Kanchanaburi, Thailand

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The day which we had been eagerly anticipating had finally come and it was tough to hide the gleeful smile on my face as I looked forward to our stay in Thailand. The trip was supposed to provide some respite after months in NS and also marked the beginning of the end of our National Service stint. With me, Jordan, Luke and Mark made up the Gang of Four. We had decided to visit Kanchanaburi and the nations capital, Bangkok. Possessing a keen interest in history, we chose Kanchanaburi due to the areas significance in World War Two when thousands of Allied prisoners-of-war were transported from prisons in South-East Asia to build what later became known as the "Death Railway". The Bridge over the River Kwai, subject of one of Hollywoods most endearing movies, is also located in Kanchanaburi.

After an approximate 2 hours onboard, we finally touched down in Bangkok International Airport and in no time, made our way to the Southern Bus Station (Sai Thai Mai). I was personally impressed with the many modern structures which had sprung up over the past decade or so since I was last there. Despite the apparent improvement in the countrys infrastructure, I couldn't help but fear that wed be caught in a traffic jam (something the city is renowned for). However, that was not to be the case and after a smooth journey, we arrived at the bus station where we booked the earliest bus departing for Kanchanaburi. We had about 40 minutes to spare and spend the time getting our first taste of some local food. Other than the sandwich I managed to stealthily consume onboard our budget carrier, we spent the journey onboard with our stomachs somewhat empty. The sight of food, be it a bowl of noodles or just packs of pork floss, was undoubtedly a welcome sight.

Our bus to Kanchanaburi almost left without us and we lumbered through the aisle to the unoccupied back seats. We didn have time to place our baggage in the buss luggage compartment and had little choice but to place them on the seats next to us, causing the area to be rather cramp and hence, uncomfortable. The bus conductor had (not so politely) requested that we removed the bags put on two joint seats and probably thought us to be inconsiderate tourists. We hadn known that the bus would stop numerous times on our passage to Kanchanaburi where passengers will alight and others embark. Kanchanaburi, as wed soon discover, was the very last stop. Due to the discomfort, none of us could really take forty winks and had to find ways to occupy ourselves during the 2 1/2 hours on the bus. We had a short discussion of our plans and after Jordan had told a riddle, I came up with the idea of playing the game "20 Questions". One of us had to think of a famous person whom the others would attempt to guess by asking a maximum of 20 yes-or-no questions. The game successfully took up a large portion of our time on the bus and after using up quite a share of our individual brain juices (in one instance, for "nobody"), we were pleased to finally reach Kanchanaburi. To be honest, I had thought that all Id see on our way to Kanachanaburi, west of Thailand, was going to be paddy fields, herds of cows, and other bucolic scenes. My time spent travelling outside major cities in Vietnam made me think that her neighbour would be very similar. I was taken by surprise to find that for the most part, all I saw were buildings - shophouses, petrol kiosks, schools, etc. Rather than the ones in Vietnam, the sights more closely resembled those I saw in the Malaysian town of Ipoh a couple of months back.

It was drizzling in Kanachanaburi when we arrived and we were quickly acquainted with the man who would take us around the area over the next day or two. We agreed on a price (100baht) and hed take us to Inchantree Resort, our place of lodging in Kanchanaburi. We got into his songthaew where we met a young boy (most likely his son) who cleaned the slightly wet seats for us to comfortably sit on. On our way to the hotel, we got acquainted with the boy who knew just enough English to tell us that his name was Ratawad. We then arrived at a promising looking hotel, small but relatively well-designed. After deciding to engage the same driver to take us to several destinations the next day, we found ourselves eager to get into our rooms and have a moments rest before dinner.

The rooms cost us about 1000baht each per night and we had decided to put up at Inchantree as it was strongly recommended by my travel guide and was located next to the River Kwai (pronounced kway). Unfortunately, our Riverside rooms had been damaged (yes, damaged) due to (if I remember correctly) the unfavourable weather causing a tree to fall on the roof of that section of rooms. We chose to stay on the second floor in the scarcely occupied hotel. At first sight, Mark and I found our room satisfactory, though small and simple, but soon came to realise that we did not have a refridgerator, a water flask, or even a telephone. The water heater was sporadic in its operation and we came to expect the temperature of water from the shower to fluctuate between cold and warm. Location-wise, though situated next to the lovely River Kwai whose sight was a treat in the mornings, the hotel was relatively far away from the city centre where most of the activity took place.

After settling down and freshening up, we were on our way to dinner, our yen for some sumptuous Thai dishes was clear from our growling stomachs. We arrived at JR Restaurant which was also located on the banks of the famous river. The dishes we ordered were uniquely Thai and were immensely palatable. However, a couple of dishes were a little too spicy for our Singaporean tastebuds and may have somewhat impeded us from attaining complete satisfaction. Like I mentioned, the dishes were Thai and the countrys cuisine is after all renowned for its powerful spices. I was to pay the price the next day for my unrestrained consumption despite having a weak stomach.

Dinner was over in less than an hour as we returned to our driver who agreed to wait for that length of time. He then took us to Lotus, a huge supermart resembling Giant and Carrefour, where accompanied by Ratawad, we bought our snacks and other necessities (insect repellent was one of them after discovering that the location of our rooms made the presence of mosquitoes inevitable). We also managed to grab some dessert and Jordan even took some time to play a Puzzle Bobble-like game at a games station. Communication with our driver and Ratawad proved rather difficult as we spoke no Thai (at that time, I only knew the numbers) and they, hardly any English.

