# The Ko Kret day trip: ferry, pottery and the sweets table > Forty-five minutes from the BTS crush, a two-baht ferry lands you on a car-free Mon island that has been making pottery since before Bangkok was the capital. Here is the day, boat by boat and stall by stall. Ko Kret is Bangkok's easiest escape and its most commonly botched one: arrive at 2 pm on a Sunday and you will meet the market at maximum crush with the sweets sold out. Arrive right, mid-morning, clockwise, appetite empty, and the island does the rest. This is the clockwise plan, from three starting points. ## 08:30, Out of Bangkok, three ways The fast way is a **Grab or taxi to Wat Sanam Nuea pier** in Pak Kret, about 45 minutes from Sukhumvit if you beat the worst traffic, and the fare stays modest. The cheap way is **bus 166 from Victory Monument**, which rolls straight up Chaeng Watthana to Pak Kret. The scenic way is the **Chao Phraya Express Boat** north to Nonthaburi pier, the city's temples and bridges sliding by for under an hour, then a ten-minute taxi to the crossing. On weekends, some operators also run direct tourist boats with a Ko Kret stop; they work, but you surrender your timing. ## 09:30, The two-baht ferry At Wat Sanam Nuea the crossing ferry shuttles all day: a couple of baht, two minutes, no schedule because it simply goes. Mid-river is where the trip happens, longtails, hyacinth islands drifting seaward, and the white **leaning chedi** growing off the bow. You land at the island's north-east corner, exactly where the day should start. ## 10:00, Wat Poramaiyikawas and the chedi that tilts The island's great temple is a Mon foundation rebuilt by King Rama V, and its riverside landmark, **Phra Chedi Mutao**, has leaned toward the water for generations: the island's logo, best photographed from the ferry or the river path at golden hour. Inside, the temple keeps a Mon-style reclining Buddha and a small museum of manuscripts and ceramics. Give it a slow half hour before the lanes get loud. > **THE WEEKLY TIDE** The famous market runs **Saturday and Sunday** only (roughly 09:00-16:00); on weekdays most stalls close and the island reverts to a working village. Neither is a mistake: weekends for the food, weekdays for the potters and the empty loop. Whatever the day, bring **cash in small notes**, the island is not a card economy. ## 11:00, The pottery quarter Follow the lane south from the temple into **Kwan Aman**, the Mon pottery district that gives the island its reason. The signature style is unglazed red terracotta carved with lace-fine geometry, water jars, lidded bowls, palm-size pots, a craft the community carried from Burma three centuries ago. The kilns still fire; several workshops let you watch the wheel, and a couple will sit you at one. Buy here, at the source: the carved stamp on a pot's base is the island's quality mark, and prices are honest. ## 12:30, Lunch standing up, sweets sitting down On market days, lunch is the lanes themselves: **crab-topped noodles on banana leaf**, grilled river prawns, fried **dok khae blossoms**, and in the hot season **khao chae**, rice in jasmine-chilled water with its fussy little sides, the Mon dish Bangkok's palace kitchens borrowed and never gave back. Then the island's real event: the **sweets tables**. Thong yip, foi thong, luk chup shaped like tiny fruit, all made in open kitchens to recipes older than the capital. Buy the sampler boxes; regret nothing. > **Sleep by the river, not on the island.** Ko Kret has no real hotels: a Bangkok riverside base puts the express boat, and tomorrow's dinner, at your door. [Stay on the riverside ](https://www.stay22.com/allez/roam?aid=geoguides&lang=en¤cy=USD&lat=13.7244&lng=100.5125&campaign=kohkret_article_daytrip) ## 14:00, The loop at bicycle speed Rent a bike near the pier (a small fee and no paperwork) and take the single concrete path **clockwise around the island**: seven unhurried kilometres through durian and banana orchards, stilt houses, small temples and the open river on your right. The southern half is where the weekend crowd never goes; on a weekday you may share it only with dogs and dragonflies. Walk the bike through the market stretch, it is etiquette, and give way at the footbridge pinch points. ## 16:00, Last pass and the golden hour Circle back for the things you pretended you would not buy: the second sweets box, the pot you kept thinking about. Then take a riverside table, coffee or a cold Singha, as the light goes amber on the chedi. The crossing ferry runs until evening; recross and let a taxi or the express boat carry you back down the river to dinner, Pak Kret's riverside restaurants if you are not done with the water, Bangkok if the city is calling. ## Fine print **No cars:** the island has none; everything is on foot or two wheels. **Dress:** shoulders and knees covered in temple grounds, same as anywhere in Thailand. **Season:** November to February is the kind months; in the rainy season check river levels, the lanes flood in big years. **Time needed:** half a day minimum, a full day to do it justice. And the golden rule of the sweets table: whatever the auntie recommends, that one. > **READ NEXT** [Getting to Ko Kret: Grab, Bus 166 and the Express Boat](https://kohkret.com/getting-to-ko-kret-grab-bus-166-and-the-express-.html) [Koh Kret Weekend Market: Lanes, Stalls and the Eating Order](https://kohkret.com/the-weekend-market-lanes-stalls-and-the-eating-o.html) [Wat Poramaiyikawat: Koh Kret's Leaning Mon Temple](https://kohkret.com/wat-poramaiyikawat-inside-koh-kret-s-leaning-mon.html) [Where to Stay for Koh Kret: Nonthaburi or Riverside Bangkok](https://kohkret.com/where-to-stay-for-koh-kret-riverside-bangkok-or-.html) --- Source: https://kohkret.com/koh-kret-day-trip.html Published 2026-10-22 · Koh Kret: independent guide (kohkret.com)