Samut Songkhram Travel Guide | Orchard Town of Mae Klong

Geography & Climate

Canals at the River Mouth

Samut Songkhram sits in Central Thailand where the Mae Klong runs out into the upper Gulf, about 65 kilometres southwest of Bangkok. It is the smallest province in the country — 416.7 square kilometres of coastal plain, clay mixed with sand, and no mountains. The river crosses Bang Khonthi and Amphawa and meets the sea in Mueang Samut Songkhram: about 22 kilometres of channel inside the province, and about 23 kilometres of coast. Ratchaburi and Samut Sakhon lie to the north, Samut Sakhon to the east, the Gulf and a corner of Phetchaburi to the south, and Ratchaburi with Phetchaburi to the west. Three districts make the whole of it — Mueang Samut Songkhram, Amphawa, and Bang Khonthi.

From the river, 335 canals and 1,947 smaller ditches cut the coconut and lychee gardens. Salt water reaches about three kilometres inland, brackish water a little farther through Amphawa and the town, and fresh water covers northern Amphawa and all of Bang Khonthi. Salt pans line the shore, and Don Hoi Lot, the sandbar at the mouth, is the ground of the razor clam. The climate is a tropical savanna under the southwest monsoon, kept damp by the Gulf. Cooler, drier days run from about November to mid-February. March into May is hot — April’s daytime highs run around 35°C — and rain falls from roughly May through October. The year averages about 28.5°C and about 1,200 millimetres. High tides still lie on the low ground.

Best time: November – February for cooler, drier days on the canals and the estuary; March – May for lychee in Bang Khonthi, though the afternoons are hot; May – October brings rain and tide on the low ground.

History & Heritage

A River Town Called Mae Klong

People still call it Mae Klong, after the river. In writing the town appears in the reign of King Borommatrailokkanat, 1448–1488 (B.E. 1991–2031), when the governor held the title Phra Samut Songkhram — samut, from Sanskrit, for the sea, and songkhram for war. The town later took that title as its name. It was then a district of Ratchaburi known as Suan Nok, the outer garden, set against Suan Nai at Bangkok, and its centre was Bang Chang, in today’s Amphawa. Before King Naresuan, Mon households had already settled upriver and come down to the mouth. A palace list from King Uthumphon’s reign still has their boats at the capital, loaded with old coconut, mangrove wood, and white salt.

Provincial histories place the name on a Dutch map of 1636 (B.E. 2179) and on La Loubère’s map of 1687 (B.E. 2230), in the reign of King Narai. An officer of that same embassy, Claude Céberet, left Tha Chin for Mae Klong on 18 December 1687 and wrote the town down: larger than Tha Chin, about a mile from the sea, no city wall, one small square brick fort with four little towers, and drinking water he called good, the ground around the fort already under water. Late in Ayutthaya, and on into Thonburi, Bang Chang and Mae Klong left Ratchaburi and the place was called Mueang Mae Klong. A decree of King Borommakot in 1756 (B.E. 2299) already uses the name Samut Songkhram.

In 1766 (B.E. 2309) Thong Duang, Luang Yokkrabat of Ratchaburi and later King Rama I, married Nak, daughter of a Mon household at Amphawa. Their son Chim — King Rama II — was born at Bang Chang on 24 February 1767 (B.E. 2310). When he took the throne, Nak’s family became the Bang Chang royal line.

In 1765 (B.E. 2308) King Ekkathat sent a fleet to camp at Bang Kung, in today’s Bang Khonthi, and walled Wat Bang Kung into the middle of it, a hold against a Burmese army coming down the Mae Klong. The camp fell, and in 1767 so did Ayutthaya. After King Taksin had driven the Burmese out, he posted Chinese levies from Rayong, Chonburi, Ratchaburi, and Kanchanaburi on that same ground. People called it the Chinese camp of Bang Kung. In the dry season at the close of 1767 (B.E. 2310) a force out of Tavoy came through Kanchanaburi and laid siege. Taksin sent Phraya Maha Montri — Bunma, later the Front Palace — with a fleet of about a hundred boats. The siege broke, and the Burmese pulled back to Tavoy. It was the first fight with Burma after Thonburi was founded. The ordination hall of Wat Bang Kung still stands inside a cage of roots, the Buddha in the old doorway.

