 Kanchanaburi,
the Bridge over the River Kwai,
Hellfire Pass & the
Burma-Siam Death Railway...
For anyone
interested in 20th century history, a visit to Kanchanaburi on the infamous Burma-Siam
'death railway', is a must. You can see Kanchanaburi as
a tourist day trip from Bangkok, but it's much better to go independently and
spend two or even three days as there's a lot to see. Take the morning
passenger train from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi on day 1, the afternoon
train back on day 2 or 3, and visit Hellfire Pass as well. This page will give you train times from Bangkok
and an overview of what to see, including the Bridge Over the
River Kwai and the museum at Hellfire Pass...
Right: The
13:45 train from Bangkok crosses the Bridge Over the River Kwai...
Sponsored links:
 Overview
& things to see around Kanchanaburi...
Passenger trains of The State Railways of Thailand still run over part
of the Burma-Siam 'death railway', with two daily trains from
Bangkok (Thonburi station) to Kanchanaburi and over the River
Kwai Bridge to the line's current terminus at Nam Tok. There's a
third daily train between Kanchanaburi, River Kwae Bridge & Nam Tok.
The line was built by the Japanese during world war 2, using forced
Thai labour for the section from Nakon Pathom (the junction with the
Bangkok-Singapore mainline) to Kanchanaburi, and Allied prisoners of
war from Kanchanaburi onwards to Burma. The line was intended to
supply the Japanese war effort in Burma, without the dangers of
transporting supplies by sea. Things to see include:
-
Kanchanaburi - the area's main town, with Allied war cemeteries.
The best way to reach Kanchanaburi is to use the Death Railway itself,
taking one of the two daily trains from Bangkok's Thonburi station.
Train times & fares.
-
The Bridge Over the River Kwai - the bridge still exists, and
is still used by passenger trains. The Bridge is 5km beyond
Kanchanaburi, and has its own station at the southern end of the
bridge, surrounded by several cafes, shops and small museums.
You can walk over the Bridge (trains permitting...) or cross it by
train travelling from Kanchanaburi to Nam Tok.
-
Wampo viaduct (pictured above right) - also built by prisoners of war, and also still
in use by regular passenger trains. The best way to see it is to
take a train from Kanchanaburi or River Kwae Bridge station to Nam Tok.
Video of train on this section.
-
Hellfire Pass - Beyond Nam Tok, the line onwards to the Three
Pagodas Pass into Burma is closed and the track lifted. 80km (50
miles) beyond Kanchanaburi (approximately 10km beyond Nam Tok) or is
Konyu Cutting, dubbed Hellfire Pass by Allied prisoners, where there
is a museum. A 7km stretch of the trackbed beyond Konyu Cutting
has been cleared of jungle by the Australian government as a memorial.
 The
Bridge on the River Kwai...
There is a small technical problem with
the Bridge over the River Kwai: It doesn't actually cross the
River Kwai..! Pierre Boulle, who wrote the original book, had
never been there. He knew that the 'death railway' ran parallel
to the River Kwae for many miles, and assumed that it was the Kwae
which it crossed just North of Kanchanaburi. He was wrong - It
actually crosses the Mae Khlung. When David Lean's blockbuster
came out, the Thais faced something of a problem. Thousands of
tourists came flocking to see the bridge over the River Kwae, and they
hadn't actually got one... All they had was a bridge over the
Mae Khlung.
So, with admirable lateral thinking, they renamed the river. The
Mae Khlung is now the Kwae Yai ('Big Kwae') for several miles north of
the confluence with the Kwae Noi ('Little Kwae'), including the bit
under the bridge.
The bridge is about 5 km from the centre
of Kanchanaburi (you can wait for one of the three daily passenger trains, all of
which call at the River Kwae Bridge station, but it's best to take a
cycle rickshaw), and it is now surrounded on the Kan'buri side by a
museum, cafes, shops and a couple of steam locomotives on static
display. You can walk across the bridge on the wooden planks,
but remember to make way for the passenger trains when one comes along
(if this sounds foolhardy, remember that there is a 10 km/h speed
restriction for trains across the bridge, and they all hoot like
mad..!).
There were actually two bridges, both
built by prisoners of war - A wooden bridge was completed in February
1943, superseded a few months later by the steel bridge which you see
today. The steel bridge spans were brought from Java by the
Japanese, and are all original apart from the two straight-sided spans
which were installed after the war to replace spans destroyed by
allied bombing in 1945.
