wrong side of the river

damnoen saduak floating market

hearkening back to the thai days of old when daily life centered around canals and rivers and boating was a major form of transportation, damnoen saduak floating market has preserved a microcosm of thai traditional life along the river...plus a few hundred foreigners.more than anything, damnoen saduak is a good photo spot, catching vendors selling from hand-paddled longboats. there are also some decent eats from boat vendors. but, i'd recommend heading to other places to get a more authentic taste of thailand.i was surprised at how small the floating market is: take a stroll down both sides of the canal and you'll be back to your starting point in half-an-hour. in general, i was underwhelmed by the place; it felt a little contrived and hokey, like people dressed as wenches and peasants for a renaissance fair. you could buy your typical tzatchkis here, though you'll get a better price for the same things at any other market in bangkok. and after 10am the canal was a boat-to-boat jam of all the longboats of foreigners in the canal. i'm not sure how true this is, but a curious anecdote about damnoen saduak i learned from my thai studies is that it's a bit like the shepherdsons and grangerfords of huck finn. apparently, the two banks of the canal have feuded for years, creating a competitive and self-serving culture. after visiting amphawa floating market, just 13km away, i realized what a floating market could be. go there instead.