Kanchanaburi Things to Do Tips by K1W1

Kanchanaburi War Cemetary

This war cemetary is located on the site of the former Kanburi prisioner of war base camp. More than 5,000 Commonwealth and 1,800 Dutch casualties are commemorated in the cemetary.
The Japanese death railway cost the lives of approximately 15,000 POW's and 100,000 civilians as a result of sickness, disease, malnutrition, exhaustion or mistreatment.

All photos, unless marked otherwise, were taken by me and are copyright. Please do not use without permission. Thanks

Directions: Kanchanaburi main street - across from the railway station turnoff.

Hell Fire Pass

Located about 80kms from Kanchanaburi lies one of the toughest stretches of line excavated and laid as part of the 'death railway' linking Thailand to Burma (Myanmar).
The pass itself is approx 500m long and 26 metres deep.
The Australian Government has set up a very informative memorial museum, and audio assisted walking tour of approx 4 kms of the railway that took so many lives during WW2. The tour is very informative, thought provoking and extremely well laid out. The audio commentary includes insights and annecdotes from POW survivors which add to the atmosphere while strolling around this stunningly beautiful landscape.
Allow yourself a few hours to visit as there is a lot to see and experience here.
Entrance is a donation.

All photos, unless marked otherwise, were taken by me and are copyright. Please do not use without permission. Thanks

Directions: Highway 323 about 80kms from town. The same bus (8203) as for the tiger temple, and the time is approx double. It took us 90mins from town and cost should be 45 Baht.

Kanchanaburi Tiger Temple

The Tiger Temple is run by the resident Budist monks. They care for not just tigers but many other wild animals which have been left orphaned eg deer, wild boar and peacock.
This may be from several reasons, poachers may have captured mothers, injured animals may have got away from poachers but rescued elsewhere, inappropriate pets may have outgrown their houses etc

The temple rescues the animals and takes care of them, and admittedly, the tigers were in fantastic condition, albeit a little drowsy when I visited. From what I have seen, there was no effort to rehabilitate them back into the wild as these have been tamed and may not survive in the jungle. No complaints though as I thoroughly enjoyed the visit as the photos will show.
Entrance is a suggested minimum donation of 300 baht or purchase a 500 baht tee shirt.
A few words of warning:
Don't walk in front of the tigers' head
Don't squat (for photos) lower than their head,
Don't turn your back to the tigers,
and keep well back when the monks say so. The tigers can apparently squirt pee 3 meters !!

All photos, unless marked otherwise, were taken by me and are copyright. Please do not use without permission. Thanks

Directions: By car, take highway 323 to Saiyok District, pass the entrance to Muang Singh Park about 6kms and turn Right from the main street. A 2km dirt road leads to the temple.

Bus number 8203 for about 40mins (25 Baht) then walk the dirt road for about 2 kms.

The Bridge over the River Kwai

Most people visit this bridge as part of a tour. If you can escape the tour and spend some time here, especially around dusk, the photo opportunities increase immensely. There is precious little activity around so no one is going to get in your way. Only the kids playing football in the background and they just add to the atmosphere. Take time to soak it all in.

All photos, unless marked otherwise, were taken by me and are copyright. Please do not use without permission. Thanks