Maeklong Railway Market Travel Guide – Visit Maeklong – Budget Travel In Thailand

On first glance, Maeklong Railway Market is a typical Thai market selling fruit, vegetables, meat and fish.

What makes Maeklong Railway market special (and what attracts many tourists) is that it is located on a train line and trains run right through the centre of the market six times a day. Tourists stand excitedly with their phone cameras watching vendors move their produce, pull back their umbrellas and stand aside to let the train pass, before putting everything back where it was.

Maeklong Railway Market is approximately 100 km from Bangkok. Many tourists visit Maeklong as a day trip from Bangkok to get their Instagram photos and YouTube videos. As we wanted to combine it with a visit to a nearby floating market, we decided to stay in the town itself.

How To Get To Maeklong Railway Market From Bangkok

You can take the train from Bangkok but this involves changing trains and taking a ferry and can only be done on the early train (6.45 am) out of Bangkok. We didn’t fancy lugging our backpacks around so decided to take a minivan.

The minivans no longer leave from the Victory monument as they once did (though I have read there is a free shuttle-bus available from there). We had to take a minivan from the ‘Southern Bus Terminal’ (map). Buses also leave from ‘Mo Chit Bus Terminal’ (map) but are less regular, take longer and are more expensive.

Getting to the Southern bus terminal took over an hour using public bus. Once we arrived, we followed the ‘tickets and departures’ signs up to the first floor only to discover that the minivans to the market depart outside the station (to the left of the station as you enter). We found the minivan station and asked for the minivan to the market. We found it and had to wait 20 minutes or so for it to depart. There are plenty of food stalls around so we were able to grab some food as we waited.

Arriving In Maeklong

The bus took around ninety minutes and dropped us off on the main road through the town. Heading towards the hotel, we got our first sight of the railway market.

Where To Stay In Maeklong

Most people make day visits to see the market only. We decided to spend three nights here and booked a room at ‘Alongkorn Hotel by SB’ (map). This hotel was ideally located as it was just a short walk to the railway market.

The room was a decent size and the WiFi worked good enough for me to stream a live football game with no buffering issues. The staff spoke little English but were very friendly towards us. There was no breakfast but there was a buffet offering free hot and cold drinks and toast. There was also a microwave available. It was a good place to spend 3 nights.

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We paid £51.88 for a three night stay in a double room with en-suite bathroom.

Click here to book a stay at ‘Alongkorn Hotel by SB’.

Things To Do In Maeklong

After we were settled in our room, we headed out to see the last train arrive in Maeklong. By this time, most of the market had closed so we knew we had to visit again the next day when it was busier for the full experience.

Maeklong Train Timetable

As of October 2019, this is the Maeklong Market train schedule. Check the station for updated times. I would advise arriving at least 10 minutes early to get a good spot. Be aware that Thai trains rarely run on time.

Train Arrival times: 8.30 am, 11.10 am, 2.30 pm, 5.40 pm.
Train Departure times: 6.20 am, 9.00 am, 11.30 am, 3.30 pm.

Flooding In Maeklong

Leaving the market, we then explored the town further. There is not much to separate Maeklong from many other small Thai towns other than the railway market. We soon discovered it was quite hard to move around as many of the roads were flooded.

By the next morning, all the water had gone and there was no more rain so it was a real surprise to see the water return again in the evening!

Maeklong Street Food

All around the market area, there are many stalls selling street food. There were no bars in the area so we decided to have some food and have an early night. I ate at a stall that was selling duck with noodles in broth with cubes of blood. It was delicious and cost only 40 baht.

Morning Train Into Maeklong

The next day, we returned to the market to see the 11.10 train arrive. As expected, the market was totally open and was, therefore, much busier.

It really is incredible to think that, minutes after I took these photos, a train would be passing through here.

We managed to get a good position in a cafe right on the rail tracks. Sipping on our passion fruit smoothies, we heard the bell that serves as a warning to traders and shoppers alike that the train was on its way.

As the traders re-organised their stalls, the train slowly came into view.

We had experienced the train passing on the railway street in Hanoi, but this was a whole new level of crazy!

Amphawa Floating Market

After the train had passed through and the market quickly returned to its normal state, we had some shrimp cakes for breakfast then decided to make our way to ‘Amphawa Floating Market’ (map). Amphawa is one of a number of local floating markets (the other most well-known one being Damnoen Saduak) and is open Friday to Sunday between the hours of 11 am and 9.30 pm.

How To Get To Amphawa Floating Market

The cheapest way to get to Amphawa Floating Market is to take a songthauw from here. It costs 10 baht per person and only takes around 15 minutes.

The bus will drop you near one of the entrances where you can walk through a restaurant to get to the actual river.

There are shops and restaurants on either side of the river. Technically, it is not really a floating market but there are some some boats serving freshly cooked fish dishes.

As well as the riverside vendors, there is a big market in the surrounding area where you can buy street food and some interesting souvenirs.

We were very impressed with the market. It is a very pretty area and food and drink is no more expensive here than back in the town.

King Rama II Memorial Park

As we explored the vast market, we came across the entrance to ‘King Rama II Memorial Park’ (map). We decided to pay the 60 baht entrance fee and have a look around.

We found a very well-maintained park with old Thai houses hosting small museums containing relics from the King Rama II period. Not all of the information was in English but this didn’t matter to us, as we were more interested in just enjoying the park itself.

The park led us back to the floating market where we had some food. It was only 50 baht but the tom yum seafood rice was too spicy for me!

We took the songthauw back to Maeklong (from here) where I stayed in the hotel watching football and drinking beers!

Maeklong Coffee Shop

On our last full day in Maeklong, we decided to chill out in the day and head back to the floating market for a fireflies boat trip in the evening. We headed slightly out of the centre to find ‘Baanchang Coffee & Restaurant’ (map). This was a very modern coffee-shop and restaurant, unlike anything we’d seen in the centre.

The coffee was good, as was the chicken wings with spaghetti I had for breakfast!

Fireflies Boat Tour At Amphawa Floating Market

In the evening, we headed back to Amphawa Floating Market for a boat tour in which we were led to believe we would see lots of fireflies.

The market was much busier in the evening and there was more choice of street food.

Despite all the seafood that looked amazing, I still had ‘Moo Ping’ – my favourite pork grills.

The boat cost just 60 baht for a 1 hour trip. We began by passing through the floating market itself.

I was surprised just how many resorts and restaurants we passed on the trip. We also saw a number of temples and, yes, hundreds of fireflies. The highlight for me was right at the end when we suddenly came across this creepy vision.

We tried to get back to Maeklong by songthauw but discovered that they stopped running after 6 pm. We started to walk but it was 90 minutes on foot so we pulled a tuktuk who took us back to town (at a scary speed) for 100 baht.

Is Maeklong Railway Market Worth Visiting?

Mae Klong? Maeklong? Is the town even called Maeklong or is that just the market? Whatever it is called, I enjoyed my time here and am certainly glad we stayed rather than trying to do it all in a day trip. If you have time, I recommend giving a couple of nights to Maeklong so you can experience the railway market and the floating market at your leisure.