Exploring a historical and wild city, Kanchanabury – Thailand

About Kanchanabury

Kanchanabury is the largest province in the west of Thailand, 129km from Bangkok. It is a historical city in Thailand with many war museums and historic sites reminding a dark time of Thailand in World War II.

Nowadays, Kanchanabury is an ideal destination for tourists since it offers a range of historical places like Death Railway, Bridge over the River Kwae (Kwai) and the Allied War Cemetery, also many delightful wild life places to explore.

How to travel to Kanchanabury

There are many ways to travel to Kanchanabury from Bangkok or any other touristy cities around Thailand.

Travel by Mini Van: Mini Van is very famous in Thailand, it is one of the fastest way to travel from Don Mueang Airport (DMK) to Kanchanabury. You can catch taxi (around 40 minutes – 270 Baht) to the bus station and easily buy Van tickets there.

The Van can drop you at the bus stop along the street. So follow the googlemap and ask the Van to stop you near your hotel; if not, they will stop at the bus station in Kanchanabury. It takes about 2 hours and half from Bangkok to Kanchanabury.

That day, we traveled from Hua Hin to Kanchanabury , it took about 4 hours and half, the ticket fare was 220 baht/ person.

Travel by Bus: Bus tickets can be booked over the counters at bus station or you can buy online in advance as well. You can easily search online bus ticket from Bangkok to Kanchanabury. You can catch Bangkok public bus (line 81) in Bangkok’s Southern Bus Terminal to Kanchanabury.

Train: You can book ticket online here.

Where to stay in Kanchanabury

There are a lot of guesthouses and hostels in the center of Kanchanabury. You’d better book a hotel in the heart of Kanchanabury which is close to Death Railway.

I highly recommend the Rain Tree Resort where I stayed. It is a new resort with unique and super cute houses with great garden and river view.  We stayed there for 3 nights that cost 3600 Baht (including breakfasts). The house is fully furnished with a small fridge, TV, makeup table, and a very clean toilet. It takes about 5 minutes by motorbike from Rain Tree Resort to the Death Railway.

The staff of the resort are very friendly and the surroundings looks quite safe. At night, the resort view from the bridge is lovely, charming and romantic with the reflection of its lights into the surface of River Kwai.

Visit world war II & Jeath war museum

Open hours: daily from 8am – 6pm

Entrance fees: Foreigner (Adult): 30 Baht, Foreigner (Child): 30 Baht. Thai (Adult/Child): 10 Baht.

Address: Pak Phraek Mueang Kanchanaburi Kanchanaburi 71000.

Visit world war II & Jeath war museum to learn about the Death Railway and the construction of the railway and a brief of the lives of prisoners in war and the history of World War II. At that time, thousand of prisoners was forced under the Japanese army to construct the railway. There are many displays of rifles, weapons, vintage helicopters, bombs. Also, it exhibits numerous of documents, paintings, photographs, maps, sketches etc from former prisoners. From the museum, you can see the Death Railway and the Kwai river view.

Visit death railway

Death Railway (also called the Burma Railway) is famous historical attraction in Kanchanabury which is considered as a must- see spot there. During WWII, Japanese Army had taken over the South East Asia, they invaded Burma, and the railway was built between Burma  and Thailand which Japanese Army used to bring their troops and supplies to Burma.

The nickname “Death Railway” came out ’cause more than one hundred thousand laborers died during the construction of the Railway.

The bridge was rebuilt and has been used for commercial and tourist travel. If you are lucky, you can experience the train slowly passes by. There are standing areas where you can safely stay away from the train and watch it. The beautiful view of the bridge and the river at night attracts a lot of visitors as well. Crossing by the Death railway at night, you can feel the piece of history up-close on foot. 

Explore the Erawan waterfall

Opening hours: 8a.m. – 4.30 p.m. everyday all year round.

Tickets price:

                         – 300 THB for foreigners (children 200 THB)

                         – 100 THB for locals (children 50 THB)

                         – 20 THB for a motorbike

                         – 30 THB for other vehicles

Facilities:

                        – Bicycle renting: 20 THB/day

                        – Tents: 150 Baht a day for 2 people / 250 a day for 3 people

                        – Sleeping bag: 25 Baht

                        – Pillow:10 Baht/ sleeping mat: 20 Baht.

HOW TO GET THERE:

– By taxi: 1000 bath for whole day would be offered by taxi there for bringing you around Kanchanabury, visiting all famous destinations.

– By motorbike: The most convenient and adventurous way to get there is definitely by motorbike. You can easily rent a motorbike there and go around wherever you want. It is around 250 bath/ day.

– By bus: (updated 2017)

Departing from Kanchanaburi to Erawan Falls: 08:00, 08:50, 09:50, 10:45, 11:50, 13:00, 14:10, 15:25 , 16:30, 17:50

Departing from Erawan Falls to Kanchanaburi: 05:20, 06:10, 07:20, 08:30, 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00

You can check out more information here

Located on West Thailand in Erawan National Park, the Erawan is recognized one of the famous waterfalls which attracts a lot of tourists especially Westerners. It takes around 2 hours to explore the total length of the waterfall. There are total 7 tiers (levels) of the waterfall. If you are there, it is worth trekking until the 7th level.

If you relax without moving in the water for a while, the fish will attract your feet and suck them. I love this, it is a bit ticklish but look like you are in an enormous natural fish spa.

7 natural levels of Erawan waterfall:

 🍀 The first level is pretty deep; but there is a wonderful cave under the fall that a lot of people decide to stop by to try. There are some picnic tables and areas in the first level.

🍀 The second, I think I missed it:)

🍀 The third level is quite small and deep with a big and fabulous falls, less people swim there.

🍀 The fourth level with 2 natural water slides. It is not painful when sliding thanks to the mosses fully covering the slides. The pool is quite deep which makes the sliding down be fairly safe. Personally, I think this is the funniest and most interesting level for those who are adventurous and swim well.

🍀 The firth level is interesting with small falls and many cascades where you can sit and dip you feet in the natural fish spa.

🍀 The sixth level is much more for picturing with the breathtaking view of a beautiful shallow wall of fall.

🍀 Reach the highest level is well worth your effort. The pool is not pretty deep, with a small, clean and clear fall which is deep inside the level. There are safe cascades where you can sit and enjoy the peace of Erawan jungle.