Kanchanaburi is Thailand’s fourth largest province. Kanchanaburi covers some 19,486 square kilometres, and borders Myanmar (Burma) to the west.

Kanchanaburi is the site of the world-famous Bridge Over The River Kwai, immortalized in books and movies, and is noted for rugged natural beauty where mountains and river valleys have inspired development of hydroelectric power and where labyrinthine dam reservoirs provide further scenic elements to the province’s natural beauty.

Beyond the compact provincial capital, some 130 kilometres, and a comfortable two-hour drive, from Bangkok, where the Kwai Yai and the Kwai Noi rivers unite to form the Mae Klong River, Kanchanaburi unfolds in progressively arresting scenic beauty in a landscape characterized by several waterfalls, caves once inhabited by Neolithic man, national parks and tranquil riverine and reservoir settings.

Opportunities abound for bucolic living aboard rafts on dazzling rivers and reservoirs, and provide the focal point for memorable holidays for nature lovers who delight in natural surroundings and pleasures without sacrificing basic comforts.

The Bridge Over The River Kwai is the reason why so many visit Kanchanaburi. It was importalised in David Lean’s epic movie that was actually filmed in Sri Lanka with a wooden bridge that gave a far more dramatic explosion than the actual metal one would have done. Today the bombing of the bridge is celebrated annually on it’s anniversary with The River Kwai Bridge Festival held 28 Nov-7 Dec.

In June 1942 the Japanese High Command ordered a single-line 1 metre gauge railway to run 250 miles from Ban Pong in Thailand via Three Pagodas Pass to Thanbyuzayat in Burma. Its purpose was to carry 3,000 tons of cargo daily to support their invasion of India, the a part of the British Empire. Construction started in October 1942 and by late October 1943 was completed at the cost of lives of 16,000 prisoners of war and 100,000 impressed Asian slave labourers of Chinese, South Indian, Malay, Burmese, Japanese and Dutch Indonesian origin. One life was lost for every sleeper on the track.

Some 6,982 POW’s are buried under the immactulately clipped turf of Kanchanaburi War Cemetery (Don Rak) 1km from the centre of town and a further 1,700 at Chungkai Cemetery.

Kanchanaburi Town is 128 kms west of Bangkok and can be easily reached either by train from Hualamphong Railway Station, by bus from the Southern Bus Terminal or driving on the new express way from Pinklao. Every Saturday and Sunday a special train leaves Bangkok at 6.30am. After a 40 minuate stop at Nakom Pathom it continues to the River Kwai ridge where it stops for 10 minutes photo opportunity after which it passes the site of the former POW Camp before cautiously edging its way along the cliff-hugging track built by the allied troops.

At Nam Tok Waterfall there is a Buddhist Memorial built by the government of Japan for those of all nationalities and religions that lost their lives in the construction of the Death Railway.

Beside the waterfall stands a spirit house and State Railway Steam Train 702, built by Mitsubishi in 1935 and was sold to the Thai Government at the end of WW II. This was part of a package of one and half million pounds for the track and rolling stock seized from the Japanese Army. The State Railway of Thailand still has in working condition seven of the original steam trains which are used every Saturday and Sunday for special trips from the River Kwai Bridge to Nam Tok.

45km west of Kanchanaburi is Muang Singh , the most westernly Khmer Temple in Thailand. The name translates to “Sanctuary of the City of the Lion”.

The temple’s importance is its strategic location, on the road to the west of Three Pagoda Pass that crosses into Burma.

There is little doubt that this was a garrison town to protect the western limit of the Khymer empire and was probably an important trading post.

In addition it is possible to continue from Kanchanaburi to Three Pagoda Pass where subject to prevailing political conditions it may be possible to cross into Myanmar.