Highlight in our tour programs
- Pick up from hotel with private transportation, private tour guide
- Visit the well-known attraction of Kanchanaburi, the Bridge on the River Kwai is part of the infamous Death Railway• Full day tour including lunch, private transportation, private tour guide, admission fees
- Visit Allied War Cemetery which is memorial to some 6000 allied prisoners of war (POWs) who perished along the death railway line and were moved post-war to this eternal resting place
- Visit War Museum which provides history of Thailand– Burma Railway and the World War II
- Visit the world-famous Bridge over the River Kwai, a part of Death Railway constructed by Allied POWs
- Board the original Death Railway train for a 30 min journey, passing the death curving bridge, which has built from wooden logs by the prisoners of the World War II aside beauty landscape
- Visit Tham Krasae curving bridge; the famous 335-metre-long wooden which boasts the most beautiful view of the Death Railway and is one of the most difficult obstacles constructions of the railway
General Information
Damnoen Saduak Floating Market
Back to World War II in the part of Japanese Forces in Thailand period 1941-1946
During the World War II that conflict all over the world around 30 countries participate in the war. It is divided into 2 battles; Allies Power such as Great Britain, France, USA, Russia, China and Axis Power such as Germany, Italy and Japan, count that they are approximately 100 million soldiers and died as many as 40-50 million people and the war stat in 1939 and end in 1945 about 6 years.
In December 1941 Japan, already at war with China, attacked British, Dutch and American territories in Asia and the Pacific. The first years of the Pacific War brought Japan great success. In 1940 Japan occupied northern Indochina and moves into Southeast Asia into Thailand on Dec 8, 1941, while Thailand had been officially neutral.
The Japanese Forces fought with the British Army in Burma. However, the main target was to invade India. Japan realized that if it used the maritime route to transport the weapons, it would be risky to air attack so it decided to build a railway through Thailand to bring much-needed supplies to Japanese forces in Burma.
The railway was designed to be 258 miles long running through jungles, across rivers, and over the mountain chain that separated Burma and Thailand. The railway was in Thailand 188 miles (304 kilometers) and in Burma 70 miles
(111 kilometers) and has 8 bridges that 7 bridges are in Burma, only 1 bridge in Thailand which has become recognized worldwide as the Bridge on the River Kwai.
It was said it was impossible to build a railway link between Thailand and Burma within a year but The Japanese forces during the second world war did it anyhow.
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The railway had to be built cross the Kwae Yai River. The Japanese Forces forced about 50,000 British, Australian, American, Dutch and Irish prisoners of war, with more than 275,000 workers to construct the strategic railway crossing through Burma. This construction was full of hardships. The construct was carried out until the step of the bridge over the Kwae Yai River; a temporary wooden bridge, therefore, was built. The construction process was non-stop. The prisoners of war took turns throughout 24 hours a day with the close control of the soldiers.
Construction was extremely difficult, with the route crossing through thick, mosquito-infested jungle and uneven terrain while monsoon conditions prevailed.
The Death Railway earned its name from the sheer number of lives lost during its construction, including that of railway bridge number 277 in June 1943, allowing the track to cross what is today known as the Khwae Noi River, and which has become recognized worldwide as the Bridge on the River Kwai. Estimates vary but, of more than 60,000 prisoners of war enslaved on the Death Railway, almost 13,000 are believed to have died, in addition to as many as 90,000 southeast Asian civilian forced laborers.
Since the course of the railway crossed through thick jungle, high mountains and torrential rivers, the work was often very challenging and dangerous. At the same time, much of the work had to be done using bare hands, in the absence of heavy construction machinery. While the construction of the railway included extremely hard physical work, there was also a lack of food, clean water and medicine. In consequence the laborers became very weak, and diseases spread easily in the worker camps.
In addition, the way in which the Japanese and Korean guards treated the laborers was often brutal and ruthless, especially when it seemed that the time schedule could not be met. While all groups suffered enormously under the dreadful living and working conditions the highest death rate was noticed among the Asian forced laborers. Al together 85% of all deaths came from this group.
On the one hand, the Asian laborers often didn’t have the physical condition required for the hard work at the construction sites. They also didn’t have the same discipline, moral and sense of belonging as the POWs who were often captured as complete military units.