In 1901 (B.E. 2444, Rattanakosin era 120), under King Chulalongkorn’s thesaphiban reform, Mae Klong was raised to the province of Samut Songkhram, in three districts that are still the whole of it: Mueang Samut Songkhram, Bang Khonthi, and Amphawa.

The ordination hall of Wat Bang Kung, brick closed over by tree roots, with the Buddha in the doorway

Top Attractions

Places Not to Miss

A market the train still parts, fireflies on the Amphawa khlong, a sandbar of razor clams, and the houses where King Rama II was born — ten places that shape a Samut Songkhram day, listed A to Z.

Amphawa Chaipattananurakโครงการอัมพวาชัยพัฒนานุรักษ์

Princess Sirindhorn gave this ground its name. In 2002 Prayong Nakawarangk offered the Chaipattana Foundation five plots — about 21 rai of orchard and timber houses on Khlong Amphawa — and she opened the project on 21 December 2008. The walk takes in a chemical-free lychee and coconut garden, the Nakawarangk courtyard, a community shop, and Chan Chala, the wooden coffee house on the canal. A coconut-sugar stove is fired for visitors. Monday to Thursday about 08:30–16:00, Friday until about 19:00, Saturday and Sunday until about 21:00. It sits beside the floating market.

Location · Amphawa, Amphawa District

Amphawa Floating Marketตลาดน้ำยามเย็นอัมพวา

The community brought the canal market back on 12 August 2004, and in 2008 the wooden houses along the khlong received an Honourable Mention in the UNESCO Asia-Pacific heritage awards. Boat stalls — hoi thot, noodles, coffee — are fullest Friday to Sunday and on public holidays. The municipality still describes it as an evening market, busiest from about 16:00 to 20:00, while other boards list a longer day, so come late in the afternoon if you want the canal full. Firefly boats leave after dark. A shared seat has often been about 60–80 baht and a private boat more; agree the hour at the pier. The lamps on the lamphu trees show best on a dark night in the rains, about May to October. Keep quiet, and leave the insects on the trees.

Location · Amphawa, beside Wat Amphawan Chetiyaram

Ban Bang Phlapชุมชนบ้านบางพลับ · ศูนย์ท่องเที่ยวเกษตรเชิงอนุรักษ์

An orchard village on Khlong Bang Phrom, growing pomelo, coconut, lychee, and mango without chemical fertiliser. The learning yard is the reason to come — coconut sugar boiled from the flower nectar, charcoal made from fruit wood, and the candied “reincarnated” fruit that takes the bite out of bitter gourd and lime — and bicycles are hired for the garden lanes. The village has collected community-tourism awards, among them outstanding years in 2010 and 2013. It is a working orchard, not a ticket gate. Phone ahead, and ask which bases are open that day.

Location · Moo 4, Bang Phrom, Bang Khonthi

Bang Kung Campค่ายบางกุ้ง · โบสถ์ปรกโพธิ์

The ordination hall still stands inside a cage of roots — bodhi, banyan, and two other trees the village counts — with the Buddha in the old doorway. King Ekkathat walled Wat Bang Kung into a naval camp in 1765. The camp fell. After Ayutthaya fell, King Taksin posted Chinese levies here, and in the dry season at the close of 1767 Phraya Maha Montri broke a Burmese siege sent from Tavoy. A shrine to Taksin was consecrated on 20 June 1968. The grounds are a working temple. Dress for it, and keep off the roots.

