FREQUENCY : EVERY MORNING
DEPARTURE : 06:30 - 18:00

Program & Itinerary :

"Death Railway"
It was constructed in 1942, when the Japanese army decided to build a 415 km (260 mile) long railway line linking Burma and Thailand, thereby guaranteeing an unbroken link between the Japanese base in Singapore and the Indian front. Several hundreds of thousands of coolies from the region and some 60,000 allied prisoners of war were forced to work under inhuman condition in order to complete the Kanchanaburi section through mountainous jungleterritory, including the construction of the bridge over the River Kwai. No fewer than 90,000 coolies and 16,000 prisoners of war died during construction, thus giving rise to the tragic name of "Death Railway" When in octber 1943 the first trains rattled over the bridge, the Japanese had already virtually lost the war in Southeast Asia. In 1944, the bridge was bombed. At the end of the war most of the railway line war dismantled by the Thais and today the passengers in the trains which still run across the bridge are mainly tourists. To one side the remains of the temporary wooden bridge erected during construction and almost completely destroyed in an allied bomb attack still stand. Nearby lies the modest but crucial Japanese monument, framed by four cornerstones with inscriptions. At the end of November/beginning of December each year, the first bombing of the bridge is commemorated in an elaborate sound and light spectacle.

War Cemetery
On Saeng Chuto Road, opposite the railway station, it contains the remains of 6,982 prisoners of war who perished during the construction of the "Death Railway".

Kanchanaburi is Thailand's third largest province, covering an area of 19,486 square kilometers. The provincial area is mountainous and borders Myanmar to the west. The province of Kanchanaburi consists of 13 districts or Amphoe of which Amphoe Muang, Amphoe Sai Yok, Amphoe Thong Pha Phum, Amphoe Sangkhlaburi, Amphoe Tha Muang, Amphoe Bo Phloi, and Amphoe Si Sawat are tourist destinations. Kanchanaburi is the site of the world-famous Bridge Over The River Kwae, immortalized in books and movies, and is noted for rugged natural beauty where mountains and river valleys have inspired development of hydro-electric power and where labyrinthine reservoirs provide further scenic elements to the province's natural beauty.

Beyond the compact provincial capital, some 130 kilometers, and a comfortable 2-hour drive from Bangkok, where the Kwae Yai and the Kwae 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 riverside and reservoir settings.