Here you will find authentic Thai food, ice cream and fruit vendors, and best of all, a wide spectrum of candy you are not going to find in the local Seven Elevens or supermarkets.  There's art galleries and souvenir shops priced well below what you are going to find on Beach Road and Market Street.

But one of the high points of this floating market is it's so relaxing, especially when you compare it to the insanity of close-by Pattaya.  I've been there several times, both by motorbike and by my new car and I can assure you it's very easy place to get to.  It's straight off Sukhumvit Road on the East side of the road which would be on your left side if you are leaving from Pattaya, it's well marked and it's right on the highway.

Parking a motorbike is no problem and it only takes a few minutes to get here.  But having to deal with my new Honda Civic on this last outing seemed to be another story.  Pulling into the first entryway instantly showed me what little parking there was unavailable.  Before pulling back out onto Sukhumvit I immediately noticed a large sign pointing towards an additional parking area.  Pulling into it, I soon discovered still another sign indicating "No Parking" which should have meant that the area had been filled up.  I soon discovered after ignoring the sign there was plenty of parking left once one drives back thirty meters or so past the parking attendant. 

If I didn't live here fulltime I think I would have rented one of the small boats taking tourists on the lake from one cluster of shops to the next.  But whichever way one does it, whether by foot along all the wooden gangways circumventing or crossing one small lagoon after another, this is one pleasant very relaxing outing. 

The real icing on the cake came twice.  First was the vendor serving bananas with one's choice of different toppings.  The bananas are chilled to ice cream temperatures and then they are dipped into the topping.   I opted for a chocolate topping upon which the vendor sprinkled ground up peanuts.  Then my girlfriend and I sought out the candy shop we had found during our last visit.  After finding it I purchased two kinds of peanut brittle including one that had little sweetening added, two small bags containing two varieties of  candied fruits, and a much larger bag of candy that I'm not even going to attempt to describe here.