Why visit Kanchanaburi? In fact, there are quite a few good reasons: beautiful nature, excellent golf courses, related atmosphere, and the famous World War II monuments — the JEATH War Museum and the overly famous bridge over the River Kwai.
The Highly Lethal Death Railway
Located some 125 kilometers west of Bangkok, Kanchanaburi is forever marked by the incomparably cruel Second World War. During the war, the Allied blocked the waterways, leaving no other option for the Japanese, who were occupying Thailand, than to travel on the land. In 1942, the Japanese decided to connect Thailand with Burma through a 415 kilometer long railway. With the highly difficult terrain and inhuman time constraints, war prisoners from all over Asia were sent tot the construction site. More than 120,000 human beings died during the erection of the Death Railway, out of which some fraction indeed was made up of allied soldiers — however, substantially less than what is suggested in the Hollywood movie classic from 1957, The Bridge on the River Kwai, starring Alec Guinness and William Holden.
Curious: The movie, awarded with no less than seven Academy Awards, was actually shot on Sri Lanka — not in Kanchanaburi.
Memorable JEATH
Of course, one should take the opportunity of visiting the real River Kwai Bridge whilst in Kanchanaburi. Having said that, the Japan, England, Australia/America, Thailand and Holland (JEATH) War Museum may indeed be nearly as interesting and memorable, being centered around a recreation of a concentration camp made from bamboo.
Other stimulating attractions in and around Kanchanaburi include Wat Tham Mongkam Thong, where Buddhist nuns are meditating floating in water! Speaking of which, there are also rafts with floating disco and karaoke venues. Lastly, there is a day market, a night market and the Erawan National Park with its divinely gorgeous waterfall.
