Flavours of Siam: Don Wai Market & Riverside Cooking

Itinerary

Don Wai, the Tha Chin River & Home Cooking

Lunch

Bangkok → Don Wai / Nakhon Pathom

Don Wai, the Tha Chin River & Home Cooking

Your English-speaking local guide and driver meet you in the lobby of your Bangkok hotel.

After approximately one hour on the road, you arrive at Don Wai, a century-old market set along the Tha Chin River. Once closely connected to the river trade, it remains today an important meeting and trading place for local residents and is still largely removed from the crowds found at some of Thailand’s better-known markets.

Your host, who comes from the area, introduces you to the history of Don Wai, its temple and local Buddhist traditions. She also shares her knowledge of the market’s produce and the specialties worth discovering or tasting.
You then board her small boat for a short cruise along the Tha Chin River, travelling to her home, which she has transformed into a restaurant.

In the peaceful setting of her tropical garden, your host shares her passion for cooking. During this private class, you discover unfamiliar flavours and recipes while learning to slice, prepare, season and cook the ingredients yourself.
Once the dishes are ready, you sit down together to enjoy the lunch you have prepared.

More than a cooking lesson, the experience offers a genuine cultural exchange built around food, conversation and the simple pleasures of local life.

At the end of the experience, your driver takes you back to your hotel in Bangkok.

Transport: approximately 40 km — 40 minutes to 1 hour depending on traffic
Meal included: lunch prepared with/by the hosts
Important: please inform us in advance of any food allergies or dietary restrictions.

Experience details

Cancellation policy

We understand that travel plans may occasionally change. Cancellation fees are calculated according to the date on which the cancellation is received prior to the start of the experience:

More than 30 days before arrival: 25% of the total amount
29 to 16 days before arrival: 35% of the total amount
15 to 9 days before arrival: 50% of the total amount
8 to 3 days before arrival: 75% of the total amount
Less than 2 days before arrival: 100% of the total amount

Should a guest choose to interrupt or leave the experience once it has begun, any unused services will be non-refundable.

In the exceptional event that an experience must be cancelled by one of our local partners due to unforeseen circumstances preventing its proper operation, all amounts paid for the affected experience will be refunded in full. No additional compensation may, however, be claimed.

Our on-the-ground commitments

At Hilaire Expériences, we place particular care in the way each journey is conceived and delivered on the ground.

We favour local partners who share a more responsible approach to travel, with particular attention paid to preserving the environments we visit, respecting local communities and ensuring that tourism contributes positively to the destinations in which we operate.

A number of our experiences are operated by partners working in accordance with recognised standards such as Travelife and ChildSafe, with a continued focus on managing their environmental and social impact responsibly.

We are also progressively reducing the use of single-use plastics across selected programmes. Wherever possible, disposable bottles are being replaced by refillable solutions and drinking-water refill points available in hotels and aboard our vehicles.