As we did not plan to visit floating market in Bangkok, we decided to go to Hua Hin Sam Phan Nam Floating Market which is the biggest floating market in Hua Hin, covering an area of over 100 rai (16 hectares). The market’s architectural features were inspired by several historical sites in Hua Hin that were either built or renovated during the reign of King Rama VI (1910-1925), including the Mrigadayavan Palace and Hua Hin Railway Station.It was said to have more than 200 stalls in Sam Phan Nam Floating Market.
By the way, it was a fallacy to think that Sam Phan Nam Floating Market was similar to the floating markets in Bangkok if you expected having full of boats selling food and fruits. It was just a lakeside market which rows of stalls were built around a huge man-made lake. Generally, it was meant for photo-shooting and sight-seeing only. Entrance fees were on a high side i.e. 200 baht with a free ride of boat around the lake.
Spotted this at the ticket counter
There's a huge lake in the center of Sam Phan Nam Floating Market, providing a calm and tranquil scenery. Yet, there weren't much things to view except seeing the surrounding of the floating market. The boat ride was about 10 minutes.
Strangely there weren't any food stalls which I saw from some blogs mentioning there were foods sold at the boats.
20baht if you would like to have train ride around the floating market.
We did not have train ride as we would prefer to stroll along the market by foot.
The boardwalk around the lake was spacious and wide enough that you would not scare of falling into the lake. After some photography session, we started to explore the stalls.Most stalls sold tourist-oriented items such as Hua Hin T-shirts, handicrafts, key-chains which had the Hua Hin fonts stated, hats, caps and etcetera. I bought my hat here as I couldn't stand the heat of the bright sun and it would be handy for me in Vineyard later.
Wooden crafts- home decors, keychains.
We had a drink of the Thai latte before we proceed to Hua Hin Vineyards. For a floating market which attracted people to purchase items, the entrance fees weren't reasonable. I personally think that it would be better to have the hours spent wisely elsewhere instead of Sam Phan Nam Floating Market because the items here could be purchased in night markets too.
