Sights in Kanchanaburi
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Death Railway Bridge
This little railway bridge is not nearly as impressive in person as the dramatic story that made it famous. The materials for the bridge were brought from Java by the Imperial Japanese Army during its 1942-43 occupation of Thailand. The first version of the bridge, completed in February 1943, was all wood. In April of the same year a second bridge of steel was constructed.
In 1945 the bridge was bombed several times Allied planes and was only rebuilt after the war - the curved portions of the bridge are original.
The bridge spans Mae Nam Khwae Yai, which is 2.5km from the centre of Kanchanaburi. The most enjoyable way to get to the bridge from town is to rent a bicycle or …
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Wat Tham Seua & Wat Tham Khao Noi
Built on a ridge over looking a patchwork of fields and forests, these adjacent hilltop monasteries are important local pilgrimage spots, especially for Chinese Buddhists, and are just high enough above the ground to put the faithful closer to heaven.
Wat Tham Khao Noi (Little Hill Cave Monastery) has crowned its side of the shared hillside with a fanciful Chinese-style pagoda, similar in size and style to Penang's Kek Lok Si. Next door, Wat Tham Seua (Tiger Cave Monastery) boasts a Thai-style chedi framing a huge 18m-tall Buddha facing Mae Nam Khwae.
You can ascend the hill either on an inclined cable car or climb a set of naga stairs. To the right of the hill-top landin…
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Wat Tham Mangkon Thong
The 'Cave Temple of the Golden Dragon' has long been an attraction because of the 'floating nun' - a mâe chii (Thai Buddhist nun) who meditated while floating on her back in a pool of water. The original nun passed away, but a disciple continues the tradition - sort of. The current floating nun does not meditate but instead she strikes Buddha-like poses based upon traditional mudra (ritual hand movements). Shows do not have a set schedule but instead are timed for the arrival of tour groups.
Most Western visitors prefer to visit the temple cave instead of the swimming antics. A long, steep series of steps with dragon-sculpted handrails leads on up the craggy mountainside…
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Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno
One of Kanchanaburi’s more bizarre tourist destinations is Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno, known colloquially as the Tiger Temple. After gaining a reputation as a refuge for wounded animals, the temple received its first tiger cub in 1999 and has accumulated 17 more since. During visiting hours, the cats are led around a quarry by the monks, and for a fee, will pose for photos with tourists. Although the efforts are undeniably the result of goodwill, there’s something disconcerting (not to mention surreal) about seeing monks leading full-grown tigers around on leashes and tourists posing for pictures (for extra money) with said huge cats lying in their laps. The tiger…
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Jeath War Museum
This simple but poignant museum resembles the basic, cramped bamboo-atap huts in which POWs were kept. Newspaper cuttings and sketches offer harsh reminders of the brutal punishments meted out to the Allied prisoners by Japanese troops. Among them is the story of surgeon Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop, who saved hundreds of lives by operating on injured soldiers and fighting to improve basic medical conditions. The museum is run by the monks of Wat Chaichumphon (Wat Tai), and it’s worth coming for the temple itself and the views from the banks of Mae Nam Mae Klong. ‘JEATH’ is an acronym of the countries involved in the railway: Japan, England, Australia/America, Thailand and H…
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JEATH War Museum
The JEATH War Museum is arguably the pick of the memorials in Kanchanaburi and is a moving testament to war’s atrocities. The museum operates in the grounds of a local temple and has reconstructions of the bamboo huts used by the POWs as shelter. The long huts contain various photographs taken during the war, drawings and paintings by POWs, maps, weapons and other war memorabilia. The acronym JEATH represents the fated meeting of Japan, England, Australia/America, Thailand and Holland at Kanchanaburi during WWII. The war museum is at the end of Th Wisuttharangsi (Visutrangsi), near the TAT office. The common Thai name for this museum is Phíphítháphan Songkhram Wát Tâi…
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Wat Tham Khao Pun
Continue past the Chung Kai Allied War Cemetery and go over a railway crossing to find this temple, which has a collection of nine different caves. The first, and biggest cave, is home to a reclining Buddha, while the others have some particularly unusual features, including a fig tree’s roots that hang all the way down into the cave, a crystallised column and a rock formation said to resemble a mermaid from the literature of Thai poet Sunthorn Phu. The exact origins of the temple are a mystery, though it is known that King Rama V visited here in 1870.
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Allied War Cemetery
The Allied War Cemetery is across the street from the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre and is immaculately maintained by the War Graves Commission. Of the 6982 prisoners of war buried here, nearly half were British. The rest came mainly from Australia and the Netherlands. It is estimated that at least 100,000 people died while working on the railway, the majority being labourers from nearby Asian countries. For those looking for the graves of a loved one, a small office to the side of the cemetery has lists of names and their locations in the cemetery.
