Bangkok and Beyond (Part 2): Kanchanaburi and the River Kwai's Dark Past

- November 16, 2025, Sunday.

- Thailand is such a wonderful country and it's a shame that most of my visits have been focused only on Bangkok. Bangkok, the capital, is one of my favorite cities in the world, but I have often wondered what Thailand's other provinces offered. Because I didn't have a lot of time to prepare for this semi-work trip, Klook fortunately has many options for day trips from Bangkok. For this day, I decided to visit Kanchanaburi, which is one of the western provinces of Thailand bordering Myanmar.

- After meeting my tour group ni Central World, we immediate embarked on a roughly 2-hour trip to the River Kwai. The River Kwai (Khwae Yai River) is known for its historical bridge, inspiring the 1952 book "The Bridge on River Kwai", which was eventually turned into a film in 1957. The bridge was part of the long Siam-Burma railway ordered to by built by the Japanese. Hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war and trafficked Southeast Asian laborers were forced by the Japanese to build the whole railway, including the bridge. The construction project was part of Japan's plans of moving westward and attacking India. 

Ganesh statue at Central World, praying for a safe trip to Kanchanaburi.

Saw this cat with the elephant statues.

Riding a boat with my tourmates through the River Kwai.

River Kwai from afar.

One of the small parts of the whole construction project that remains.

With the bridge, and a train! (Yes, the bridge is still being used by both trains and pedestrian.)

It is a steel bridge.

I know I look happy here, but I am aware of the bridge's dark past.

You're seeing this too right?

There was a Guanyin Temple across the bridge.

- We briefly went for lunch at The Village Farm to Cafe, which was a cozy restaurant with an open garden with a pond at the back. They have Thai and Western food, but the lunch included in my tour package was Thai food. I liked the food there!

No picture of the food, but I have a nice photo of myself at the garden haha.

- That afternoon, we went to Tham Kra Sae Station to experience riding a train on the very tracks called the "Death Railway", which was another name for the Thailand-Burma Railway. The view was nice, but I just couldn't get my mind off the sheer number of people who perished as they worked under extremely unfavorable conditions.     

Tham Kra Sae Station.

The Tham Kra Sae Railway Bridge is also called the Wang Pho Viaduct.

Yes, we were allowed to stand on the railway as long as there is no train passing through. Reminds me a bit of my trip to the Nine-Arch Bridge in Ella, Sri Lanka.

There was a cave temple in the middle of the railway bridge.

Despite the dark past, you can't deny that the nice view will make you smile.

Inside the train, photo courtesy of our tour guide.

- The train ride took around half an hour, and afterwards, our van picked us up at a different station and brought us to the Skywalk. This big contraption was a bridge with a sturdy glass floor so we can have a nice view of the river. It wasn't too high so it didn't scare me too much.

Yes, still flexible.

Buddhist temple on a mountain.

This is a floating restaurant.

Pretending to be scared.

- Finally, we had a nice stroll along Pak Prak Heritage Street. Although this looks like a normal residential neighborhood, many of the houses and stores here were built in the early 1900s and remain to be used today. That is, until the owners decide to sell, demolish, or rebuild their heritage buildings. Many of the buildings have a mix of Thai, European, and Chinese styles, implying hybridities that express diasporic, local, and global architectural preferences.

Statue of King Rama III and the old city wall, built in the 1800s.

Sittisang Cafe and Heritage House 1920.

Boonpong and Brothers Trading. Boonpong, a Thai-Chinese businessman, gained riches by trading with the Japanese in relation to the construction of the Death Railway in the 1940s. However, at the same time, he used his home to welcome prisoners of war, and became crucial in passing intelligence to the Allied Forces.

Kanchanaburi Hotel. This used to be THE PLACE to stay in the 1940s when visiting Kanchanaburi. Today, its old beauty remains, but its glamor, not so much.

Tamthong Residence. At first glance, it looks like a temple, but it's actually a house!

- We had another 2-hour trip back to Bangkok from Kanchanaburi and got dropped off at Central World. I was so tired from the whole trip that I just had a nice, comfortable dinner at McDonald's (no photos haha). I am fully aware that there are still so many places that I have yet to see in Kanchanaburi, but my short visit to this western province gave me a more insight on a different side of Thailand, beyond all the blinding gold and royal splendor of Bangkok.