Kanchanaburi Province
Encyclopedia
History
Archaeology found in Kanchanaburi dates back to the 4th century which proves of trade with surrounding countries even in that time. Very little is also historically known about the actual Khmer influence in Kanchanaburi but there is evidence of their occupation with Prasat Muang Singh – one of the country’s most well-known Khmer sites.Not much was historically recorded about Kanchanaburi province before the reign of King Rama I, but some historians believe that the province played much strategical importance during the Ayutthaya period. In 1982 the Fine Arts Department found many human and elephant skeletons and swords in Phanom Thuan District. Thus, this site might even have been the location of the famous battle of King Naresuan against the Burmese crown-prince, most commonly assigned to the Don Chedi district in Suphanburi province nearby.
With the rise of the Chakri Dynasty and General Chakri (who would later become King Rama I) Kanchanaburi certainly played a distinctive strategical point as defense against the invading Burmese.
For foreigners however, it is only Kanchanaburi’s recent history which really stands out with the name ‘The Death Railway’. During the Japanese occupation of Thailand in 1942 POWs both allies and Asian laborers were ordered by the Japanese to build a Thailand-Burma railway. Eventually, an unprecedented more than 100,000 POWs (16,000 allies and 90,000 local Asian laborers) died from horrific working conditions.
Symbols
The seal of the provinceSeals of The Provinces of Thailand
-Present-day provinces of Thailand:This list includes all the seals of the Provinces of Thailand. It also includes the special administrative area of the capital, Bangkok.-Former Provinces:-External links:*...
shows the three stupa
Stupa
A stupa is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the remains of Buddha, used by Buddhists as a place of worship....
s, located on Bantadthong Mountain
Tenasserim Hills
Tenasserim Hills or Tenasserim Range is the geographical name of a mountain chain in Southeast Asia. Despite their relatively scant altitude these mountains form an effective barrier between Thailand and Burma in their northern and central region, extending to the Kra Isthmus into the Malay...
. They gave the name to the mountain pass
Mountain pass
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
to Myanmar, called "Three Pagodas Pass
Three Pagodas Pass
The Three Pagodas Pass is a pass in the Tenasserim Hills on the border between Thailand and Burma , at an altitude of above sea level....
". The provincial flower is the Night-flowering Jasmine
Night-flowering Jasmine
Nyctanthes arbor-tristis is a species of Nyctanthes, native to southern Asia, from northern Pakistan and Nepal south through northern India and southeast to Thailand....
(Nyctanthes arbortristis), and the provincial tree is the Moulmein lancewood (Homalium tomentosum).
The provincial slogan is A province of ancient community, three pagodas pass, precious stones, River Kwae Bridge, Minerals and waterfall resources.
Administrative divisions
Amphoe
An amphoe is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Usually translated as district, amphoe make up the provinces, and are analogous to a county seat...
). The districts are further subdivided into 98 communes (tambon
Tambon
Tambon is a local government unit in Thailand. Below district and province , they form the third administrative subdivision level. As of the 2009 there are 7255 tambon, not including the 169 khwaeng of Bangkok, which are set at the same administrative level, thus every district contains 8-10 tambon...
) and 887 villages (muban
Muban
Muban is the lowest administrative subdivision of Thailand. Usually translated as village, they are the subdivision of tambon. As of 2008, there are 74944 administrative villages in Thailand. As of the 1990 census, the average village consisted of 144 households or 746 persons.A muban does not...
).
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Transportation
RiverLocals seldom use the river as a mode of transportation these days but instead for the sake of tourist-orientated scenic boat rides and karaoke dinners.
Roads
Kanchanaburi’s districts are inter-connected by 3 main highways which also link to neighbouring provinces.
Airport
There is no public airport in Kanchanaburi.
Rail
Kanchanburi is on the line from Bangkok Noi to Nam Tok (Sai Yok). The section from Kanchanaburi westwards is what remains of the railway built buy POW's and forced Asian labour. The line from Nam Tok to Sanklaburi (next to Burmese border) was pulled up by the British after the war.
There is a short section of track along with a nearby museum at Hell Fire Pass , a few kilometres further west from Nam Tok
Bus
Air-conditioned buses ply to and from Bangkok while travel to the province’s districts and surrounding provinces is done by non- air-conditioned buses.
Songthaew (public passenger pick-up vehicles)
Songthaews are generally the most popular form of public transport in the provincial town and rural areas.
Samlor (trishaws)
Cycle-samlors are the most popular form of transport within the town for foreign visitors going to and from each of the sight-seeing attractions.
