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Kanchanaburi is a town of around 35,000 people located 130 km west of Bangkok and approximately 50 km east of the Thai-Burmese border. Kanchanaburi is easily reached by public bus or train from Bangkok although many visitors take day tours from Bangkok and only stay a few hours.
Most Westerners know of Kanchanaburi from the book and film telling the story of the "Bridge on the River Kwai". The bridge was constructed during World War Two by the Japanese army using Asian laborers and allied prisoners of war. The bridge was part of the planned railway to link Bangkok and Rangoon ( and eventually India ) by rail. Some 100,000 Asian laborers and 16,000 prisoners of war died from Japanese brutality, overwork and starvation building the railway line.
The bridge still exists and is a major tourist attraction, along with the "JEATH" war museum which contains a chilling display of photos and items telling the storey of the POW camp. The museum will fascinate history buffs and is highly recommended.
There are also two cemeteries in town, one for the Allied POW's and one for the Asian dead. Both are well kept and worth visiting if only to comprehend the scale of the slaughter that took place here. Tour groups consisting of war veterans from the Allied nations still visit Kanchanaburi each year. Ironically most younger Thais from out of town seem to have little knowledge of what took place in their country during World War Two.
The best way to enjoy Kanchanaburi if you have the time is to forget the one-day tours and spend a few days in town. Beyond the war related sights and attractions Kanchanaburi is a fascinating little town with some great things to see and do.
There are plenty of hotels ranging from cheap to luxury-priced. There are some moderately priced "floating hotels" on the river and Hotelz Asia can offer some great deals to you.
The Thais like to enjoy their entertainment on the water - one of the big attractions for visiting Thai people are the floating houseboats on the river which function as a cross between a floating disco and houseboat. Groups of Thai's rent these boats - which vary from modest to huge platforms carries scores of party goers - for a weekend of eating, drinking and dancing. Sitting on the river banks at night watching these floating nightclubs with their colored lights and loud music is quite something.
Also around town there are some interesting caves which you can visit by chartering a long tail boat by the JEATH museum. Further out of town there are several good waterfalls and the more adventurous can go on rafting tours upriver for several days. These rafts are not tiny bamboo platforms but are the same enormous type of craft used by the floating party boat crowd.
There is plenty of good food in town, look out for extremely cheap mangoes in season and plenty of street vendors at the night market in the evening. The streets are alive at night with plenty of places to eat and drink. There are floating restaurants as well as the many on solid ground. It helps if you speak a little Thai as many of the better eateries cater to a mostly local clientele.
I am unsure whether it is a local specialty or not but the local noodle stalls spiked my noodle-soup with certain "herbs" without fore warning me on several occasions. No doubt it keeps the customers coming back for more.
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