Wiset Chai Chan Old Market (San Chao Rong Thong Market)

Wiset Chai Chan Old Market, also known as San Chao Rong Thong Market, is a Sino-Thai riverside market on the Noi River in Ang Thong’s Wiset Chai Chan district. The community traces back to the Ayutthaya period; its current name comes from a gold foundry (rong thong, “gold factory”) that operated on the site around 1877. Entry is free, and most stalls trade from roughly 08:00 into the early afternoon.

Century-old wooden shophouses line the market lanes in a Sino-Thai style, weathered but mostly intact. Four shrines anchor the community’s spiritual life: the Guan Yu Shrine, the Tudigong earth-god shrine, the Chao Pho Leng Shrine, and the Chao Mae Kaen Chan Shrine — the original shrine building burned down during the fall of Ayutthaya and was later rebuilt. Food is the other draw. Ba Bian, a custard tart, has been made by one family for over 30 years; the Thong Nimit stall sells Luk Tao dice-shaped candy and peanut brittle; and Kanom Gesorn Lamchiang, a delicate pollen-flower sweet, was chosen to represent Ang Thong on Thailand’s “One Menu, One Province” heritage-food list. A coffee stall running for more than 90 years still serves its brew in tin cans with a wire handle rather than paper cups.

The lanes are narrow and mostly shaded, busiest on weekend mornings when day-trippers arrive from Bangkok; midweek the market runs at local pace, with vendors rather than tourists filling the tables. Come before 10:00 — several of the rarer sweets, especially the Kanom Gesorn Lamchiang, sell out once the morning batch is gone.

Insider Tip: Ask at Thong Nimit or the antique coffee stall which sweets have already sold out before committing to a full lap of the market — the best-known stalls run dry well before the lanes empty of visitors.

Watch out: Few vendors have English menus or signage, and most transactions are cash-only. Bring small notes — the sweets typically cost only a few baht apiece, and stallholders rarely carry much change.

Wiset Chai Chan Old Market sits on the Noi River in Ang Thong, reachable by road from Ang Thong town or the Wiset Chai Chan district centre, with parking near the market entrance. For group visits or event timing, the Wiset Chai Chan Municipality Office (035 631 405) can advise. Pair it with the Drum-Making Village or Bang Chao Cha Basketry Village, both a short drive away, for a half-day built around the province’s craft and market culture.