The Bridge over River Kwai Kanchanaburi Tour Experience

We visited The Bridge Over River Kwai and the JEATH War Museum as part of the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market and River Kwai Day Tour. After our Damnoen Saduak Floating Market Tour, we changed vans and went to Kanchanaburi Province, around 1.5 hours from Ratchaburi Province, and went to the River Kwai area.

The Bridge Over The River Kwai

The Bridge over the River Kwai is known as part of Kanchanaburi province history. During the World War III, many Japanese came to Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province as it is a strategic location as it is west of Thailand, near Myanmar. Japanese forces brought prisoners of war in Kanchanaburi province to build a railway from Thailand. They needed to construct the railway and bridge asap (6 months time) so they took in a lot of prisoners. Many prisoners of war died while building the railway and Bridge over the River Kwai due to sickness and fatigue.

The Bridge over the River Kwai is still being used today by trains. When we went there, we saw a train passing by the Bridge over the River Kwai.

JEATH War Museum

We visited the JEATH War Museum. JEATH War means the war between Japan, England, America, Thailand and Holland. At the JEATH war museum, the old weapons used during the war is shown. An old train is also being shown at the JEATH War Museum.

There are two parts of the JEATH War Museum area, the large building in which there are stored weapons and paintings of Thailand’s history. This building is the first one that you will see. The paintings of the Kings of Thailand are shown here.

This particular painting inside the museum is very historic for Thailand. At the time of Ayutthaya dynasty, there was a lot of Burmese and Thai wars. One time, the King of Thailand and Burmese fought a one-on-one battle while riding the elephants. The King of Thailand was able to defeat the King of Burmese through his spear. This victory spared a lot of Thai and Burmese lives because the war did not proceed after the defeat of the Burmese king. After that, the Burmese did not go to Thailand for a long time.

The original bridge over the River Kwai is also inside the JEATH war museum. The Bridge Over the River Kwai, which is still being used for trains, is not the original bridge that was built during the Japanese time. The original one is at the basement floor of the JEATH war museum.

There is a depiction of the people making the train shown in the JEATH War Museum basement.

Bombshells, old cars and motorcycles during the Japanese invasion is also shown in the JEATH war museum.

TIP: For tourists, there may be mosquitoes at the JEATH war museum basement so if you are sensitive, put on a mosquito repellant.

There are also old helicopters and planes that were probably used in the JEATH War that are located in the JEATH War Museum area. There is a nice view of the bridge over the River Kwai from the JEATH War museum.

Walking along the Bridge Over The River Kwai

You can walk to the Bridge Over the River Kwai, just take note that the bridge is being used as railway for trains. If you are going to walk at the bridge, be mindful of the train and step aside when the train is coming. There is a large room at the side of the bridge for walking.

You can also take pictures at the bridge as there are spots for photo taking.

TIP: If you’re walking along the Bridge Over River Kwai, be mindful of your steps as some parts could be oily and slippery (remember the bridge is being used by trains).

There are a lot of jewellery shops and other shops near the Bridge over the River Kwai. You could buy souvenirs there.

There is also an air-conditioned shop in front of the JEATH War Museum where you could buy drinks and some baked goods. I liked their Kiwi Soda and Green Apple Soda. We went there to have a seat and drink some refreshments while waiting for our tour group.

After the JEATH war museum and Bridge over River Kwai, we went to the Allied War Cemetery for photo-taking.

Allied War Cemetery

The Allied War Cemetery was built for the people who died in the JEATH war. Each person who died and is buried there had their own tombstone. Many of them still have flowers. The Allied War Cemetery is a beautiful cemetery and is still being taken care of.

TOUR Information:

We visited Kanchanaburi province River Kwai as part of the Damnoen Saduak (Ratchaburi Province) and River Kwai (Kanchanaburi Province) Tour. From Bangkok, Ratchaburi Province’s Floating Market is a 1.5-2 hour drive. You can read more about the Damnoen Saduak tour here. We ate lunch. After that we went to River Kwai, JEATH War Museum and Allied War Cemetery. We left Kanchanaburi by 16:00 and arrived at Bangkok at around 19:00. Our tour provided drove us back to our hotel. You must check with your tour provider if they will deliver you back to the hotel as some tour providers just drop others at the Khao San road. Our tour includes pick-up from hotel, floating market, paddle boat, long-tail boat, lunch, JEATH war museum entrance, River Kwai. Check with your tour provider as some providers may not include the entrance fees and paddle boat rides. Our day tour costs 1100 THB including Damnoen Saduak Floating Market and River Kwai.

If you want to go to River Kwai Kanchanaburi Province in a group day tour, you can contact Day Tours Bangkok. Our email contact, Nan, was very accommodating.

If you’re going to Thailand, we recommend visiting the River Kwai in Kanchanaburi Province (if you have the time). However, if you haven’t been to Ayutthaya Temples and Bang Pa-In Palace, we recommend that you go there first. There are also other tours in the Kanchanaburi province which are very scenic such as the waterfalls day tour and others.

Where do you want to go in Bangkok? What do you think about the River Kwai and Kanchanaburi Province?

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Have a bright adventure!