Motorbike-taxi
This is a popular mode of public transport for the daring wishing to get from A to B in the shortest amount of time.
Tourism
Located just 129 km from Bangkok, Kanchanburi is also a favourite holiday destination for Bangkokians and other Thais residing in the central region.Most foreigners when they think of Kanchanaburi they think of the River Kwai Bridge and the history of the Second World War. Kanchanaburi however, has so much more in the way of waterfalls, mountains, dams, fishing, boating, trekking and cave exploration. Sai Yok National Park is very popular.
Sights
Death Railway
The Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, the Thailand–Burma Railway and similar names, was a railway between Bangkok, Thailand, and Rangoon, Burma , built by the Empire of Japan during World War II, to support its forces in the Burma campaign.Forced labour was used in its construction...
ran all the way from the Kwae river valley up to the Three Pagodas Pass
Three Pagodas Pass
The Three Pagodas Pass is a pass in the Tenasserim Hills on the border between Thailand and Burma , at an altitude of above sea level....
. Today only the lowest part of the railway to Nam Tok is still in use. In Kanchanaburi city, there is a war museum and a large cemetery of prisoners of war who died during construction of the Death Railway.
Nine Army War History national park (Uttayan Haeng Chart Songkram Kao Tab) located at Ladya field, Tambon Chongsadao. It’s around 40 kilometers from Kanchanaburi downtown. This place has provided historical evidence of the nine army war. The nine army war was the war between King Rama I of Thailand and King Padung of Burma. The war ended as a victorious one for Thailand.
In the Sai Yok
Amphoe Sai Yok
Sai Yok ) is a district in the Kanchanaburi province in western Thailand.- Geography :The district is located in the valley of the Khwae Noi river. It borders to Myanmar to the south. Along the river the Death Railway runs till Nam Tok. The Sai Yok National Park was created on October 27, 1980...
district, there is a Buddhist Tiger Temple
Tiger Temple
Tiger Temple, or Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua, is a Theravada Buddhist temple in western Thailand that was founded in 1994 as a forest temple and sanctuary for wild animals, among them several tigers.-Location:...
where tame tigers roam freely once a day. Also in Sai Yok is the Mueang Sing historical park
Mueang Sing historical park
Mueang Sing ) is a historical park in the Sai Yok district, Kanchanaburi province, Thailand. The remains of two Khmer temples date to the 13th and 14th century. It was declared a historical park in 1987....
, ruins of a Khmer
Khmer Empire
The Khmer Empire was one of the most powerful empires in Southeast Asia. The empire, which grew out of the former kingdom of Chenla, at times ruled over and/or vassalized parts of modern-day Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, and Malaysia. Its greatest legacy is Angkor, the site of the capital city...
town and temple, as well as the Sai Yok National Park with the two Sai Yok waterfall
Sai Yok waterfall
Sai Yok Noi is a waterfall in the Sai Yok district of Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand, near the small town Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi. It is the most popular attraction of the Sai Yok National Park for domestic and foreign tourists alike, in part because it lies next to the province's trunk road alongside...
s.
Kanchanaburi War Cemetery (Don Rak) (สุสานทหารสัมพันธมิตรดอนรัก) The immaculately maintained cemetery contains the remains of 6,982 Allied POWs who perished during the construction of the ‘Death Railway’. Its settings remind visitors of the war and its after-effects.
Death Railway (ทางรถไฟสายมรณะ), the strategic railway tracks began from Nong Pla Duk Station in Amphoe Ban Pong, Ratchaburi, and ran via Kanchanaburi across the Khwae Yai River, westbound to the Three Pagodas Pass, to end at Thanbuyuzayat in Burma. The total distance within the Thai territory was 300 km., taking only one year to complete from October 1942 – October 1943. After the war, some part of the tracks was demolished and some submerged under the lake of Khao Laem Dam.
Mueang Sing Historical Park (อุทยานประวัติศาสตร์เมืองสิงห์) is better known as Prasat Mueang Sing (ปราสาทเมืองสิงห์), The laterite sanctuary was constructed in the late Lop Buri Period ca. 11th – 13th century A.D. Influenced by ancient Khmer culture, its principal tower is encircled by a laterite wall, moat and earthen mound and was built in a mixture of the folk school of art and Bayon style of King Jayavarman VII’s period in Cambodia.
Hell Fire Pass Memorial Museum (ช่องเขาขาดพิพิธภัณฑสถานแห่งความทรงจำ), located within the Division of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Office of Development, Armed Forces Development Command. Established by the Australian Government, it houses a mini-theatre and collection of data, photographs, equipment and utensils used during the construction of the Death Railway.