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JEATH War Museum
The simple JEATH War Museum operates in the grounds of a local temple and has reconstructions of the long bamboo huts used by the POWs as shelter. Inside are various photographs, drawings, maps, weapons, paintings by POWs and other war memorabilia. The acronym JEATH represents the ill-fated meeting of Japan, England, Australia/America, Thailand and Holland at Kanchanaburi during WWII. The war museum is at the end of Th Wisuttharangsi (Visutrangsi). The common Thai name for this museum is pí·pí·tá·pan sŏng·krahm wát đâi (Wat Tai War Museum).
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Wat Tham Khao Pun
The limestone hills surrounding Kanchanaburi are famous for their temple caves, an underground communion of animistic spirit worship and traditional Buddhism. Winding arteries burrow into the guts of the caves past bulbous calcium deposits and altars for reclining or meditating Buddhas, surrounded by offerings from pilgrims. Wat Tham Khao Pun is one of the closest cave temples, and is best reached by bicycle. The temple is about 4km from the TAT office and 1km southwest of the Chung Kai cemetery across the railroad tracks and midway up the hill.
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Hellfire Pass Memorial
Viewing the bridge and museums doesn’t quite communicate the immense task of bending the landscape with human muscle. A better understanding comes from a visit to the Hellfire Pass Memorial, an Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce memorial dedicated to the POW labourers, 75km north of Kanchanaburi. A crew of 1000 prisoners worked for 12 weeks to cut a pass through the mountainous area dubbed Hellfire Pass. Nearly 70% of the crew died in the process. A memorial museum and walking trail remember their work and lives.
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Thailand-Burma Railway Centre
The pick of the museums is the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre, where interactive exhibits, short films and clear descriptions provide the context of the Japanese aggression in Southeast Asia, detail their plans for the railway and describe the horrors faced by those prisoners who worked and died constructing it. Give yourself a full hour to read through the museum, and stop for a coffee upstairs for sweeping views across the cemetery. Ex-POWs and their families get special treatment.
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Kanchanaburi Allied War Cemetery
The Kanchanaburi Allied War Cemetery is the final resting place of about 7000 prisoners who died while working on the railway. The cemetery is meticulously maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (www.cwgc.org), and the rows of headstones are identical except for the names and short epitaphs. It’s just around the corner from the riverside guesthouses, or you could catch a sǎwngthǎew anywhere along Th Saengchuto going north.
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WWII Museum
The WWII Museum beside the bridge has a picture-postcard view and an eclectic assortment of war and peace memorabilia, though you wouldn’t call it a must-see. The larger, more lavish of the two buildings contains Burmese-style alabaster Buddhas and a phrá khrêuang (sacred amulets) display. Upper floors exhibit Thai weaponry from the Ayuthaya period, ceramics and brightly painted portraits of all the kings in Thai history.
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Thailand-Burma Railway Centre
This informative museum is the ideal place to begin your look at Kanchanaburi’s role in WWII. The museum’s nine galleries use images, artefacts and models to explain the history of the railway, how the POWs were treated and what happened to the railway once it was complete. A video from survivors is particularly poignant and ensures that the deaths remain a tragedy, not merely a statistic.
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Death Railway Bridge(Bridge over the River Kwai)
This 300m railway bridge is one huge tourist trap. Avoid the hawkers and walk, carefully, along the wooden and metal slats. The centre of the bridge was destroyed by Allied bombs in 1945 so today only the outer curved spans are original. Once you make it to the other side there are some cafes and greenery by the waterfront.
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Kanchanaburi Allied War Cemetery
The Kanchanaburi Allied War Cemetery is the final resting place of about 7000 prisoners who died while working on the railway. The cemetery is meticulously maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and the rows of headstones are identical except for the names and the short, moving epitaphs.
reviewed
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WWII Museum
The WWII Museum beside the bridge has a picture-postcard view and a vast and eclectic assortment of war and peace memorabilia – from rusting guns to mural-sized portraits of WWII-era political figures. If you enjoy sifting through junk shops you’ll love this place.
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Lak Meuang (City Pillar)
The city pillar is at the centre of the old town and gives shelter to the local spirits. Just down the road is a statue of King Rama III and the renovated city wall, which used to stretch for more than 400m and boast six fortresses. Three original cannons remain.
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Chung Kai Allied War Cemetery
Less visited is the Chung Kai Allied War Cemetery, where about 1700 graves are kept a short and scenic bike ride from central Kanchanaburi.
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WWII Museum
One of the most bizarre sites around, this museum has to be admired simply for squeezing so many randomly connected things into one place.
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