On the other hand, the Japanese made a racial distinction between the groups of laborers and treated the Asian workers even worse.
An obvious example for the unequal treatment was the distribution of food among the workers. While the amount of food was inadequate anyway, the Asian laborers received only 600 grams rice per day while the POWs got 660 grams per day.
Almost at the end of the war, the Allies bombed the Bridge. After the war ended in 1945, four kilometers of the railroad from the Burmese-Thai border was demolished by British Army. The remaining 300 kilometers was sold to the State Railway Authority of Thailand in 1947 at a price of 50 million baht or 1,250,000 GBP and now only 130 kilometers is being used.
JEATH War Museum
The name JEATH is derived from countries which engaged in the WWII death railway construction from 1942 to 1945, which included Japan, England, America, Australia, Thailand and Holland. Located in the area of Wat Chai Chumphon, the museum is a reconstruction of the POW’s thatched detention hut with cramped, elevated bamboo bunks. On the wall of the huts, photographs and illustrations of the POW’s living conditions are on display. POWs who survived from the camp have donated items to enhance the museum’s atmosphere and authenticity.
We will take boat ride to see the beauty of the mangrove forest and to experience way of life of the villagers which are engaged in fishing in the Klong Khone area. In this boat trip you will see houses in the middle of the sea, is a Krateng, a place for fishermen to guard their shellfish. See a herd of macaques living in nature that are abundant in the mangroves, their bodies are clean and not scary. Then continue in a boat ride to explore the middle of the sea to see the way of life of the villagers and experience closely to shellfish farm, mussel farm, oyster farm, cockle farm, etc.
Cemeteries
The prisoners-of-war died during the construction of the Death Railway are buried in 2 cemeteries.
– Kanchanaburi (Don Rak) Cemetery is behind the railway station. 6,982 Allied soldiers are buried here. The cemetery covers a very large compound, which is well taken care of and decorated with beautiful plants and trees.
– Khao Poon (Chong Kai) Cemetery was originally the site of one of the main prisoners-of-war camps located on the right bank of Kwai Yai River. It is about 2 kilometers from the town center and can be reached only by boat. This is a small cemetery with 1,750 soldiers buried there.
Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum
This is a part of the Death Railway which was an incredibly difficult section of the railway to be constructed during the Second World War using POW labor to cut through the mountain. The sections of mountains had to be cut away to create and level enough to accommodate the track. Even if it’s a short route of the railway, the 110-metre-long railway stretches from the upper rock layer down into a deep canyon adjacent to the next rock formation near the northern bank of the Kwai Noi River.
This is a part of the Death Railway which was an incredibly difficult section of the railway to be constructed during the Second World War using POW labor to cut through the mountain. The sections of mountains had to be cut away to create and level enough to accommodate the track. Even if it’s a short route of the railway, the 110-metre-long railway stretches from the upper rock layer down into a deep canyon adjacent to the next rock formation near the northern bank of the Kwai Noi River.
Tham Kra-Sae Bridge
One of the most difficult obstacles was Tham Kra-Sae Bridge. The construction of the railway in this phase encountered steep mountains adjoining the Kwae Yai River. Japanese engineers needed to build a railway along the river with the 335-meter-long mountains, where about 1,000 prisoners died. It was the longest crossing-abyss bridge of the railway. It was completed in a very short period of time. Prisoners of war worked crazily under the orders of the Japanese prison guards. This was known in the term “speedo” or “keep going”. From April 1943, the construction was carried out very fast because the Japanese Forces wanted it to be completed in August, which was set to a deadline for construction. This period mentioned above was known as Speedo.
The work also covered the famous 335-metre-long wooden Tham Krasae Bridge which boasts the most beautiful view and biggest safety challenge of the Death Railway. The bridge goes parallel with a cliff on one side and overlooks a valley and the Kwai Noi River on the other.
Trains running on the tourist-oriented route must slow down on the bridge for safety because it is supported by its original wooden structure built over 70 years ago.
Half the original wooden sleepers on the bridge were replaced with new wooden sleepers and pieces of the wooden supportive structure were replaced with new wooden parts in order to keep the original wooden aspect of the section.
Dress suggests for this tour
- Casual outfits suitable for walking
There are a lot of stories to tell, come and discover by yourself with us; Click Thailand… our tour guide will happy to tell…
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