Floating Market

A floating market is a market where goods are sold from boats. Originating in times and places where water transport played an important role in daily life, most floating markets operating today mainly serve as tourist attractions, and are chiefly found in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Floating market TH(talātnām) EN(floating market) FR(marché flottant) is a marketplace where goods are sold from boats. The floating markets are well supported locally and mainly serve as tourist attractions. One of their purposes is to allow domestic visitors and international tourists to be able to experience the culture of riverside shopping.

In the past the areas adjacent to the rivers were the first to be populated. Thus most communities of Thailand were built at the sides of rivers. The waterways served as means of transportation and the center of economic activity as well. Boats were mainly used for both local and regional trade, bringing goods from those that produced to those that could barter and trade. Such ways of life of the riverside communities, especially in the Chao Phraya River Basin increase number of floating markets. Floating markets became the hubs of the communities in the central plain of Thailand for centuries. In the Ayutthaya Period (1350-1767) due to the existence of several adjoining canals, which were suitable for trading, they helped to gain popularity for this type of market.

Early in the Rattanakosin Period (1782-1868) this kind of market was still lively with the crowds. Nonetheless, soon after the region grew and Bangkok began to develop, road and rail networks were increasingly constructed in place of the canals. This resulted in people chose to travel by land instead of by water. Therefore, some of the floating markets were forced to move onto the ground, some were renovated and some were closed down.

Ideally, floating market’s produce and fruit are normally grown from the nearby gardens or from the local orchards. Such produce are the assorted tropical fruits and vegetables like rambutan, mango, pineapple, dragon fruit, star fruits, fresh coconut and durian.

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