ThailandDescription and Whether It's Worth Visiting
The village and market of Mae Klong are located 80 kilometers from Bangkok in Samut Songkhram Province. It's a great place for a day trip from Bangkok to spots little known to tourists, to see a unique tourist attraction on one hand, and an everyday phenomenon for Thais on the other.
The thing is, this is where the famous railway market is, where vendors with their goods and stalls sit right on the railway tracks. It's also known as Talad Rom Hub, which translates as "Market of the Folding or Closing Umbrellas". Where that nickname comes from – you'll understand once you visit.
Guides and tour sellers call it deadly dangerous and shocking, though objectively there's nothing dangerous here. Trains appear here only 4 times a day strictly on schedule, and vendors clear all their trays and goods off the tracks in advance. The danger the train poses is more for tourists who climb right under the wheels with their cameras to capture a "unique" selfie. Tourists, by the way, are so numerous here that you'll have to fight for a good spot to take photos. Honestly, it's generally hard to see or photograph anything here without selfie-taking Asians ending up in the frame.
To see everything in action, you'll have to come here and wait for a train to arrive or depart. They arrive daily at 08:30, 11:10, 14:30, 17:40, and depart at 06:20, 09:00, 11:30, 15:30 (see the current schedule below and check on the official Thailand railway website – https://www.railway.co.th). The market itself is open from 08:00 to 18:00. The route from Bangkok here passes through Maha Chai village, where you'll need to switch from one train to another.
Besides the actual moment the train passes, which lasts a minute at most, you can stroll around the market and buy local souvenirs and fruit. Prices here are reasonable, so feel free to buy something, but don't forget to haggle with a smile. There are also "signature" tourist cafes here now, one of which, for example, serves ice cream shaped like a train.
🕐 Opening Hours
Trains arrive daily at 08:30, 11:10, 14:30, 17:40, and depart at 06:20, 09:00, 11:30, 15:30.
💵 Entrance Fee / Ticket Prices
Free.
🚶 How to Get There
The railway market is located in Samut Songkhram Province in Mae Klong village, 80 kilometers from central Bangkok (market on the map). From Bangkok you can visit it in a day independently by train, minivan or rental car. You can also visit it from Hua Hin, best by rental car. Travel agencies offer tours here even from Pattaya – usually a market stop is one of the points on day-long "sightseeing" tours of Bangkok or during a multi-day trip to Kanchanaburi (River Kwai). Ask about such tours at travel agencies in the city or search online on Trip.com (accepts Russian cards).
If you decide to visit independently without a rental car, the only reasonable starting point is Bangkok – from other places you won't make it in a day. We recommend a combined approach: come here by bus and leave by train, and you'll have a great one-day adventure:
By Bus
You can get here by bus from Bangkok's southern bus terminal Sai Tai Mai. Minivans depart roughly every 30 minutes, the trip takes a little over an hour, fare from 100 baht / 2.97 rubles. In Mae Klong these minivans arrive at the bus station, which is just a few minutes' walk from the market and railway station. This way you can get here before one of the train arrivals, watch it come in, and take it back to Bangkok with a transfer in Maha Chai village, as described below.
By Train
At Wongwian Yai Railway Station in Bangkok, board the train to Maha Chai village (fare 10 baht, 1 hour ride). In Maha Chai, from the railway station you need to walk a couple of minutes to Mahachai Pier, where a ferry departs very frequently (when full) to the other side for 3 baht. On the other side of the river, walk another 5 minutes to Ban Laem railway station. At Ban Laem station, board the train to Mae Klong station and the market (fare 10 baht, 1 hour ride).
| Bangkok (Wongwian Yai Railway Station) - MahaChai | |||||||||||||||||
| Departure | 05:30 | 06:25 | 07:00 | 07:40 | 08:35 | 09:40 | 10:40 | 12:15 | 13:20 | 14:25 | 15:25 | 16:30 | 17:05 | 17:35 | 18:35 | 19:10 | 20:10 |
| Arrival | 06:23 | 07:27 | 07:58 | 08:39 | 09:28 | 10:36 | 11:39 | 13:10 | 14:15 | 15:22 | 16:27 | 17:26 | 18:02 | 18:36 | 19:30 | 20:04 | 21:00 |
| MahaChai - Bangkok | |||||||||||||||||
| Departure | 04:30 | 05:20 | 05:55 | 06:25 | 07:00 | 08:00 | 09:35 | 10:40 | 11:45 | 13:15 | 14:25 | 15:25 | 16:00 | 16:30 | 17:35 | 18:10 | 19:00 |
| Arrival | 05:23 | 06:16 | 06:53 | 07:28 | 07:56 | 09:03 | 10:31 | 11:38 | 12:43 | 14:13 | 15:18 | 16:19 | 16:55 | 17:28 | 18:25 | 19:01 | 19:59 |
| Maha Chai (Ban Laem station) - Mae Klong | ||||
| Departure | 07:30 | 10:10 | 13:30 | 16:40 |
| Arrival | 08:30 | 11:10 | 14:30 | 17:40 |
| Mae Klong - Maha Chai | ||||
| Departure | 06:20 | 09:00 | 11:30 | 15:30 |
| Arrival | 07:20 | 10:00 | 12:30 | 16:30 |
The schedule may change, it's best to check it before your trip on the official Thailand railway website – https://www.railway.co.th
And finally, a reminder that it's much more interesting to explore Bangkok's attractions with guided tours, so we suggest checking out options with online booking and reviews on these Russian-language tour aggregators: