🔄 Updated 21 Jun 2026
Samut Songkhram has plenty of floating markets, but the one most people know is Amphawa, which buzzes with crowds on weekend evenings. Tha Kha is a completely different vibe — a morning market along a canal in the middle of the orchards, still running the way locals have always done it, not staged for tourists. Most of the vendors are farmers from the area who paddle their own produce straight to the canal, so visitors get to see a floating market the way it's looked for over a hundred years.
The upside of Tha Kha is that it's still not crowded — you can stroll the canal at your own pace and take photos without waiting in line. The thing you do need to plan around is that it only opens on certain days. Drive out on a day the market isn't on and you'll find the place completely dead, so it pays to double-check the days and times before you set off.
Which days is Tha Kha open — the key thing to check first
This is where a lot of people get caught out, because Tha Kha doesn't open every day. There are two overlapping schedules. The easy way to remember it: it's open every Saturday and Sunday, plus extra days on the 2nd, 7th, and 12th of the waxing and waning moon (roughly every 5 days on the lunar calendar — the market's original traditional schedule).
- Saturday-Sunday — open around 6:00 AM-12:00 PM (the easiest days to visit)
- 2nd, 7th, 12th of the waxing/waning moon — the original lunar schedule; it runs on weekdays too, but you'll need to check a lunar calendar
- Public holidays — often runs longer, until around 2:00 PM
- The boat market winds down by mid-morning since it's an early market — the goods on the boats sell out fast
How to plan the day
If you don't want to gamble, going on a Saturday or Sunday is the safest bet — and get there before 9 AM, because by mid-morning the paddle boats start heading back and the fresh orchard fruit usually sells out before noon. The real floating-market atmosphere is in the early morning.
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The atmosphere — real farmers' fruit boats
The heart of Tha Kha is the paddle boats. Farmers from nearby orchards row small boats into the canal, loaded with fresh coconut sugar, guava, rose apple, aromatic young coconut, pomelo, chili, and shallots straight from their own land. Buyers stand on the bridge or along the canal bank and point to what they want right off the boat — the kind of trading that's become rare in today's floating markets.
Beyond the fruit boats, there are food boats too — noodles, old-style coffee, Thai sweets. Locals say the prices on the boats are really cheap, with some things starting at just a few dozen baht, because they're selling among their own community rather than pricing for tourists.
Orchard fruit boats
Rose apple, guava, pomelo, and aromatic young coconut from the orchards around the market — picked that morning, at local prices.
Fresh coconut sugar
A Mae Klong specialty, simmered from real coconut palm sap — fragrant and sweet in a way packaged sugar isn't. A good souvenir to take home.
Food & Thai-sweet boats
Boat noodles, khanom jeen, rice-and-curry, old-style coffee, and sweet Thai desserts, starting at just a few dozen baht.
Want a boat tour of the orchards
Tha Kha runs guided boat trips that take you along both banks of the canal to see the orchard life. The boat costs around 200 THB per boat (seats about 5), and the trip takes roughly 30-40 minutes — worth it if you're in a group and can split the cost. You'll see coconut and fruit orchards and the waterside life you can't reach on foot.
Getting there and parking
Tha Kha is in Amphawa district, not far from the town of Mae Klong. Driving yourself is the easiest option — from the center of Samut Songkhram it takes about 15-20 minutes.
- Private car — take Highway 325 (Samut Songkhram-Bang Phae) to around km 32, just past the turn-off to Wat Ko Kaeo, then a right turn leads about 5 km more into the market
- Parking — the market has a parking lot; about 20 THB for cars, around 10 THB for motorbikes
- Public bus — the Tha Kha-Wat Thep Prasit line departs from the Mae Klong municipal market, with buses running through the day at intervals
- The final stretch is a narrow road through the orchards — drive slowly and watch for oncoming cars
Where to go next nearby
Because Tha Kha is a morning market that wraps up before noon, you'll still have half a day to keep exploring once you leave. The area is dotted with the classic Mae Klong-Amphawa sights worth a stop.
- Maeklong Railway Market (the umbrella-pulldown market) — vendors pull back their awnings as the train rolls right through the stalls; the Mae Klong image that's famous far and wide
- Amphawa Floating Market — an evening canalside market that comes alive in the afternoon and evening, with firefly boat trips at night
- King Rama II Park and Wat Amphawan Chetiyaram — pay respects at the temple and see the riverside Thai-house museum
- Don Hoi Lot — if you have time to spare, head out for seafood on the mudflats at the mouth of the Mae Klong River
A half-day trip that flows
A plan that works well: head to Tha Kha early (6:30-10:00 AM), then drive over to the Maeklong Railway Market to watch the train come through, and finish the afternoon and evening at Amphawa Floating Market. Morning floating market, railway market, and evening floating market — all in one day.
Before you go
- Open Saturday-Sunday and on the 2nd, 7th, and 12th of the waxing/waning moon, in the morning around 6:00 AM-12:00 PM
- Going early is best — the paddle boats and fresh produce are there before mid-morning
- It's a genuine local market — uncrowded and easy to wander, great if you like a quiet atmosphere
- Bring cash and small notes, since the boat vendors have a hard time changing large bills
Plan a full day in Samut Songkhram — where to stay, eat, and explore
See the Samut Songkhram travel guide →