Meggan and I decided to take a little day trip outside of Bangkok to see the famous Damnoen Saduak floating market. We saw that there were several tours that went out there, but we really wanted to avoid being on a tour. We found we could hire a taxi to get us out there for half the price. This is definitely the way to go, although we still managed to get scammed. 
Be sure to have the taxi driver drop you off directly at the market and hire a boat from there for a couple of dollars. Our taxi guy told us that it was only possible to get to the market via longtail boat, so he dropped us off a tour operator which gives him kickbacks about 2 minutes from the market. We ended up paying for a canal tour to get to the market. As a result, our day ended up costing about the same as the tour we passed on.
We had to laugh at ourselves once we made it to the "remote and hard to find" floating market via our longtail boat to see a parking lot unloading a busload of tourists. No bones about it, this is a bit of a tourist trap.
Even with busloads of other tourists floating around the floating market is a really great place to photograph. There is plenty of great colors, faces, food and boats to look at through a lens.
It's also really fun to eat here. We had great Thai food served to us on plates and bowls boat-side from women floating by.
I won't go too into detail on the food here (the food post is next), but we went big. Noodle bowl, green curry, mango sticky rice, numerous fruits we'd never find in Denver and more, all from the comfort of our boat.
We would definitely recommend the trip out to the floating market. It's about an hour and half out of Bangkok. And if you're up early enough, you'll get back in time to see more (or in our case, eat more) in Bangkok.
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You had to get caught somewhere in Thailand in a scam. Rite of passage. =)
I always thought there was a floating market IN Bangkok and I just missed it when I was there. Or is this the floating market everyone talks about?
You’re right it’s an incredibly touristy place, but a photographer’s dream.
Gorgeous photos. I’m impressed with how many you got of people. Were those all taken with a long lens?
The food there is phenomenal. We went with a private tour guide who knew which vendors had the best food. I was glad not to be on one of those bus tours and on a larger boat with 20 people.
Very cool photos. I had time to get out there on my first trip to Bangkok, but every time we got an estimate for price on a taxi or tour it was too expensive for our budget (we saved our money to spend on good food and half-decent hotels). Guess it’s another reason for me to go back to Thailand.
Hey Brian- I think this is the one everyone talks about judging from the number of tourists. Ha ha, scammed in Thailand is certainly a rite of passage. Everything seems to involve negotiation followed by the question… “did we just get scammed??”
Thanks Kristina! We were glad not to be on the 20 seater too. Yes, we had two lenses going, one all-around and one telephoto.
We totally agree with you, the accommodation and food are a great value in Thailand.
Those are some great photo’s and scammed or not it helps you remember your trip to the floating markets. What would travel be without a bit of a laugh
That’s one of the best and funniest travel blog post titles I’ve seen in while. Thanks, I’m planning a trip to Thailand so I’m gong to place the floating market on my list.
you can’t tell from the photos that it’s a tourist trap.
Your pictures are amazing ! Sorry that you get scammed. I always travel by bus and moto-taxi, it is sometimes a little more complicated to organize ( but more exiting I think ) so I have a very few risk of being scammed.