Location · Bang Kung, Bang Khonthi

Bang Noi Floating Marketตลาดน้ำบางน้อย

About five kilometres from the Rama II park, at Wat Ko Kaeo. A generation ago this mouth was a busy river quay on the Mae Klong. It now opens Saturday and Sunday, about 08:00–17:00, with garden fruit, Khlong Khon shrimp paste, and the pickled-lime roti that TAT still credits to Je Renu, the last of that stall in the market. The walk is the old timber houses along the canal.

Location · Mouth of Khlong Bang Noi, Kradangnga, Bang Khonthi

Don Hoi Lotดอนหอยหลอด

A sandbar at the mouth of the Mae Klong, about three kilometres wide and five long, where the razor clam outnumbers the other shells. The outer bar is reached only by boat, from the pier by the shrine of Prince Abhakara of Chumphon. The inner shore is a road: Chuchi village in Bang Chakreng, off Highway 35 near kilometre 64, and Bang Bo in Bang Kaeo, near kilometre 62. March to May is when the tide stays out longest. Collectors work a sliver of wood dipped in white lime into each hole — scattering lime across the bar kills the bed. A shared boat has lately been about 50 baht and a small private boat a few hundred; agree the fare before you board. Stalls on the bank sell the clam fresh and dried.

Location · Mae Klong estuary, Mueang Samut Songkhram

King Rama II Memorial Parkอุทยานพระบรมราชานุสรณ์ พระบาทสมเด็จพระพุทธเลิศหล้านภาลัย · อุทยาน ร.2

The birthplace of King Rama II, on about 11 rai the abbot of Wat Amphawan gave for the memorial. UNESCO marked the bicentenary of his birth in 1968. Thai houses keep a man’s room, a woman’s room, and a central house of early-Bangkok life, with benjarong and the old game of mak sakka. A library that stood over the water burned in 1987 and was rebuilt as the Amphawa heritage museum. An open-air theatre and a garden of plants named in his poems fill the rest. Hours and the ticket move. The gate has asked about 30–40 baht of an adult, and some seasons close on Monday. Read the board.

Location · Amphawa, beside Wat Amphawan Chetiyaram

Maeklong Railway Marketตลาดร่มหุบ · ตลาดเสี่ยงตาย

About a hundred metres of market laid on the rails at Maeklong station. When the train is due the vendors fold the awnings, pull the trays back, and let it through — then the umbrellas open again. That fold is the name Rom Hup. Seafood, fruit, and vegetables, daily from about 06:00 to 18:00. A 2026 reading of the timetable put arrivals at 08:30, 11:10, 14:30, and 17:40, and departures at 06:20, 09:00, 11:30, and 15:30. The board changes. Stand off the rails.

Location · Maeklong Station, Mae Klong, Mueang Samut Songkhram

Tha Kha Floating Marketตลาดน้ำท่าคา

Orchard boats still bring coconut, pomelo, rose apple, and coconut sugar to Tha Kha in the morning. The old rule was the 2nd, 7th, and 12th days of the waxing and waning moon — every five days — and TAT still lists Saturday and Sunday mornings, about 08:00–12:00, with a longer span on public holidays. A lunar market does not keep a wall clock. Ask in Amphawa the day before, and hire a rowing boat if the garden canals are running.

Location · Tha Kha, Amphawa District

Wat Phet Samut Worawihanวัดเพชรสมุทรวรวิหาร · วัดหลวงพ่อบ้านแหลม

A third-class royal temple on Phet Samut road, beside Ban Laem market — the Ban Laem of Mae Klong, not the district of that name in Phetchaburi. In 1764, the chronicle says, people fleeing a Burmese army at Phetchaburi settled north of Wat Si Champa and called the village after their old home. Fishermen later pulled two images from the gulf in one net. The seated figure went to Wat Khao Takhrao in Phetchaburi. The standing figure, about 167 centimetres, its alms bowl lost at sea, stayed here as Luang Pho Ban Laem. Prince Bhanurangsi later offered a blue glass bowl. Dress for a working temple.

