tour with Gift our guide. Private pick up and journey to the markets. A fast speed boat into the markets which was brilliant fun and like something out of James Bond! Then we paid extra to get a row boat round the markets. Really good experience and glad we did it! It’s quite full on so it’s definitely good to have someone who knows the scene and keep you right! Also stopped at a market and coconut and orchid farm which was amazing. Gift was a great guide and we would highly recommend.

Waste of an entire day

Left at 7:30am for a 70 mile trip one way bus trip. This bus took us to an area full of other busses and dropped us off at a dock full of large engined canoes. These long boats flew through some mangroves and canals that were full of trash. Floating Market had some yummy coconut ice cream and sticky rice. Lots of trinkets and souvenirs for sale. Waste of a day and $$ on a Toursit trap at best.

ok to take a look

It is good with children for different experiences, but not very an entertainment for adults. basically, it's selling holiday stuff. Kids liked the boat trip more than the market itself. Anyway, you still can go there.

what an experience

It is an experience that you will never forget.Its amazing to see all these little boats on the river and all are selling things.Hustle and bustle.Lots of haggling in price,a must,with the traders on either side of the river. You must try sticky rice and mango...People are friendly and everyone will try and get you to buy but once you say no they leave you alone.Loved the experience.

This tour started with a ride on...

<p>This tour started with a ride on what they call long tail boats. It takes you through canals/waterways where you can see the homes of Thai people. The river itself is murky and looks dirty though the tour guide claims it is not. Then you transfer to a paddle boat. If you want to ride on a shared boat, you have to wait in line. If you want your own private you will still wait in line and costs Bhat 600.00. It is not included in the price of this very expensive tour. There is nothing special about the Floating Market. The vendors are lined up to the side of the canals, and if you show interest, the paddler will stop. We went on a Sunday which I highly recommend you dont do, also not on a Saturday. It was so crowded we waited a long time for a boat and it is like bump car city. You can get hit by another boats front or end and you have to pay attention and either push or kick another boat if you are at risk of getting hit. NEVER put your hands on the boat edge. At the end our paddler, a woman was screaming and crying because the traffic on the canal was so bad and it took us almost 45 minutes just to get off. There are food vendors also on boats. I can imagine a long time ago where one might be comfortable buying food from the boat vendors and eating. That is the fun part of the floating market and thats basically it. However, if, like me, you have doubts about sanitation, follow your instinct. If you want to eat Thai street food that is unbelievably cheap, go to the 5th floor of Terminal 21 in Bangkok. I promise your head will spin with all the choices available and under much more sanitary conditions. If you must go and experience the market save money and join a group tour. The tour guide has a very heavy accent and I did not understand most of what she said. My recommendation is to skip this event. We asked to stop for an elephant ride. One, it is quite costly, BHAT 600.00 per person. The place where the elephant goes is full of elephant dung, it is not kept up. Two, do not forget that elephants can be mercurial creatures. We had an episode and the elephant almost crushed my husband against a tree and I was certain we would fall off. Luckily we did not. Be careful. It was at a place called Damnoen Saduak Elephant Park.</p>

Fantastic Customer Service

I am giving this a 5/5 simply because of the customer service. First off, you aren't just going to the floating markets. On the way to the floating market you stop by a coconut farm and then go to a longtail boat and then the floating markets. Like the others said, once you get to the floating market you do have to pay for your own paddle boat (150 baht per person). The market itself was not amazing and not a true floating market. It's more like tourists on boats going to the stalls versus the other way around. What made this trip amazing was the customer service. On our way to the coconut farm, my mom asked about roasted coconuts and a rare coconut that she had heard when she was in Vietnam and they went out of their way to help her find what she wanted. I would definitely do another tour with this company but probably not to Damnoen.

Incredible experience ask for Ni...

<p>Incredible experience ask for Ni, she was amazing! The only problem was that we had to buy tickets to get onto a smaller boat at the floating market, which I thought was cover under the advertised entrance fee</p>

Was ok

We did a half day morning tour to Damneon Saduak floating market. It was an early start with a 6:20 am pick up. We were transferred to a big bus by taxi. The bus had plenty empty seats so we were comfortable. It is a rather long drive (2 hrs) so it can get boring. The market was very busy and bustling. Do be honest there is nothing spectacular here. In fact it is probably better at one of Bangkok night markets. Our tour guide and the tour company were very professional and I would highly recommend them.

Worth to go. Tour Guide is informative...

<p>Worth to go. Tour Guide is informative and professional. Driver is very kind and good.</p>

Floating market was quite touristy...

<p>Floating market was quite touristy but nonetheless a very worthwhile visit to something quite unique and novel. Getting there speeding down a canal in a long tail boat was really exciting. We then had to pay a little extra to take a smaller row boat around the market itself. although we bartered on the price offer one-third asking price and settled for half we still found same items a quarter of the price in Chiang Mai walking street market a couple days later. But hey ho it was a really fun experience. Stopping at the orchid farm on the way on the way could have been missed - essentially a large and expensive souvenir shop although it was interesting to see all the things they make from coconuts. Our guide was fun and jolly but didn't really tell us much about the floating market, settling instead just to chaperone us around. Guide arrived promptly at 8am and we were back at hotel Lebua State Towers in central Bangkok for around 4pm. Journey time each way around 1 hour. Very interesting and novel day out which I'd recommend.</p>

Was a pretty cool tour. Anyone going...

