Bridge on River Kwai from Bangkok

You will be picked up from your hotel in Bangkok before driving 130 kilometers west to the town of Kanchanaburi. Apart from the fascinating natural geography, this region has many major monuments affiliated with World War II and this tour will show you the sites of where thousands of prisoners of war were forced to work for the construction of a railroad track that would connect Myanmar with Thailand.

Your first stop is the famous bridge over the River Kwai. Still in use today, the bridge was the target of frequent Allied bombing raids during 1945, and was rebuilt after the war ended. The curved spans of the bridge are the original sections.

The Death Railway itself stretched originally to 415 kilometers from Thanbyuzayat in Burma (now called Myanmar) to Nong Pladuk in Bang Pong district of Ratchaburi province in Thailand. 304km from the railway station in Thailand, and the remaining 111 km in Burma. More than 16,000 prisoners died during the construction of the railway undertaking or thirty-eight of prisoners for every km of railway built. The prisoners died from disease, malnutrition and exhaustion. There was little or no medical care available, and many prisoners suffer terribly before they died.

Continue with visiting two well-kept cemeteries, containing the graves of an estimate 9000 allied soldiers who lost their lives while building the bridge and constructing the notorious “Death Railway” which the Japanese had hoped to stretch all the way to the Burmese border. These well-kept cemeteries are among the most impressive sites today, providing the harsh reality of the casualties of war.

Lunch is included at a local restaurant during this tour.

In the afternoon, return back Bangkok in the late afternoon at your booked hotel.