Location · Ban Laem, Mueang Samut Songkhram

Local Flavours & Food

Mackerel, Razor Clams & a Table on the Water

Samut Songkhram eats what the Mae Klong and the gulf mouth give it. Short mackerel is fried with fish sauce or laid in a chu chee, razor clams come off Don Hoi Lot into a herb stir-fry, and samphire from the mangroves turns up in a curry or a salad.

The ten rooms below are the tables people book for a long meal on the river or a khlong, listed A to Z.

Where to Eat

Rooms on the Water

Hours shift with the kitchen. The pin opens the latest map.

Baan Khun Taweeร้านอาหารบ้านขุนทวี

About 10:00–21:00 · some weekdays from 11:00

A restored house on Pathummalai Road, with tables looking across the Mae Klong to Wat Phet Samut Worawihan. Salt-fried river prawns, grilled river prawns, and a crab curry with samphire are the plates to build around. Weekend evenings fill, so call before you go.

Location · 1285 Pathummalai Road, Mae Klong

Improvise Smoked N Grillอิมโพรไวส์ สโมคแอนด์กริลล์

Tue–Sun 17:00–23:00 · closed Monday

An evening grill at 99/3 Wichitphakdi Road, with seats on the Mae Klong and a bar indoors. Smoked pork ribs, a quick steak, and fried rice cooked in beef fat are the plates, and the house plays live music. It opens at 17:00, for the sunset rather than lunch.

Location · 99/3 Wichitphakdi Road, Mae Klong

Jinda Riversideจินดาริเวอร์ไซด์

About 10:00–20:00 · closed Thursday

A breezy room at 193 Mae Klong, under the bridge across the river, easy to spot from a large sign on the road. Tom yum mackerel, razor clams in a herb stir-fry, and egg crab are the plates to share. Some listings keep the kitchen open toward 21:00, so read the door if you are coming late.

Location · 193 Mae Klong, under the river bridge

Khoon Lin Pak Aoคุ้นลิ้น ปากอ่าว

Weekdays about 09:00–19:30 · weekends until 20:00

The gulf-mouth room of an old Mae Klong name, at 213 Moo 1, Bang Chakreng, beside the PT depot. From the Bangkok side of Highway 35, turn near kilometre 64; Wat Sattha Tham is about a kilometre before the gate. Razor clams in a herb stir-fry, steamed egg crab, and a samphire salad are the order, and the tables take the sunset. Some boards open from 08:30.

Location · 213 Moo 1, Bang Chakreng, Don Hoi Lot

Khoon Lin Rim Khlongคุ้นลิ้นริมคลอง

About 10:00–19:00 · closed early in the week

A family house on Khlong Chuchi at Don Hoi Lot. Park on the road and walk the wooden bridge, about fifty metres. Prawns from the grill, a blue swimmer crab from the steamer, and mackerel simmered with madan are the plates. It does not take a booking. Boards disagree on which early weekdays are closed, so call before the drive.

Location · Khlong Chuchi, Don Hoi Lot

Krua Khru Mooครัวครูหมู

Closed Tuesday · weekdays from the afternoon · weekends from about 10:00

A riverside kitchen behind Darunanukul School, at 70 Soi Yakobe 1, open to the Mae Klong and the sunset. Squid fried with shrimp paste, mackerel with fish sauce, and salt-and-pepper prawns are the plates to share. Weekday service starts in the afternoon, between about 15:30 and 17:00, and weekends open late morning. The boards do not agree on the hour, so call on the day.

Location · 70 Soi Yakobe 1, behind Darunanukul School

Krua Namthip Rim Khlongครัวน้ำทิพย์ริมคลอง

About 09:00–19:30 · closed Tuesday

A canal-side kitchen in Ban Prok, with a cooled room and tables in the breeze, and parking beside the house. Crab fried rice, tom yum grouper, and soft-shell crab with garlic fill a family table. One listing runs until 21:00, so check the door if you are coming late.