<p>Was a pretty cool tour. Anyone going to Thailand should experience at least one floating market. Pricing on the items are a little high compared to the in town markets, but still relatively cheap. Only reason I didn't give it 5 stars, the actual fee for the boat in the floating market was not included. Other than that it was overall a good experience.</p>

Floating market must see but overrated

Visited the Floating Markets as it’s a must do activity in Bangkok. The tour guide was initially helpful and had information. However, there is a stop at an orchid farm which is more of a ploy to get tourist money than anything. Yes the long tail boat ride was included - but the boat through the market was not (& that was only 15 minutes through a small part). There is nothing special about the products or food and actually everything was much pricier than the goods and food found around the temples and Grand Palace. Guide didn’t speak on way back - she didn’t seem to like that we were done 15-20 minutes early with “shopping”.

Not to miss when in Thailand!

This was so much better than I had expected. Enjoyed every minute. Eating , shopping and sight seeing all in 2 hours! All 5 of us really enjoyed it!

Overcrowded tourist spot

The concept of floating market is a novelty worth seeing. However it seems to have degenerated into selling of mass produced goods at a higher price than the city markets like Chatuchak. Authorities have tried to keep some originality by plying their boats with fruits, vegetables etc. As for the organising of our trip, viator/tour east had done a good job . The lady guide was knowledgeable and sensible If you are short on time, this trip is avoidable

Our guide Peter and our driver...

<p>Our guide Peter and our driver were very accommodating as to take us to the elephant camp to let my sister from the States a 1st timer to Thailand to experience the elephant ride... Peter was quite fluent in English... We had fun haggling with the locals in the floating market of Damnoen...it was a different experience.</p>

Great

This is a great trip our guide was brilliant as well as the market we where taken down the back canals to show us how the people live the market is absolutely brilliant a must see. Our rep was Pim very knowledgable we ask for her as we did the temple tour with her great day out

I highly recommend doing the private...

<p>I highly recommend doing the private tour! Pearl, our guide, was funny and very knowledgeable about everything. Her accent was a bit thick but she will still make you laugh.</p> <p>Hotel pickup was prompt and the drive out is about 1-1:15 hrs. We went on a Sunday so traffic was quite light. From there, we did the optional boat to shop around 600 baht, which is so worth it even though we didn't even buy anything. </p> <p>This trip is quite the trek but it was the BEST part of Bangkok for us!</p>

Floating market

As others have said really commercialised and not worth the two hours travel. Glad we went but only to tick it off the list lol. Would I recommend it as a must see No.

Great trip, worth getting up early for!

Very unique and worth the visit. Good shopping bargains to be had. Take your camera, beautiful colours from fruit and veg displays.

This tour is a must try, the tour...

<p>This tour is a must try, the tour guide was so nice and she even accompany us to the Jewelry Factory per our request after the tour and waited for us to make sure that we get back in the hotel safe.<br/> The market is one of a kind, my husband enjoyed shopping because the prices were so reasonable. Highly recommended.</p>

Too touristy

We were looking forward to seeing lots of colours with some good photography. We had a private driver , the journey still took 2 hrs from Bangkok. It was heaving with tourists, we were taken round some of the backwaters first in a small local boat which had nothing to offer, then into the main floating market which was hugely disappointing. There were not so many boats selling their wares as they have now gone into the covered market areas which are just full of tourist rubbish. A few older ladies are trying to make a living, but it has just become a show put on for the tourists. We would not have bothered if we had known. There are far better markets around the world.

Our guide came 1 hour late... she...

<p>Our guide came 1 hour late... she told me on the phone the previous day that she might be 20mn late but will try her best to be on time, but after all she had a full hour delay on the tour day and after that she was rushing us during the floating market and did not allow us to visit the shops we wanted to because it seemed that our driver had another appointment he had to go to... so we start 1 hour late, but we need to finish earlier???<br/> but then after getting in the car she kept on pushing to take us to an elephant ride?? so we did not have the time for the market but we had time for the elephant ride? and of course the elephant ride required additional fees... we just declined and went back to our hotel</p>

Would have been much better to do a...

<p>Would have been much better to do a group tour for less money. Instead of providing us with an in-depth history and discussion about the floating markets and th surrounding areas, our personal tour guideopted to nap instead. No joke - he slept most of the way there and pretty much all of the way back, with my fiancée and I sitting in the backseat wondering where we were and what we were seeing. Even the driver nudged him awake a few times only for him to return to his state of slumber. Upon our arrival to the market, he essentially left us to go and eat at every opportunity, giving us virtually no insight as to what we were seeing. He was not so much a tour guide as he was a mediocre usher. We are giving it one star simply because we got to and from the floating market safely, got to ride on a boat through the market, and our guidewas at least friendly when he was awake - otherwise it would have been zero stars.</p>

Long drive out to the markets, that...

<p>Long drive out to the markets, that are pretty much a tourist trap. Still we got some good pictures, understood more about the local culture and learned a lot about the history from our tour guide.</p>

I am very very happy i went to the...

<p>I am very very happy i went to the floating markets -- it was a great experience and i definitely wouldnt miss it, and really the private tour was the perfect way for us to do it. BUT i give it 3 stars because you really dont need that much time there, and you really dont need a guide. The guide explains some things on the way there, which is interesting, but you are left on your own once you get to the market which we didnt mind at all, but you should know. Also, you really dont need a lot of time there -- we were give 2-2.5hours to roam around and after an hour we found our guide and headed back to Bangkok. Its amazing to see, but theres not much to do there other than take a boat ride and shop, but the markets/stands are all the same throughout. Paying for this private tour is worth it for the ride there and back and freedom to stay as long as you want vs. going w a big bus group.</p>

Great tour. Worth the extra for a...

<p>Great tour. Worth the extra for a private tour, especially the day I went because it was so busy. The guide and driver also went off script and added an additional stop at an elephant pavilion.</p>