🔄 Updated 21 Jun 2026
Samut Sakhon — or "Mahachai" as everyone calls it — is one of the big fishing towns on the Gulf of Thailand, with boats landing their catch every day. Some of it is eaten fresh; the rest is turned into dried and fermented goods that keep for ages. Walk the markets around here and you'll find stalls of dried shrimp, salted fish, shrimp paste and fish sauce lined up until you can't decide. This article picks the things that are genuinely worth taking home, and tells you what to check before you hand over your money.
Processed seafood worth taking home
If it's your first visit and you're not sure what to grab, these are the items people take home most often, ordered by how well they work as a gift — based on how easy they are to keep, how well they travel, and whether most people will actually enjoy them.
Shrimp paste (kapi koei)
Mahachai shrimp paste is made from tiny krill salt-fermented until it develops its distinctive aroma, with a smooth purplish-pink texture. Use it straight for chili dip or shrimp-paste fried rice. Pick a firm paste that isn't watery, fragrant rather than sour; kept in the fridge it lasts a year.
Real fish sauce
Fish sauce fermented purely from anchovies, a clear amber-brown with a deep aroma that isn't harshly salty. A few drops on an omelette or stir-fried greens and you'll taste the difference from supermarket bottles right away. Look for long-fermented sauce that says it's made from real fish, without much added sugar.
Salted & oily mackerel (pla tu)
Mackerel from the inner Gulf of Thailand, with firm, oily flesh. Fry it crisp and it'll keep you in breakfasts with rice porridge all week. Most shops carry both heavily salted and lightly salted, so ask to taste or check the saltiness first.
Dried shrimp
Mahachai dried shrimp is known for its natural bright-orange color and plump bodies, without the unnatural deep red that means added dye. There are several grades by size — the bigger ones cost more but taste sweeter. Use them in som tam, stir-fries, all sorts.
Dried squid
Big squid sun-dried with thick flesh; grill it over low heat, then tear it apart and dip in sweet sauce as a snack with drinks. Pick squid that's fully dry rather than soft, with no white mold on the surface. The price moves quite a bit with the size of the squid.
Sweet fish snacks / fish strips
Seasoned fish sheets, sweet-salty and moreish — the souvenir kids love, and the easiest to carry in this group. There's an original flavor and a spicy one, and the little packs are handy for handing out.
Pickled cockles / salted crab
Punchy pickled goods for anyone who loves a sour-salty hit. Pickled cockles or salted crab go into seafood dipping sauce or straight onto hot steamed rice. They need to stay cold and be eaten within the time the shop tells you, so buy them right before you head home.
Shrimp-paste chili dip / seafood chili jam
If you can't be bothered to pound your own, plenty of shops sell ready-made shrimp-paste chili dip and shrimp chili jam in jars — just open and mix with rice. Each shop's version tastes different, so taste before you settle on one you like.
Check before you pay
Good shrimp paste smells fragrant rather than sour, with a firm, non-watery texture · good dried shrimp is naturally orange, not a suspiciously deep red that suggests dye · dried squid should be fully dry with no white mold patches · for pickled goods, ask the use-by date and tell the shop you're traveling far so they'll pack it with a cold bag.
Want to taste deeper? Try a Samut Sakhon food tour or cooking class
Half a day with a local who knows the lanes — or cooking a dish yourself — teaches you more than just eating. Book ahead on Klook or GetYourGuide.
Shops and markets the locals actually buy from
Mahachai's souvenirs cluster in just a few main spots, so one stop covers nearly everything — both the fresh markets selling retail and the wholesalers who make and dry their own goods, where prices usually beat the malls or roadside petrol-station shops.
Talay Thai Market
The town's biggest seafood wholesale market, with clearly separated zones for dried and processed goods — dried shrimp, squid, salted fish, shrimp paste, fish sauce, pickled cockles — and lots of wholesale prices to choose from. Go in the morning when the goods are freshest and all the stalls are open.
Mahachai Fresh Market
The town-center fresh market near Mahachai train station, easy for buying small amounts retail, with dried-goods and souvenir stalls mixed in among the fresh produce. Good if you want a little of several things.
Keng Seafood
A Mahachai dried-seafood shop that makes, dries and sells its own — dried shrimp, dried squid, sweet fish, mackerel, shrimp-paste chili dip — at retail and wholesale. You can order online and have it shipped to other provinces.
Je Wan Foods / Je Muay Mahachai
A long-established dried-seafood wholesaler around Mahachai with the full range — dried squid, shrimp paste, dried shrimp, salted fish. Good for buying in bulk or comparing prices before you buy elsewhere.
Mae Khae Shop
A Mahachai dried-seafood, dried-squid and dried-fish shop that locals keep recommending to each other. The dried goods are graded for quality, so it suits anyone who cares about quality over the cheapest price.
Tha Chalom neighborhood
An old community across the river from the town center — take the ferry or drive over the bridge. There are small family-run shops making processed seafood and shrimp paste, and you can wander the old buildings while you're there.
Non-seafood souvenirs
If the person you're buying for doesn't eat seafood, or you want something purely dry, Samut Sakhon has well-known items from its other districts to round out the haul, so you've got a few different things to hand around.
- Benjarong & Krathum Baen ceramics — Krathum Baen district is known for its ceramics and Benjarong ware, a good gift for older relatives.
- Coconut sugar & palm-sugar blocks from Ban Phaeo — a local sweet from the coconut groves that keeps well; use it for cooking or to sweeten drinks.
- Lod chong & local sweets — fresh sweets you find in the markets, better eaten while you're out and about than carried far home.
How to shop smart and not lose it on the way back
- Go early — the seafood markets open in the morning, with fresher and fuller stock; by mid-morning some stalls start packing up.
- Compare 2–3 sellers — dried shrimp and squid prices vary by grade, so look around before you commit.
- Buy pickled goods last — pickled cockles, salted crab and mackerel need to stay cold, so buy them right before you leave and tell the shop you're traveling far; they'll pack them with ice or a cold bag.
- Bring a cooler bag — if you're driving, pack a foam box or cooler so things last longer on the way home.
- Wrap shrimp paste and fish sauce tightly — the smell is strong, so ask the shop to double-bag them or use a sealed box, otherwise it'll get on everything else in the car.
Want to eat fresh seafood in Mahachai before buying souvenirs to take home?
See the Samut Sakhon travel guide →