Sai Yok National Park (อุทยานแห่งชาติไทรโยค), a park since 1980, most of the area is limestone mountains with mixed deciduous forest. It is a former location of a Japanese camp during WWII as evident from traces of stoves.The park is also home to the world’s smallest species of bat.
Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yanasampanno (วัดป่าหลวงตาบัว ญาณสัมปันโน) or commonly referred to as the Tiger Temple is quite a controversial tiger conservation area where various kinds of wild as well as domestic animals live together freely in the nature and are friendly to the monks and visitors.
Erawan National Park (อุทยานแห่งชาติเอราวัณ) Formerly called Khao Salop National Park (อุทยานแห่งชาติเขาสลอบ), it was proclaimed a national park on 19 June 1975, with an area of 373,735 rai (597,976,000 square metres). Later, its name was changed to Erawan National Park as the highest level of the waterfall, Namtok Erawan, looks like Elephant Erawan’s head.
Khuean Srinagarindra National Park (อุทยานแห่งชาติเขื่อนศรีนครินทร์) It was announced on 23 December 1981, to be a national park with an area of 953,500 rai (1,496,800,000 square metres). Interesting tourist attractions include Tham Sawan (ถ้ำสวรรค์), Tham Neramit (ถ้ำเนรมิต), Tham Nam Mut (ถ้ำน้ำมุด), Tham Phra Prang (ถ้ำพระปรางค์), Namtok Huai Mae Khamin (น้ำตกห้วยแม่ขมิ้น).
Safari Park (ซาฟารี ปาร์ค) It is the first open zoo in Kanchanaburi.It's far from the city about 40 kilometers by Highway 3086 (Kanchanaburi - Bo Phloi) Through the 21 km you will see the sign of the open zoo at the left of you.It has diverse wildlife to your experience closely.
Activities
Star WatchingKirdkao Observatory (หอดูดาวเกิดแก้ว) situated in Tambon Lum Rang, is a place to gain knowledge about stars and nature. A corner for star-watching is arranged, an observatory in a dome shape and accommodation in a capsule shape.
Forest Trekking
Sangkhla Buri Jungle Trek This service is offered to tourists by hotels in Amphoe Sangkhla Buri. The programme starts with rowing boats along Huai Song Ka Lia, riding elephants and rafting.
Mountain Biking
Mountain Biking is very common along routes in the province to any tourist attractions to experience the beautiful geographical features of Kanchanaburi.
Rafting, Canoeing, White Water Rafting are also very common along various routes such as Noi River, Kwae River Song Ka Lia River.
Elephant Trekking Kanchanaburi has many elephant camps providing elephant trekking.
Bird Watching In Kanchanaburi bird-watching is done at national parks that consist of fertile ecology that is suitable to be birds’ habitat.
Well-known sites for bird-watching are as follows:
- Khao Namphu Wildlife Conservation Promotion and Development Station, Tambon Tha Kradan, Amphoe Si Sawat
- Around Kroeng Krawia Swamp near Namtok Kroeng Krawia, Amphoe Sangkhla Buri.
- Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary and Salak Phra Wildlife Sanctuary
- Tao Dam Mine Forest, Amphoe Sai Yok
- Srinagarindra Dam and Vajiralongkorn Dam (Khao Laem Dam)
Golf
Kanchanaburi’s rural areas are home to several golf courses. The courses are popular due to their close vicinity to Bangkok and natural scenery.
Cultural Tourism
Ban Nong Khao is one district in Kanchanaburi, about 12 km. away from the province. Villagers here still live simply in an agricultural society and old-style houses practicing culture and traditions which has been transmitted from generation to generation.Homestay at Ban Khao Lek
Ban Khao Lek is a small Karen village, situated in the middle of a valley in the area of Chaloem Rattanakosin National Park with splendid nature. Most villagers earn a living by farming and collecting products from the forest. They live a simple life and mainly rely on nature. They practice Karen culture from generation to generation.
Agrotourism
In Kanchanaburi, there are 2 seedless raisin vineyards for visiting.
Rai Khun Mon in Tambon Nong Kum is a mixed cultivation farm with organic vegetables and plants of various kinds of processed agricultural products such as corn milk, vegetable juice, dehydrated banana or jack-fruit, vegetable juice-coated Krayasat dessert, bio-diets for health.
Suan Onanong Chuan Chom It is the largest desert rose (‘Chuan Chom’ in Thai) garden in Kanchanaburi with an area of 40 rai (64,000 square metres).
