Culture and History

Kanchanaburi is perhaps, best known for the River Kwai and the 2nd world war occupation by the Japanese army. This led to the forced construction of the railway line to Burma ( aka Death Railway ) and ‘The Bridge over the River Kwai’ by allied prisoners of war and local peoples. Hellfire Pass was an incredibly difficult railway cutting to construct that resulted in many deaths. The railway has now long since been removed from the Hellfire Pass and no trains run here anymore. But, The Hellfire Pass Memorial bears witness to the terrible atrocities that happened in the area in World War Two and is a must visit for any stay in Kanchanaburi. At another local museum, the ‘JEATH War Museum’, you can see more wartime relics used by the allied PoWs, during the construction. An open area also exhibits the life and suffering in building the Death Railway.

The Mon are an ethnic group from Burma, living mostly in remote areas along the southern border of Thailand and Burma. The Mon are believed to be one of the earliest peoples of Indochina and they founded some of the earliest civilizations there. Still to this day they have preserved their own alphabet and language, but also their own culture and traditional heritages, which include spiritual dances, traditional singing and special music instruments.

In the Mon village in Kanchanaburi, the Mon still live a traditional, simple life. They make almost no use of electricity, and the little bit they use is from solar power. The village has been adapted a bit to tourism, with the people selling traditional skirts and foods to their visitors. When walking through the village, one can visit the Golden Rock, the temple, the school and see the traditional houses on poles, to keep them safe from the water during raining season.