South East Asian Trips

At around 19,500 Sq.Km Kanchanaburi is Thailand's third largest province. Bordering Myanmar, the province is famed for its mountains and hills. Only 130 Km from Bangkok it takes two hours to get to Kanchanaburi by bus making it a popular destination for day trippers from the capital. 150 Km west of Bangkok, the region is especially famed for the Bridge Over the River Kwae, scene of numerous war atrocities during the Japanese administration of Thailand. The building of the bridge led to the deaths of 80,000 Asian labourers and 13,000 Allied Prisoners of War. Kanchanaburi's landscapes are at once rugged and picturesque. Kanchanaburi's national parks are ideal for adventures into the province's natural beauty. The area has hydro-electric power and a series of dammed reservoirs which provide opportunities for activities such as boating and fishing. Kanchanaburi is home to the Erawan Waterfall - a 7-tier fall of astounding beauty, as well as Sai Yok Waterfalls - the focal point of the 500-square-kilometre Sai Yok National Park comprising evergreen, bamboo and teak forest against a mountainous backdrop. The area is famed for activities like trekking, cave exploration, elephant riding and canoeing.

Attractions in Kanchanaburi

Kanchanaburi War Cemeteries

The JEATH War Museum

Hell Fire Pass Memorial Museum

Erawan Waterfalls

Sai Yok Waterfalls

Prasat Muang Singh

Death Railway Sound and Light Show

Thailand Burma Railway Center

Death Railway Bridge, Kanchanaburi

Allied War Cemeteries

Jeath War Museum, Kanchanaburi

Lak Meuang, Kanchanaburi

World War II Museum

Wat Tham Mangkon Thongi

Prasat Meuang Historical Park

Ban Kao Neolithic Museum

Si Nakharin National Park

Wat Tham Seua, Kanchanaburi

Chaloem Ratanakosin National Park

Thonga Pha Phum, Kanchanaburi

Sangkhlaburi, Kanchanaburi

Wang Kha, Kanchanaburi

Wat Wang Wiwekaram

Kheuan Khao Laem, Kanchanaburi

Payathonzu, Kanchanaburi

Khao Laem National Park

Kanchanaburi War Cemeteries

Although the Bridge on the River Kwai (Saohan Mae Nam Kwae) has become a symbol of the brutality of the Second World War, the War Cemeteries are evidence of its effect. Kanchanaburi has two cemeteries with the graves of captured prisoners of war, the Chung Kai Allied War Memorial and the Kanchanaburi Allied War Cemetery.

Chung Kai Allied War Memorial Chung Kai Allied War Memorial contains the graves of 1,740 Australian, New Zealand, British, French and Dutch Prisoners of War in neat, well-kept grounds. Each grave has a headstone with plaque stating names and epitaphs for the fallen. This cemetery is the smaller of the two and receives fewer visitors. A visit here is none the less a moving experience, particularly for those with relatives who fought during the war.

Details - Chung Kai Allied War Memorial is open daily and although there is no admission fee, donations towards the upkeep of the site are welcome.

How to Reach - Aside from the tours available in the town, the cemetery is easily accessible by bicycle if you have rented one, alternatively Songtaews head in that direction and a Tuk-Tuk should cost 20 Baht. It is also accessible via ferry from the town centre.

Kanchanaburi Allied War Cemetery

Kanchanaburi Allied War Cemetery contains the graves of 7,000 predominantly British and Australian prisoners. The site is supported by the Commonwealth War Graves commission and as a result it is exquisitely kept with wonderful green lawns and colourful flowers. This is a very moving place - whatever nationality you are its likely to have a very emotional impact on you.

Details - Like Chung Kai Allied War Memorial, Kanchanaburi Allied War Cemetery is open daily and although there is no admission fee, donations towards the upkeep of the site are very welcome.

How to get there -Located on Saenchuto Road in the Northwest of Kanchanaburi, the cemetery is easily accessible by Songtaew (5 Baht) and mini-bus # 2 (10 Baht).

Notes - You must remain aware that the sites are very important to many of the people visiting them. Be careful to be utmost respectful or you could incur the anger of others.

The JEATH War Museum

If the cemeteries bear witness to the carnage of the 'Death Railway', the JEATH Museum bears witness to the suffering of those that fell during its construction. The 'open-air' JEATH (Japan, England, Australia, Thailand and Holland) Museum was built in 1977 by a Thai abbot in the style of the huts used to imprison prisoners of war. The museum contains bunks and pictures of actual soldiers who died alongside articles on the site and other authentic items. The result is a picture of cramped squalor which gives visitors a genuine insight into the suffering the soldiers went through.

Details - The JEATH War Museum is open daily from 08:30 to 18:00 and admission is 30 Baht.

How to get there - The museum is inside Wat Chai Chumphon near the TAT office on Saeng Chuto Road and is accessible by Songtaew (10 Baht) and Tuk-Tuk (20 Baht) from the centre of town.

The thatched detention hut with cramped, elevated bamboo bunks, contains photographic, pictorial and physical memorabilia dating from the Second World War. POWs who survived the ordeal have donated items from that period to substantiate the museum's authenticity.The museum is open daily from 8.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission fee is 30 baht.

