Floating market. Ratchaburi, Thailand

Damnoen Saduak in Ratchaburi about 109 kilometers south of Bangkok is a place full of life and color and a well-known and attractive traveling site. In my view, it is one of my greatest places I ever visited. Historically, Damnoenssaduak was actually the name of the canal dug in the reign of King Rama IV by the military men and the people of Rajburi, Samutsakorn and Samutsongkram Province directed by Phayasrisuriyawong, the minister of Defense. Nowadays Damnoensaduak is one of a provincial district of Rajburi Province. Most people live densely along both sides of the canal from one end of the canal to another. The majority of this people are agriculturists. They grow several different kinds of fruit and vegetable for examples oranges, grapes, papayas, cabbages, bean, onion and etc. The land in this area is naturally fertile. Apart from providing transportation, Damnoensaduak Canal also provides farmers with adequate water for agricultural purposes for the whole year around. More than 200 small canals were dug by local peasants to connect with it to get water to splatter their land. Moreover; these small canals also become propitious ways of taking their agricultural products to the markets in neighboring provinces and Bangkok. Day in and day out from about 8 a.m. to about 11 a.m. the Floating Market is routinely crowded with hundreds of vendors and purchasers floating in their small rowing boats selling and buying or exchanging their goods. They usually travel on their small rowing boats. However; today the long-tailed boats pushing by engine become very popular. People tend to use them instead. Anyhow because of the shortage of fuel today long-tailed boats are quite unavailable compared to a few years ago. The progress is arrived by the charm stills the same.