Location · Ban Prok, Mueang Samut Songkhram

Lungkeng Seafoodลุงเก้งซีฟู้ด คลองโคน

Daily 09:00–21:00

A mangrove-canal kitchen at Khlong Khon, with a large cooled room and seats outside under the trees. Egg crab steamed with milk is the plate this stretch of coast is known for, with large mantis shrimp and short mackerel beside it. A seafood som tam bar lets the table pound its own salad.

Location · Khlong Khon, Mueang Samut Songkhram

Rim Khuean Dangdoemริมเขื่อนดั้งเดิม

09:30–19:30 · closed Wednesday

The original room is down a lane off Highway 35, around kilometre 70, on a small khlong in Bang Khan Taek. Rim Khuean Mini, run by the same family, sits at the mouth of that soi. Chu chee mackerel, razor clams in a herb stir-fry, and a seafood steamed-egg hotpot are the plates. Wednesday is the closing day unless it is a public holiday, and weekends are walk-in.

Location · Bang Khan Taek, off Highway 35

Splashing Tigerเสือพ่นน้ำ River Bar & Playground

17:00–23:00 · closed Wednesday

An evening bar on the water in Bang Khonthi, about fifteen minutes from Amphawa, with the sunset in front of the tables. A playground, table tennis, and darts sit beside the dining room. Fish cakes, a three-crisp salad, and a cold drink are the order. The house lists 17:00–23:00 and Wednesday closed.

Location · Bang Khonthi, west of Amphawa

Local Specialties & Souvenirs

Mackerel, Pomelo & Mae Klong Salt

Samut Songkhram packs what the three waters grow. A basket of short mackerel, a jar of Khlong Khon paste, coconut sugar from an Amphawa stove, and fruit that carries a geographical mark.

The ten gifts below are listed A to Z. Eat the khanom tom the day you buy it. The salt, the sugar, the paste, and the dried seafood can wait until you are home.