Hell Fire Pass Memorial Museum

Hellfire Pass is a 500 metres long and 26 metres deep section of rock that was dug out by Prisoners of War intended to allow the 'Death Railway' to continue its route from Bangkok to Rangoon. Soldiers were forced to remove the rock using no more than picks, hammers and their bare hands. Of the 1,000 Australian and British soldiers who took 12 weeks to clear the stretch of mountain, 700 died. The Hellfire Pass Memorial and Memorial Museum were set up to commemorate these fallen. The memorial comprises a trail where visitors follow the old railway track into the jungle and a museum. The museum contains pictures and tools alongside video exhibitions and showing of documentaries about the events. Like elsewhere on this trail, the memorial and museum are extremely moving places. If you are connected to the events through relations who were imprisoned here, or any other fashion, the experience can be quite wrenching. This site is of particular importance to Australians. The Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce ( http://www.dva.gov.au/commem/oawg/thailand.htm) supports the museum. Four hundred Australian prisoners began work at Hellfire Pass on Anzac Day in 1943 and the site plays and important part in annual Anzac events in Thailand.

Details - The museum is open daily and there is no admission fee (although donations are suggested).

How to Reach - There are of course a number of orgainsed tours to the memorial and museum available from Kanchanaburi. For those who want to get there independently, the museum is located on land owned by the Royal Thai Army. To get there a bus going from Kanchanaburi to Thong Pha Phum will pass the site.

Erawan Waterfalls

Erawan Waterfalls are the focal point of the Erawan National Park. This is an exquisite park, very pretty, and very popular with locals and foreigners alike. The waterfalls are equally exquisite. There are seven tiers of waterfalls, each feeding lovely, freshwater pools that you can swim in. A series of tracks lead you to the various falls across wooden footbridges - quite an experience in their own right! The waterfalls can get a bit crowded as they are so popular, so if you are looking for a more solitary experience, you should perhaps look elsewhere. A number of stalls provide staples like grilled chicken and rice along the way, and there is often very much of a carnival atmosphere about the place, especially in April during the Songkran Festival. A visit here will take the day - you should bear this in mind if you have limited time.

Details - Entrance to the park is 200 baht and it is open daily from 08:00 to 16:00.

How to Reach - Buses leave Kanchanaburi on a regular basis for the waterfalls, but as you will need the whole day there, you will need to catch the early morning bus (currently 08:00).

Sai Yok Waterfalls in Kanchanaburi

The Sai Yok Waterfalls (Sai Yok Yai and Sai Yok Noi) form the focal point of Sai Yok National Park - a 500-Sq.Km park offering evergreen, bamboo and teak forest against a mountainous backdrop teaming with wildlife such as bats (the Khun Kitti Bat - the smallest bat in the world), tigers, wild pigs, deers and birds.

Sai Yok Yai

Sai Yok Yai Waterfall flows from cliffs into Kwai Noi Riverand is about 100 kilometres from Kanchanaburi. It is famed for its beautiful environs and the fact that King Rama V once bathed here. Especially impressive in the rainy season, the waterfall is extremely forceful and rapid.

Details - Admission to the fall is 200 Baht. During national holidays the site is very busy with local visitors.

How to Reach - This is the type of journey that might be better faced as a tour. It is possible to get to the falls by bus; you can get off at the English sign at the entrance to the park, but it is then a reasonable distance to the falls which you can cover by motorcycle taxi or walk.

Sai Yok Noi

Sai Yok Noi waterfall (Khao Pung) is the smaller and less visited of the two waterfalls, but no less impressive. It offers some of the most beautiful landscape and the Death Railway once passed close by.

Details - As with Sai Yok Yai, the best time of the year for a visit is the rainy season (June to July).

How to Reach - Although they sound like close neighbours, there is in fact 40 Km distance between the two sites. Sai Yok Noi is located on the Kanchanaburi - Thong Pha Phum Road and it is 2 Km from Nam Tok Train Station.

Prasat Muang Singh

Prasat Muang Singh is a Khmer town in Kanchanaburi province some 45 kilometres from Kanchanaburi city. Built around the 12th century on the Khwae Noi River, the site was most likely an outpost of the Khmer 'Muang Singh' empire that protected the Khmer frontier. It was also likely a centre for trade. Built of 'laterite', it is a large place - around 30 acres - and is not as well preserved as other Khmer sites in Thailand, despite being restored. There are 4 mains groups of ruins and only the main buildings and some smaller buildings are fully visible. Prasat Muang Singh is the main shrine and the central focal point of the site. The site is though littered with smaller shrines containing various artefacts (some reproductions) and there a couple of museums. The museums provide evidence of the area's inhabitation before the arrival of the Khmer and examples of bronze utensils and tools dating from the Neolithic era. This is a great place to wander around - the grounds are tidy and attractive with trees and flowers, and although there are restaurants and stalls, the site has a very authentic, non-commercial feel about it - worth a visit.

Details - The site is open 08:00-17:00 daily and admission is 40 Baht.

How to Reach - You can get to the site by train. The journey takes an hour and the fare is 10 Baht. Trains leave at 06:10, 10:54 and 14:25 and you should head to Tha Kilen. You will probably be best taking a Tuk-Tuk from the station to the site.

Death Railway Sound and Light Show

An annual event, this is a seven-day festival commemorating the destruction of the bridge over the River Khwae. Thousands of visitors are drawn to the festival to see a pyrotechnic show that recreates the bridge's final days. Part of the 'Death Railway', the bridge was constructed by primarily Australian Prisoners of War held by the Japanese during World War 2 and thousands of visitors come to the town during the period of the festival. It can actually get a bit difficult to find accommodation so it might be best to stay in Bangkok - a two-hour drive away - and come down for the day. Takes place late November running into December.