Giant Fish Trap, Wat Thong Pradit

A 20-metre bamboo tower built in the shape of a traditional fish trap is the reason to detour to Wat Thong Pradit. Local villages in Song Phi Nong district raised the structure — using roughly 5,000 bamboo poles — as a community tourism project, and it now anchors a small floating market beside the canal in Ban Ton Tan subdistrict. Entry is free; the market and tower are busiest Saturday and Sunday, 08:00–15:00.

A wooden walkway winds roughly 300 metres through marshland alongside the canal, connecting to a century-old bridge near the temple itself. Boat vendors moored along the water sell river shrimp, boat noodles, old-style coffee, and Thai desserts — this is a working local market, not a staged tourist stop, so expect plastic stools and hand-written menus rather than polish. Climb the fish-trap tower and you get a 360-degree view over the canal, the floating stalls below, and the rice fields surrounding Song Phi Nong district.

The name — สุ่มปลายักษ์ (suam pla yak), “giant fish trap” — nods to the district’s fishing and farming history rather than being a random novelty. A suam is the bamboo basket trap Thai farmers have used for generations to catch fish in flooded rice paddies; this one is simply built at walk-in scale. Wat Thong Pradit itself, on the other side of the canal, is a working village temple. Most visitors come for the tower and market first, then cross the bridge to the temple grounds.

Insider Tip: Weekday visits mean a quiet canal and an empty tower — worth it for photos, but skip a weekday trip if you actually want the market atmosphere, since most food boats only turn up Saturday and Sunday.

Watch out: The wooden walkway can get slippery after rain, and there’s minimal shade over the 300-metre stretch — bring water and sun protection if you’re visiting midday.

Song Phi Nong district’s other big draw is Wat Phai Rong Wua, with its giant seated Buddha and moral-instruction sculpture garden — worth combining with the fish trap and floating market if you’re making the trip out from Suphan Buri town.