River Kawai Day Trip from Bangkok

Posted By : Yunhao_M
The full day programme to the Kwai Bridge was full of natural wonders and the deep thinking of the history itself. Even though the war has ended nearly 80 years, people still commemorate their heroes, those with or without names, with full bodies or nothing to be found.
Even though the great humanitarian disaster has took place at the 1930s to 1940s, we see a new country built for the future, and the previous victims chose finally to forgive but not to forget.
Also, the guide is extremely friendly and is always willing to help. I really want to express my gratitude to Mr. Rach.
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Posted On : 2023-12-31 17:23:31

Posted By : VeganMadeEasy
We were picked up right on time at 6:30am at the closest hotel to our B&B. First stop after 45 min at a gas station. There was one of the Amazon coffee shops were we got a black coffee, as they don’t have none dairy milk and we are vegan, and at the store next door we found soy milk!

They did a nice job breaking up the drive allowing for restroom breaks. We stopped at the Prisoners of War cemetery and spend an about 15 minutes there. Seeing all these graves of 20-30 year old young men is deeply saddening!

Next we went to one of the former POW campsites. The suffering people experienced is unimaginable!

From there we had the option to take a long boats, extra charge 300 BHT, for a 5 min boat ride to the bridge. Alternatively you can get back onto the bus.

We got to the bridge with about 10 min to spare before boarding the train. Walked the bridge with many others. When your guide tells you that you have 10 min, it means you need to be back to catch the train. Be sure to listen! Given that we had to get to the last wagon, we ended up being a bit in a hurry.

Coming back over the bridge the train already came at us. We boarded, had the option to chose first class at 300 BHT extra charge and this way had seating pretty much secured. Recommend spending the extra money. You get some free snacks as well. They cleared the bridge of all the visitors and the train crossed. The train ride was about 90 min through pretty country side. On the left, you have the mountains that make up for the border to Burma (Thai still call it that)/Miramar. The windows are open to get some airflow. Temperature was actually pretty comfortable, although towards noon it got toasty.

When we got to the Tham Kra Sae Bridge Station, we ended the train ride and got to walk across the bridge. See my review. We had a nice lunch there. There is a big buffet set up which everyone seemed to have enjoyed.

Right after leaving the place, we stopped to feed the monkeys. There were a lot of them surrounding the bus.

Rach, our tour guide, was friendly and accommodating. He shared historical information throughout the journey. When he learned about us being vegan, he called ahead to ensure we get some rice and steer fried vegetables specifically prepared for us.

You get water along the entire journey. There were total of three couples on the bus.

I took about 3 hours to get back. They dropped us off within 4 km of our B&B which was the closest they were able to manage.

Very nice and well organized day trip that we can recommend taking. Good communication through WhatsApp and the TripAdvisor app. We booked directly through TripAdvisor which worked great!
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Posted On : 2023-12-31 04:36:35

Posted By : Roy_C
Lovely day in Kanchanaburi. Small mixed group of 7. A long drive there and back but it was a sunny enjoyable day all round. It's quite "touristy" but still worth it. We took the long-tail boat and bought "1st class" seats on the train but of your budget is tight that's not really necessary.

Special mention to Oom, our guide, who looked after us all really well.
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Posted On : 2023-12-27 20:32:14

Posted By : Deborah_B
Great day with our guide, Ken and the driver. Good communication, clean van. Ken shared so much information about Thailand and Bangkok. The museum was well done with lots of information to provide context to the rest of the day. Enjoyed the travel on the railroad. Lunch was a buffet riverside. Nice selection of food — adequate. Then walked the tracks and went to a cave. This is a great tour. We were so glad we took it and Ken did a great job. Highly recommend
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Posted On : 2023-12-24 21:52:20

Posted By : doby3
What an amazing experience this was. Nena our tour guide was attentive and I formative. Our journey started at the museum which really brought it home to me how awful the POWs were treated. The cemetery which was a short distance away was very emotional as you saw 100s of graves of young men who lost their lives in such a cruel way.
The bridge over the river is very busy but so beautiful .
The train journey is comfortable and we were once again well looked after.
The view is stunning as you go around the bend.
Food at the Buffet was excellent a good selection and plenty of it.
We had an amazing time and would highly recommend it.
The only thing to remember is the traffic back can be really busy and if you are happy to catch the sky train once you enter Bangkok it could save you time.
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Posted On : 2023-12-24 20:04:12

Posted By : G6887MNchristinem
A great day out. Highly recommended if you are interested in the WW2. Well organised. Pleasant guide and good minibus. Excellent communication by the tour company.
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Posted On : 2023-12-24 14:07:18

Posted By : Jennifer J
My husband and I went on the trip today and we were very disappointed with every aspect of the experience. The tour leader was very poor in the explanation of the history, his spoken English was not good enough, he made a crass rude joke about the Japanese soldiers, he lay across the last row of seats and slept on the return drive to Bangkok, he ordered us off the van and into his private car for the final part of our return to the hotel, he did not engage with anyone in the group during the day except his opening monologue for the day. He tried to get us to buy upgraded seats for the train and to pay for a short boat trip. The van was dirty and uncomfortable. All advertised time allotments were grossly inaccurate. The museum is very poorly maintained. The train journey was lovely. The lunch was tasteless. Overall a disappointing experience for such an important site. I would never recommend this tour group to anyone
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Posted On : 2023-12-21 08:59:24

Posted By : William_H
Seeing the pow camps and walking along hells gate,Om the tour guide leaderwas very descriptive in the telling of what happened during this time,some parts were quite confronting but it was what really happened, during the war
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Posted On : 2023-12-21 04:10:02

Posted By : janetmD6371OD
This tour was over promised and under delivered. The tour is rushed as it seeks to beat peak hour traffic in Bangkok. The stated times at each site simply aren’t true. For instance, we spent 15 minutes at the JEATH museum, not the stated 60 minutes. The sites that you visit are extremely historic,however the guide failed to pass on any of this significance. Our guide was more concerned with taking photos, which you get bombarded with at the end of the day.

Further, we were encouraged to spend another 600baht each to upgrade our train ticket and pay for a boat ride. Why these items aren’t included in the ticket price is odd and felt like a local scam.

More broadly, the van we travelled in was old and the promised “incredible” buffet lunch was nothing special.

For the price, give this tour a miss.
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Posted On : 2023-12-20 20:46:32

Posted By : Adrian_S
Our guide Rach had good knowledge and passion about the areas we travelled in. Walking on the tracks and seeing exactly what the POWs built was very thought provoking and emotional especially the futility of the project
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Posted On : 2023-12-20 19:24:30