While the experience is completely unique, this really is nothing more than a trip to a mall in a boat. It is very expensive to spend several hours there and there is really not much more than cheap goods being sold in many canal side stores. It is almost like a amusement park ride. It might be fun for the kids and it is unique, but in my opinion it was a waste of time and trouble. I'm confident I could have found a much better way to spend my time and dollars. I do not recommend since there are many better alternatives in my opinion.
Let me start by saying that our guide, Miss Siriwaritsara Petcharapan, was amazing. She was very friendly and knowledgable of everything! I recommend her to anyone!
The tour information we received simply described the trip as a Floating Market Tour, and said it included price of admission to the floating market, Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. The floating market was excellent re. Learning about what it used to be and imagining the canal ages ago. Unfortunately it’s now a huge tourist trap, there were basically no local wares and instead shop after shop after shop (dozens and dozens) of the exact same tchotchkes, which we realized were mostly made in China. For example, the same 10 shirts and/our figurines were available by the hundreds both at each vendor and in other areas of the Bangkok. Some people might like that, however we were more interested in learning about history, culture, and food than the repetitive demands to purchase cheap, non-authentic goods at a substantial markup. In addition to the food we happily purchased, we bought two small things so as to not seem rude, although we had not expected such aggressive demands/tactics from the vendors. It was cool to see and experience for what it once was, but if you head there, keep in mind that you will have to awkwardly say no a lot after someone tries to sell you the same shot glass or T-shirt for the 20th time.
Not listed in our itinerary but absolutely the best part of the trip was the Maeklong Railway Market! This market definitely has kept local flair and is clearly integral to the area! It was easily one of the coolest things we’ve seen in Thailand! The street food was amazing and I cannot say enough good things about this experience. We ate and drank a lot of different things and truly enjoyed it. 100% worth the trip outside Bangkok. Since the Floating market is right nearby, i would say it absolutely makes sense to see both since you can still appreciate the cultural significance of Damnoen Saduak even with the previously listed problems. However, the train market is really what makes the trip worth it!
The WORST part of the trip which was not listed in the itinerary was a trip to an elephant camp to ride elephants. I understand that tourism is an industry and services will be provided based on what is paid for, but we were not told in advance and only found out about the stop when we were picked up in the morning. At this point, it is pretty well established that this practice is cruel to the elephants and they are basically abused from when they are young to tolerate riders. There are some well known elephant camps and sanctuaries throughout Thailand that provide an experience of feeding and taking care of the animals. This was definitely not one of them. As soon as the guide told us about the activity, we informed her that we did not want to go and that we had been unaware it was part of the trip. However, since it was part of the itinerary the company had, she asked if we could just stop by and see, etc. We agreed, as it wasn’t her fault that we were not informed initially of the stop and we did not want to be rude. The place was pretty awful. We walked in and two baby elephants were stuck in a pen with barely enough room to turn around, being swamped by tourists reaching out to touch and grab at them. The larger elephants were in an area that was part of a garden walk, they had large metal benches strapped to them with guides banging on the benches trying to entice tourists up for a ride. I am a bit embarrassed to say that I had such a visceral reaction to the scene that I started to cry a bit and we thankfully left pretty quickly for the train market.
If it wasn’t for the stop at the elephant camp, I would give this tour 4-5 stars. Our tour guide was top notch and definitely deserves 5 stars, but we should have been informed of all the stops. Given the conflict about elephant camps as a whole, it was very surprising to me that the tour description online did not include this information. Some tourists may choose to still attend (I acknowledge that the existence of the elephant camps in Thailand is an issue that is complicated and it can still be important to support local citizens), but we were not those tourists and with such a conflicting topic, attendees should be informed and able to make their own decision.