The Maeklong Railway Market (or the ‘risky’ market as it’s also affectionately known) is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Thailand. This market is like no other, with vendors moving their goods from the tracks and folding away their shop awnings multiple times a day to accommodate trains passing through.
Day tours to visit the market can be booked across Bangkok and online. But like most day trips, prices can be unreasonable (we saw anything from £30 – £90 pp). It’s also likely you’ll be ushered along as part of a large group, losing some autonomy in being able to explore the market at a leisurely pace.
So what if I told you it’s possible to do the Maeklong Market all by yourself, arriving in style? And for just £1 return per person?
Here is how you can enjoy a more authentic experience by taking the train from Bangkok. Not only an incredibly memorable experience, but something which became one of our trip highlights!
1. The First Leg – From Bangkok’s Wongwian Yai Train Station to Mahachai
Starting the journey from your hotel, you will first need to get yourself to Wongwian Yai Train Station. If you’re staying in central Bangkok this will be a pretty cheap Grab or Taxi ride.
There are numerous departures throughout the day, with the first train leaving at 5:30am and the last at 20:10pm. We went for 7am which would work perfectly for a day trip.
There’s a small ticket kiosk where you can purchase your tickets, some street food stalls and toilets.
You’ll want to purchase a single ticket to Mahachai station (it’s the last stop at the end of the line) and it will cost you 10 baht for 2nd class fan (23p). The journey will take an hour.
Keep your tickets to hand as the immaculately uniformed ticket inspectors walking up and down the carriage will check them to mark that you have completed your journey.
Enjoy the ride as you head out into the suburbs of Bangkok! It’s amazing to see how much greenery and traditional style housing still exists so close to the centre of a modern city.
Watching the slow pace of life as people wake up and go about their day is part of the fun of being on the early train!
2. The Second Leg – From Mahachai Station To The Ferry Crossing
One hour after departing from Bangkok, you will arrive in Mahachai. You will know you are pulling into the final station as you’ll start to see a market appear around the sides of the carriages. Once the train stops, the locals will let you know anyway, often by gesturing to you that this is the end of the road!
The reason you’re stopping off here, is that although officially the journey from Bangkok to Maeklong is one trainline, there’s no bridge to take the train across the Tha Chin river. You therefore need to transfer across via public ferry.
Follow the crowds off the train and towards the bustling marketplace! Open daily from 5am to 7pm, the market predominantly sells seafood, but there are lots of other local products on sale too.
I would highly recommend you take 15-20 minutes or so to have a little look around.
Once you’ve done exploring, it’s time to head to the ferry. The port is located just a 5 minute walk from Mahachai station. Use offline Google Maps or the MapsMe app to direct you:
Ferry port address: แม่น้ำ 144 Sorrasuk, Tha Chalom, Amphoe Mueang Samut Sakhon, Samut Sakhon 74000, Thailand
Once at the port you will need to purchase a ticket from a small ticket kiosk across to Ban Laem. This will cost 3 baht per person and once you have your tiny ticket in hand you can walk over to the waiting space until the ferry arrives.
Ferries are very quick to turn around and the journey across only takes a minute or two.
3. The Last Leg – Ban Laem Station to MaeKlong
After disembarking the ferry, you will need to walk about 10 minutes to Ban Laem train station (again, use your trusty offline Google maps or MapsMe app!). The route is straightforward and will take you past more stalls selling dried fish/seafood – this is how you know you are in the right place, embracing all the smells!
Address: Tha Chalom, Mueang Samut Sakhon District, Samut Sakhon 74000, Thailand
At sleepy Ban Laem station you will find a few vendors selling breakfast and water etc. and be able to use the (free!) toilets. There is a small ticket window with lots of signage showing all the various train times.
If you took the 7am out of Bangkok like we did, it’s likely you’ll be getting the 10:10am out of Ban Laem. There is a shaded waiting area to chill out in until the ticket window opens, which for us was 9:30am. Again it’s 10 baht per person for the journey.
Important: At about 10am, head down from the seating area to the platform so that you are ready to jump on the train when it pulls into the station. You will definitely want to be ready to secure the coveted window seat!
This train journey will take an hour and is much more beautiful than the last. You will go through villages, towns and farms and even get to see the salt being harvested from the salt evaporation ponds.
The journey was hot but we found the trains really comfortable and quiet. It was only nearer to the final stop when a tour group joined us. When all the remaining empty seats got filled up (this is why I mentioned earlier that you need to secure a window seat early on!).
Arriving at MaeKlong Railway Market
About 50 minutes into the journey you should get your camera/iPhone ready for arrival into MaeKlong station.
You’ll begin to see the stalls of the market emerge, and realise just how close the train is to them, as well as all the onlooking tourists filming you. The slow journey into the train station is quite an experience!
This part of the journey was a real trip highlight for us – prepare for some hilarious interactions between yourself on the train and all the spectators!
As I mentioned earlier, this trip can be done as a day trip (so you will have to do this same journey again in reverse) or you can do what we did and stay in Samut Songkhram for a couple of days to get a better feel for the area and enjoy the nearby Amphawa Floating Market too! I would highly recommend it if you have the luxury of time on your hands.
However, if you don’t have the ability to stay longer you can find the return times for the train below.
I hope this guide comes in handy for anyone looking to make the journey to the ‘risky’ train market themselves. Happy travels!
I’ve read so many stories that say the trains are unreliable etc. but we simply did not find this to be the case! Each one showed up promptly and was super reliable and clean. We had a great experience on Thai trains!
Until next time,
Lica xoxo