Make sure you ride the train between
Kanchanaburi (or River Kwae Bridge station) and the
current terminus at Nam Tok - As well as crossing the famous Bridge,
it runs along the scenic River Kwae, passing over the equally impressive Wampo Viaduct, also
built by prisoners of war. Another must-see is Hellfire
Pass, about 80km (50 miles) north of Kanchanaburi, on the disused section
beyond Nam Tok. Here, the Australian government has cleared
about 7km of the old track-bed as a memorial to the 13,000 allied
prisoners and 80,000 Asian labourers who died building the railway. The site includes the Hellfire Pass itself (Konyu
Cutting, dubbed 'Hellfire Pass' by the PoWs for the way the worksite
looked at night by torchlight, and pictured here). A taxi and driver for half-day
from Kanchanaburi will cost about £30, and you can ask the driver to
drop you at Nam Tok on the way back, to return to Kan'buri or Bangkok by the
13:00 train. There are one-day organised tours from Kan'buri,
but these typically get only 30 minutes at Hellfire Pass, only enough to see the pass
itself. If you go independently, you
can walk all
the way to Compressor Cutting, 7 km from the visitor centre. The walk through the
jungle along the disused track-bed,
 past small cuttings and
 dips where
the wooden viaducts used to be, is a very moving experience.
To learn more about the history of the
Burma-Siam Death Railway and the Bridge over the River Kwai, 'River
Kwai Railway' by Clifford Kinvig is highly recommended. If you
haven't read it already, Eric Lomax's 'The Railwayman' is amazing -
the true story of his experiences on the Death Railway.
You can buy them online at Amazon.co.uk
Bangkok to Kanchanaburi by train...
|
 The best way to get to
Kanchanaburi is by train using the Death
Railway itself, for only 100 baht (£1 or $2).
There are two trains a day from Bangkok Thonburi station (also known as Bangkok Noi, on the East side of the
river in Bangkok) to Kanchanaburi and Nam Tok, calling at River
Kwai Bridge station on the Bangkok side of the Bridge a
few minutes after Kanchanaburi.
The trains are 3rd class
only (pictured, left), but don't let this put you off, as they are
clean and comfortable. In fact, sitting next to an open window whilst clickety-clacking through the Thai countryside is easily the most
pleasant way to reach Kanchanaburi.
Video showing this train.
If you're coming from Singapore, Malaysia
or Southern Thailand, you can travel direct to
Kanchanaburi and the River Kwai Bridge without going into
Bangkok - the trains from Penang, Hat Yai & Surat Thani stop at Nakhon Pathom (64 km south of
Bangkok), where the branch line to Kanchanaburi leaves the main line.
See the Thailand page or
Malaysia page for train times between Nakon
Pathom and Hua Hin, Hat Yai, Penang, Kuala Lumpur & Singapore.
Map
of train routes in Southeast Asia.
Bangkok ►
Kanchanaburi ►
River
Kwai
|
|
km: |
Train number: |
485 |
257 |
259 |
|
0 |
Bangkok (Thonburi / Noi
station) depart: |
- |
07:45 |
13:55 |
|
64 km |
Nakhon Pathom
(connections from south)
depart: |
- |
08:53 |
14:54 |
|
133 km |
Kanchanaburi |
06:07 |
10:25 |
16:19 |
|
138 km |
River Kwae Bridge: |
06:13 |
10:55 |
16:26 |
|
210 km |
Nam Tok
arrive: |
08:25 |
12:20 |
18:30 |
River Kwai ►
Kanchanaburi ► Bangkok
|
|
Train number: |
260 |
258 |
486 |
|
Nam Tok
depart: |
05:20 |
12:50 |
15:15 |
|
River Kwae Bridge: |
07:12 |
14:36 |
17:35 |
|
Kanchanaburi: |
07:19 |
14:44 |
17:45 |
|
Nakhon Pathom (for trains
to South) arrive: |
08:50 |
16:23 |
- |
|
Bangkok (Thonburi / Noi
station) arrive: |
10:10 |
17:35 |
- |
Fares:
|
|
Bangkok - Kanchanaburi: 100 baht (£1.50 or $2)
No reservation required -
just turn up, buy a ticket and hop on. |
Special Railcar service at weekends...
In addition to these daily trains, there is also a
special railcar (2nd class air-conditioned) for day trippers on Saturdays, Sundays &
holidays. It leaves Bangkok Hualamphong station at 06:30 for Kanchanaburi at 09:30, Nam Tok 11:35, returning from Nam Tok at 14:40 and Kanchanaburi at 17:04
arriving Bangkok 20:00. Special fares apply, 200 baht air-con,
100 baht non-air-con, reservation
required. For information, see
www.railway.co.th/English/Travel.asp (look for the Sai Yok
Waterfall trip)
|
|
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