Soc Trang, three communities in one town

Soc Trang is a modest market town, not a sight in itself. Its interest is in what surrounds it. The Khmer, the delta's largest minority, are concentrated in a coastal band running from Tra Vinh through Soc Trang to Bac Lieu; the 2019 census counted 1,319,652 Khmer in Vietnam. Their Theravada pagodas, with their monks' quarters, schools and cremation towers, are the centre of village life, and Soc Trang has some of the most visited.

The Kh'leang pagoda, founded in the mid-sixteenth century according to local histories and with halls rebuilt in 1918, mixes Khmer architecture with Kinh and Chinese motifs. The Bat pagoda takes its common name from the large fruit bats that roost in its trees. The Sa Lon pagoda, rebuilt in 1969, is covered in mosaics of broken bowls and plates. The Som Rong pagoda was founded in 1785. Hoa families, descendants of Chinese migrants, brought bánh pía, the flaky pastry that is now the town's most famous product.

Inland, the old Nga Nam floating market at a junction of five waterways is largely inactive, according to a 2024 report; towards the sea, the coast is one of the areas named in national salinity bulletins every dry season.

Khmer festivals named here are listed by the national newspaper's ethnic-groups section; exact dates change each year.

Khmer pagodas do not publish entrance fees in any source we have found; most have a donation box, and a small donation is the polite thing to leave. Bánh pía was quoted at about 80,000 VND per half kilo in 2023. A bowl of noodle soup in a local shop costs a few tens of thousands of dong; prices vary by shop.

• If your time is two days or less — Can Tho covers more in the same time
• If you are not interested in religious sites; the pagodas are the reason to come
• If you cannot dress for a pagoda: covered shoulders and knees
• If you want a floating market: Nga Nam has largely stopped trading