When planning your trip to Thailand, you want to know what to see and do in the Kanchanaburi region, in case you are considering including it in your itinerary. Kanchanaburi is located about 170 km west of Bangkok and is characterized by its lush vegetation, home to the waterfalls of Erawan National Park, the most beautiful in Thailand and is the site of the famous bridge over the River Kwai.

What to see in Kanchanaburi?

There are several places and things to see that are interesting in the Kanchanaburi tour:

Bridge over the Kwai River

The bridge over the Kwai River is probably the most famous place to see in Kanchanaburi. It is a symbol that represents the importance of the Kanchanaburi region during the Second World War. It is a replica of the original bridge that was used to cross the Kwai River and was part of the railway line that the Japanese tried to build using Allied prisoners and Malaysian workers to link Thailand to Burma and thus, obtain weapons to defend this front of the English and prepare for the invasion of India. 

Erawan waterfalls

If you love nature, Erawan waterfalls are one of the essential things to see in Kanchanaburi. Erawan National Park has located approximately 45 km from the capital Kanchanaburi and its 8-level waterfalls are 200 meters from the entrance. The best time to visit them is early in the morning and avoid coinciding with the excursions that arrive from Bangkok around 11-12 am.

The passage from hell

If you are passionate about history and interested in everything related to the Second World War, in Kanchanaburi, you can also see the Hell Pass, known as the "Hellfire Pass“, One of the stretches of road built by the Japanese with Allied prisoners from other places like Singapore, and with a Malaysian workforce hired for a pittance and promises of abusive working conditions. Hundreds of Australian, American and Dutch prisoners, as well as Malaysian workers, died during the construction. 

They worked shifts, day and night, picking up and flying the huge stone cliffs that were in this region, which earned it the name of Passage de hell. The soldiers' diet was very basic and they were exposed to all kinds of diseases in such a humid place. The Hellfire Pass memorial is erected by Australians in honor of all those soldiers who died there. 45-minute walk between the steepest areas and the return. 

You can also do a full  of almost three hours. Although the visit is good, it has more meaning for people of military nationality who died there, because of its nostalgic content. But if you have time and you like history, the visit is not too long and the place is beautiful despite its terrible past.

What to do in Kanchanaburi?

There plenty of activities that you could do on Kanchanaburi tours. The main activity to do in Kanchanaburi revolves around the importance of the railway in the region and the bridge over the Kwai river. This is a very nice train ride on the train track built by the Japanese during World War II, particularly pleasant is the arrival or departure from the station of Tam Kra Sae, so it is recommended or to get on or off at this station to enjoy the surrounding landscape If you want to take a long trip, although it is a bit heavy, you can take the train to Kanchanaburi (just before crossing the bridge over the Kwai river) and get off at Tam Kra Sae or vice versa. 

Make a shorter trip, about 30 minutes, the place to get on or off is Tachilen station, because the train comes from Bangkok, its schedule is unpredictable every day,

The way to see Kanchanaburi correctly is to make a night and not a round trip from Bangkok where you will spend half a day on the road and will hardly be able to enjoy anything.

Here is a link to our semi-private Landscapes and Temples program with Rio Kwai which includes a night in Kanchanaburi and which also left information on other interesting things to see in Thailand.