Amphawa Coconut Sugarน้ำตาลมะพร้าวแท้ Sap from the coconut flower, boiled in the Amphawa orchards until it smells fragrant and the sweetness stays soft. Ask for sugar boiled from the flower alone. The khanom-tom kitchens order this same sugar for the filling. A jar or a solid cake of it travels well.
Coconut Jelly and Candied Fruitวุ้นมะพร้าว · วุ้นเป็ด · ผลไม้แช่อิ่ม Orchard counters set coconut into a soft jelly — including the one locals call wun pet — and cook garden fruit down in syrup so it keeps. These are the jars to take when the pomelo and the lychee are out of season. Buy them sealed.
Don Hoi Lot Razor Clamsหอยหลอด · หอยดองน้ำมะขาม The sandbar at the river mouth is the razor-clam ground. Stalls sell the clam fresh on a low tide, and pack it as a tamarind pickle and as dried meat. Other shellfish pickles share the table. The sealed pickle travels. The fresh clam belongs to the day.
Dried Mae Klong Seafoodกุ้งแห้ง · อาหารทะเลแห้ง Dried shrimp, dried squid, and other gulf-mouth seafood, stacked in the shops along Highway 35 — the Rama II road — and in the town markets. Packed dry, they ride home better than a bag of fresh fish. Choose pieces that are dry all the way through.
Khanom Tom Khun Yaiขนมต้มคุณยายแม่กลอง A Mae Klong khanom tom. The sticky-rice dough is smoked with a candle, the filling is young coconut cooked with pure coconut sugar, and young coconut is rolled on the outside. The counter people name is on the bypass in Bang Kaeo, and has listed about 09:00–16:00, closed Wednesday. Eat it the day you buy it. The dough firms in the cold.
Khao Yai Pomeloส้มโอขาวใหญ่ A geographical indication, registered as Khao Yai pomelo of Samut Songkhram. The fruit is large and slightly flat, with about twelve to fourteen segments, flesh from white to honey, sweet with a little acid, and juicy without turning wet. Most segments carry no developed seed. The orchards run through Amphawa, Bang Khonthi, and parts of Mueang, on ground that takes salt, brackish, and fresh water. The heavy months are about August to October, and a sound fruit keeps for weeks.
Khlong Khon Shrimp Pasteกะปิคลองโคน Paste from Khlong Khon, on the mangrove coast, made with the small black-eye krill of that mud and with sea salt. The smell is fragrant, and the salt stays in the background. A small jar is the one to pack. Stir it if a dark oil has risen to the top.
Khom Lycheeลิ้นจี่พันธุ์ค่อม A geographical indication, registered as Khom lychee of Samut Songkhram. Also called Hom Lam Chiak, the fruit is egg-shaped or heart-shaped, bright red, with upright spines, a taut skin, and flesh that is plump, fragrant, and sweet. The trees are in Bang Khonthi, Amphawa, and Bang Khan Taek. It comes in the hot months, about March to May. Buy it then, and eat it soon.
Mae Klong Mackerelปลาทูแม่กลอง A geographical indication for the fresh fish and the steamed fish: short mackerel from the inner gulf, plump, with a soft oily flesh. The bent neck is the fold cooks give the head so the fish sits in a round basket, which then simmers in brine — the mark of a Mae Klong basket. Sun-dried mackerel and pla thu satay are the other gifts. Keep a steamed basket cold and eat it within a day or two. The dried fish waits.
Mae Klong Sea Saltเกลือสมุทรแม่กลอง Registered in 2023 as a geographical indication. Grain salt and flower salt, naturally white, with a round salinity and a quick dissolve. The pans are in Bang Kaeo and Lat Yai, where gulf water has come in through mangrove creeks. The hot months are when the pans work. The white eating salt is the jar to take home.

Local Culture & Vibe

Bracts on the River, Cakes at Dawn

Samut Songkhram keeps its year on the water. Banana sheaths go down the river at Loy Krathong, Bang Phrom cooks khanom khrok for the monks once each year, and Songkran bathes Luang Pho Ban Laem. The hot months belong to the sunset on Don Hoi Lot.

The five rites below are listed A to Z. Lunar dates move. The provincial culture office and the district boards post the year.

Banana-Bract Loy Krathongลอยกระทงกาบกล้วยเมืองแม่กลอง

Full moon, 12th lunar month · Wat Phumarin Khudi Thong, Amphawa

Mae Klong folds the sheath of the klue tani banana into a krathong, sets a candle, and lets a long line of them go onto the water. Recent fairs have gathered at Wat Phumarin Khudi Thong in Amphawa for a few nights around the full moon — 15–17 November in 2024, with a hundred thousand sheaths on the culture-office calendar, and 4–6 November in 2025, when the opening counted more than fifty thousand. The provincial culture office posts the year’s nights.

Don Hoi Lot Sunset Fairตะวันรอนที่ดอนหอยหลอด · แข่งกระดานเลน

Hot months, on the long low tides · Prince Chumphon shrine, Bang Chakreng

From about March to May the sun drops into the gulf off Don Hoi Lot and seems to go out at the waterline. Fishers kick a short board across the mud to reach the razor clams, and that board race is the coastal game of this ground. The sunset fair follows the long low tides. In 2024 it ran 4–12 May, and in 2025 it was 12–16 June at the Prince Chumphon shrine. The year’s programme, and which mud games are on it, is posted at the shrine.

