Khlong Hae Floating Market in Hat Yai

Khlong Hae Floating Market in Hat Yai

Visitors buy a bamboo drink from a vendor.

The beauty of the Hat Yai floating market is that the hawkers line up side by side and number about 100 boats at any one time. Each of them sells its own unique local food dish or drinks.

It is recommended that you visit this place at about 6.00 pm, and you can witness these boats that paddle in to set up their floating shop. Once they finish selling their items, they row away with the day’s takings.

While the tourists will flock to the riverside for the fantastic experience of buying food from the floating food boats, the locals mostly hang out at the main bazaar area. There are places to sit and eat here.

Most visitors will easily walk 30 to 45 minutes from boat to boat by the riverside. This is a must-do as so many different types of food are being sold here.

After buying your food and drinks, you can either stand and eat or move to the seated area in the food bazaar area.

On my visit here, I noticed how the boat hawkers went about trading where the sellers would be sitting in their boats; you simply tell them what and how many you want, and they will serve it with a long bamboo stick stretched out to you. Money is then placed at the end of the stick, and a sale is made. 

There must have been about 80-100 boats selling all sorts of foods while a couple of them sold souvenirs, and it was relatively cheap in terms of tourism standards.

A long bamboo about 12 inches long was cleaned and had a rope secured at the top for you to hold. The choice of orange or lemon was served inside, and you could carry it around the floating market.

Some of the items sold here are not found in the floating section of the market, and prices vary according to what you buy. Interesting souvenirs, which could be great gifts, are mostly found in this market area.

If you venture across the bridge to the other side of the Floating Market, cultural shows and other stalls sell various items. It is also a great place to take photos of the Hat Yai floating market, as shown in the image below. 

Modernization also unspoiled this place, where you see how the locals trade here. I thank you for going out to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) for this trip, and I look forward to visiting this fantastic place in the future.

For those heading to Hat Yai from the Malaysian border, make sure you have time to visit this place. Most tour packages to Hat Yai include this package in the itinerary. 

How to go to the Floating Market in Hat Yai?

This market is located about four kilometres from Hat Yai (หาดใหญ่) in the Tambon Khlonghae district and is only open from Friday to Sunday, 1.00 pm to 9.00 pm.


Most of the food at the floating market vendors is sold by Thai Muslims. Therefore, it is all Halal. But you may need to double check the food bazaar on the land.