Sampran Riverside
A Tha Chin River garden and an organic way of life

🔄 Updated 21 Jun 2026

Sampran Riverside sits along Phetkasem Road at the km.32 mark, in Sampran district of Nakhon Pathom — a wide stretch of land on the Tha Chin River that has been open for decades. It started life as a rose garden and a Thai cultural show stop for foreign tour groups. In recent years the owners shifted direction toward organic farming and sustainability, under the umbrella of the Sookjai Foundation. The two spots most casual visitors come for now are the Sookjai Market, open only on Saturdays and Sundays, and the Patom Organic Living cafe, which is open most of the week.

Sookjai Market — the green market that started it

For people coming on their own, Sookjai Market is the heart of the place. It's an organic farmers' market that brings together a local grower network selling vegetables, fruit, and food grown without chemicals, straight from the hands that planted it. Many people credit it as one of Thailand's pioneering green markets, the kind other organic markets later modeled themselves on. The atmosphere is easy to wander, never crowded, with trees giving shade the whole way through.

• Front zone — fresh fruit and vegetables and organic produce, straight from the grower network; good if you want to take greens home.
• Middle zone — snacks, ready-to-eat dishes, sweets, and processed local products.
• Riverside zone — restaurants with seating, where you can sit and eat with a breeze coming off the garden.

The botanical garden and big trees along the Tha Chin

Beyond the market, the grounds also hold a botanical garden certified to organic standards (IFOAM, EU, and Canada), with the plants sorted into several groups — flowering plants, foliage, aquatic plants, trees, fruit trees, and drought-tolerant species. Each one has a QR code you can scan to read up on it, and you can wander at your own pace under big trees that have been growing for years. Along the side facing the Tha Chin River you can still see riverside community life, with boats passing now and then — a corner where sitting down really does calm you.

Patom Organic Living — a cafe in the garden

Patom Organic Living at Sampran is a glass-walled cafe set in the middle of organic herb and rose beds, designed to let natural light fill the room, with trees and green fields all around. The menu uses ingredients from the farm's grower network, and there's a section selling the organic body-care products they make themselves, like soap and essential oils. Plenty of Bangkok folks know the brand from its Thonglor branch, but the Sampran location is the source, right next to the actual farm.

Organic farm activities and workshops

If you want more than a stroll, there are farm-to-product activities here that go deeper — from organic farm tours, where you follow everything from the vegetable beds to how it's turned into products, to short workshops. Some activities are packages you need to book ahead, and a few build on the Thai cultural shows and Thai village that are part of the garden's heritage.

A relaxed half day at Sampran Riverside

This half day fits people who drive out from Bangkok on a weekend morning. After this you can still go on to pay respects at Phra Pathom Chedi or stop by the Don Wai Floating Market nearby and make it back in time for lunch.

Getting there and what it costs

• Location — Phetkasem Road, km.32, Sampran district, Nakhon Pathom, about 30 km from Bangkok.
• Self-drive — take Phetkasem straight toward Nakhon Pathom; there's parking on the grounds, the easiest option if you want to hit several spots in one day.
• Public transport — vans and buses on the Bangkok–Nakhon Pathom route pass along Phetkasem; get off at the stop near Sampran Riverside and walk in.
• Cost — walking Sookjai Market and going into the cafe is basically free to enter; you pay for what you eat and buy. The farm tours and workshops are separate packages you'll need to ask about and book first.