Shopping
Kanchanaburi doesn’t really have much in the way of good markets or department stores. The shopping places that exist in Kanchanburi include:- The Night Market located near Kanchanaburi Railway Station sells the likes of clothes, shoes, bags, collectables, souvenirs, DVDs and CDs etc.
- Kan Superstore in Kanchanaburi Town Centre is just a normal department store with a supermarket.
- Tesco Lotus Megastore is on Sang Chuto Road
- Birdland Books, situated on River Kwai Road, is Kanchanaburi's largest used book stores. They have books in several different languages. They also have a branch in Sangkhlaburi.
Nightlife
Not so long ago, Kanchanburi Town had grown to be rather infamous for its Disco Rafts which used to sail down parts of the River Kwae all night long blaring out loud disco music. A couple of these parts included guesthouses which used to make a decent living until the boats noisy arrival. Just recently however, local authorities have clamped down on such boats. The rafts are still running but they are far quieter than in the past.Typical, nightlife available in Kanchanburi Town includes:
- The town has a couple of discos which are popular with the younger trendier crowd.
- Some live Music Joints play Thai folk.
- Karaoke clubs can be found in some of the many hotels and customers can either sing to everyone or rent a private room.
- Barbecues are large Thai-style restaurants which play music and serve alcohol.
- Sing-a-Songs are popular with Thai males. Singers sing on the stage
- Down by the river there are a few bar beers which are popular with foreign male tourists who fancy a beer and the company of friends or hostesses. Many also have free pool to play.
- Most of the guesthouses down by the river sell alcohol and play music.
Folk Culture and Traditions
Ram Yoei is a local dance of the Kanchanaburi local people that has been performed for more than 500 years. They perform Ram Yoei on Songkran Day and New Year, etc. Men and women must form a circle, one person will lead to sing and another will sing to the other’s lyric in reply, and Luk Khu (chorus) will sing along and dance to the rhythm of Klong Yao drums. At present, Ram Yoei is played only in Amphoe Phanom Thuan.Lifestyle
Most of the local rural people work in the field of agriculture. Even though most of them are of Thai ancestry, there is also a lot of Mon and Karen blood around. As minority, people have dwelled in the area for hundreds of years, Kanchanburi enjoys plenty of popular folk festivals.Events & Festivals
Mineral Water and Waterfall Bathing Day (งานวันอาบน้ำแร่แช่น้ำตก); held at Hin Dat Hot Spring, at the beginning of November. In the festival, there are booths of agricultural products and tourism exhibition of Amphoe Thong Pha Phum. Visitors watching will have a chance to bath in the Hin Dat Hot Spring and enjoy the view of Namtok Pha Tat.Boat and Raft People’s Day (งานเทศกาลชาวเรือชาวแพ); held every year at the beginning of November at Song Khwae Road near the riverside in front of the city of Kanchanaburi. Activities are folk performances, Thai typical music performance, academic exhibition concerning conservation of rivers and canals, water sports such as riding long-boat, speed-boat and jet-skiing.
River Kwae Bridge Week (งานสัปดาห์สะพานข้ามแม่น้ำแคว); held every year around the end of November until the beginning of December to commemorate the significance of the Death Railway and the Bridge over the Khwae River taking place in World War II. Visitors can see the historical and archaeological exhibition, folk performances, booths of products, entertaining activities, and light and sound show.
Local Food
Kanchanburi is a province famous for its freshwater fish. The most popular dining areas are the Song Kwae Road waterfront area and the riverside restaurants in the vicinity of the River Kwae Bridge. Although, there are ‘jungle’ food restaurants illegally selling imported meat of endangered animals from Burma, such as deer etc., the government does in no way support the trade.Medical Health Care
In town there is the Kanchanaburi Memorial Hospital and lots of clinics and pharmacies.Retirement
Retirees in Kanchanburi quote the following reasons for settling down in Kanchanburi:- It has only a small international expat community, so giving the place a more Thai feel
- Folk from Kanchanaburi are noted for their friendliness and hospitality
- The weather is typically Thai
- It has convenient public transport and it is near Bangkok
Media/Contact
Nationwide Television, cable TV channels are also available in Kanchanaburi. International newspapers and magazine are only found in tourist areas.The area dialling code for Kanchanaburi Province is 034 - from overseas, it is +66 34 XXX XXX.
Landline telephone, all mobile phone systems, high-speed internet (ADSL), post offices and parcel services are mostly found in tourist areas.
External links
- Website of province (Thai only)
- Kanchanaburi Rajabhat University Main University in Kanchanaburi