Samut Songkran is about an hour's drive from my house. It is the home of the famous Floating Market - a tourist favorite. There are actually three major floating markets in the Samut Songkran region. There were literally thousands of people there . . . but I only saw three real foreign tourists all day. Apparently the recent troubles in Thailand have scared the tourists away. That is a shame. The Floating Market is a really beautiful and fantastically interesting place to spend the afternoon
The Floating Market is actually a real functional local market built along both sides of an estuarial canal with sales being made both from the old wooden shops that line the canal, and directly from the boats that ply the canal with goods from the farms and sea.
The Floatng Market, though popular with tourists, is a living market.
Life in Thailand as it has been for thousands of years.
A traditional klong (canal) boat and boatman in traditional clothing.
The town of Samut Songkran is estuarial, so seafood finds its way easily to the grills of the boat vendors.
Timeless river trading -- the easiest way to move goods from source to market.
The shops that line the canal are old. Many are kept in beautiful Old Thai style. This one is actually a "Home Stay" hotel.
Many beautiful touches of beauty adorned the homes.
A young Thai Tom Sawyer.
Everything from gnarly fruit . . . . . .
. . . to steamed fish . . .
. . . to grilled squid . . .
. . . to colored cotton candy in plastic cups was for sale at the Samut Songkran Floating Market.