Khanom Khrok Almsตักบาตรขนมครกน้ำตาลทราย

8th waxing, 10th lunar month · Wat Kaen Chan Charoen, Bang Phrom

Once a year, before dawn, Bang Phrom in Bang Khonthi cooks khanom khrok for the monks. The cakes are only lightly sweet, and a dish of sugar sits beside them. The village dates the alms to Luang Pho Ho, abbot of Wat Kaen Chan Charoen from 1937 to 1973, when the sellers still came by boat. The money from the cakes goes to the temple, and after the monks have passed you may eat from the pans. In 2024 the day fell on 10 September. The district posts the morning for the year.

Mae Klong Mackerel Festivalเทศกาลกินปลาทูและของดีเมืองแม่กลอง

Annual · lately December · provincial hall

The chamber of commerce and the province set out Mae Klong mackerel in dozens of plates, with community goods beside them. The 27th fair was set for 12–21 December 2025 at the provincial hall. The dates move. Check the year before you plan a meal around it.

Songkran at Luang Pho Ban Laemสงกรานต์สรงน้ำหลวงพ่อบ้านแหลม

About 12–18 April · Wat Phet Samut Worawihan

Songkran in Mae Klong gathers at Wat Phet Samut Worawihan, where people lay gold leaf and bathe Luang Pho Ban Laem, the standing Buddha of the town. The fair ran 12–18 April in both 2024 and 2025, seven days and nights, in the court in front of the ordination hall.

Travel Info & Getting There

Plan Your Journey

How to reach Samut Songkhram from Bangkok, and how to move around once you arrive.

From Bangkok

By car

Highway 35, Rama II Road, runs out of Thonburi and reaches Maeklong in about 72 kilometres. Clear traffic is an hour to an hour and a half. The M82 motorway, Bang Khun Thian to Ban Phaeo, skips the slow first kilometres, then you rejoin Rama II. Around kilometre 63 a parallel road drops into town. Friday afternoon and the Sunday drive home are the slow hours, and elevated-road works still take a lane. Amphawa sits about six kilometres farther, on the canal.

By train

The Maeklong line is two railways with the Tha Chin between them. From Wongwian Yai, a short walk from the BTS, trains run through the day to Maha Chai in about an hour, the ticket about 10 baht. A ferry crosses to Tha Chalom in a few minutes, for a few baht, and Ban Laem station is a short walk on. Four trains leave Ban Laem for Maeklong, at 07:30, 10:10, 13:30, and 16:40, about an hour each. On the 2026 board they arrive at 08:30, 11:10, 14:30, and 17:40 — the fold of umbrellas in the railway market. Back to Ban Laem, the trains leave Maeklong at 06:20, 09:00, 11:30, and 15:30. Miss one and the wait is long. The State Railway posts the year.

By bus

Minivans are the ordinary way in without a car. Queues at Pinklao and at the Southern Bus Terminal in Taling Chan run to Maeklong through the day and set down by the fresh market, a walk from the rails. In clear traffic that is about an hour and twenty minutes to an hour and a half, and the fare has lately sat around 70–80 baht. A few vans go on to Amphawa. Saturday morning the queue is long. From the market a songthaew to Amphawa is a short hop, lately about 10 baht.

Getting around

The whole province sits inside a short drive of Maeklong. Amphawa is about six kilometres, Don Hoi Lot about five, and Wat Bang Kung about eight from Amphawa. Songthaews cover the Amphawa road. Motorcycle taxis take the lanes; agree the fare first. Bicycles are hired along the canal for the morning. Firefly boats leave the floating market after dark on the nights it is open, a shared seat often 60–80 baht. For Don Hoi Lot, Bang Kung, and the orchards in one day, hire a car or a songthaew and fix the route before you go. Ride-hailing reaches the town, and thins out after dark.

Best time to visit

November to February is the kinder weather: cooler, drier days on the canals and the estuary. March to May is lychee in Bang Khonthi and the long low tides at Don Hoi Lot, with hot afternoons. May to October brings the rain, the high water on low ground, and the stronger firefly nights. The boats and stalls at Amphawa are fullest Friday to Sunday. Come on a weekday if you want the canal quieter.

Continue the Journey