The second day proved an eventful one as we dedicated the time solely to sight-seeing. On our list were the Hellfire Pass Museum, Sai Yok Waterfall, Muang Singh Historical Park and of course, the Death Railway.

We woke up at around 0830hrs and had an American breakfast specially prepared for us by the hotel staff. There were no other hotel guests in sight. We were told that the staff had come in the morning just to prepare the food for us. We then set off on an approximately 90 minute ride to the Hellfire Pass Museum. During the aforementioned construction of the Thailand-Burma Railway (a resurrected British plan), a.k.a The Death Railway, POWs and romushas, labourers recruited from various parts of South-East Asia, were subject to abject conditions and many perished as a result of disease or acts of iniquity by their Japanese supervisors. The museum was an initiative of Australian POWs to commemorate the harrowing episode the prisoners went through in WW2 and to honour those who lost their lives during the time period. There were the usual displays of information about the building of the Railway and we were each loaned a headphone which allowed us to listen to interviews with former Allied POWs which corresponded to the museums various stations, both indoor and outdoor. I was personally heartened to see how the museum focussed on the moving camaraderie displayed by the prisoners and their indomitable spirit in times of peril, rather than on emphasizing the gross misconduct (the Japanese were known to have largley ignored the Geneva Conventions terms) of their adversaries. Efforts to allow visitors to visualise the situation as it was then as each of us walked down the outdoor path (which proved to be a rather good morning exercise, especially when you take the longer route which we accidentally did) were truly commendable. Visiting the museum was overall, a very rewarding experience and is a must for anyone keen to know more about WW2 history.

Next stop was the Sai Yok Moi Waterfall where we saw Thai youth frolicking in the water. It was nice to see young locals enjoy the simple pleasures nature can bring after a day at school. Im positive the cool, clear water provided them with the needed refreshment.

Nearby the fall was an Elephant Camp and we decided to have a go at riding elephants. The initial price quoted to us was 400baht per person for a 30-minute ride which was in my opinion, terribly steep. We managed to bring the price down to 300baht after negotiating with the person-in-charge who had been most adamant. Mark and I shared an elephant while Luke had one all to himself. It wasn as scary as I thought it would be and proved to be quite enjoyable (animal rights activists will probably cringe at this) as the animals took us around a plantation and even, though briefly, across water. It would have been a pity to have left Thailand without riding the animal most synonymous with the country.

Part of the Death Railway was also nearby and we caught a glimpse of the structure made more majestic by the history behind its construction (as well as reinforcing done over the years to help preserve it). It amazed me to know that the railway was built without the use of any machinery. As former POWs noted, the construction had relied much on "hammer and tap". The railway was completed in an incredibly short period of time and one can fail to fathom how the railway could have been finished with the relatively primitive methods of construction used by the prisoners and romusha, supervised by the Japanese who demanded hideous efficiency.

We then headed to Muang Singh Historical Park, an ancient city site. We managed to enter a small museum which showcased items excavated from the site. Entering Prasat Muang Singh, located in the centre of the park, made us feel like Indiana Joness as we walked on the structure which was once part of an ancient civilisation.

After a day spent sight-seeing, we decided to return to Inchantree to wash up before heading for dinner (time flew and we didn realise that we had skipped lunch).

The driver, upon our request, brought us to the city centre where we had dinner. For the first time, we were roaming the streets of Kanchanaburi on our own. Our food came from various sources - all roadside stalls - as we attempted to savour a variety of local cuisine. One dish which I came to love was hoitod, a Thai version of fried oysters topped with a load of beansprouts. We also got a taste of phad thai, one of Thailands most famous dishes. We took the opportunity to visit a bookstore where we got hold of a phrasebook which would help us pick up a little bit of Thai which would hopefully make our travelling around the country slightly easier. I was to realise that knowing the Thai numbers was quite sufficient. "How much?", tao rai in Thai, was to prove the most important phrase. It wasn easy finding a cab and were thankful when, resigned to walking to JJ Market, we managed to get hold of a songthaew which was already half-filled with locals. We decided to utilise our phrasebook and Jordan tried to converse with the other passengers, who only responded with laughter after every sentence. The ride cost us 10baht each which was cheap compared to the 100baht we paid our driver for each trip.

The market boasted a variety of stores and a buoyant atmosphere. The stores sold goods ranging from souvenirs and uniquely Thai clothing, to second-hand shoes (used but genuinely branded) and foodstuff. I got my hands on a pair of slippers after my sandals, as expected, gave way. Compared to Bangkok, bargaining here would prove easier and the store owners were generally more cordial. A cup of watermelon juice (20baht) savoured as we walked along the narrow lanes between shops was indeed refreshing. We anticipated problems getting back to the hotel as songthaews were far and few at such a late hour and taxis were nowhere in sight. Thankfully, the owner of the drinks stall was kind enough to take us to several motorcycle taxis and translated our requests to the riders. The four of us were to share two bikes and would each pay 25baht (reasonable in my opinion). The lack of traffic enabled us to enjoy a smooth ride and a swift return to our place of lodging.

The restlessness in each of us brought us out into the streets of Kanchanaburi after unloading our loot at the hotel. Desperate for more Thai food, we took a night walk but it proved to be in vain as all eateries, including restaurants/coffee houses at hotels, were already closed by then. Sighting the railway station, we decided to go into its premises for a short exploration of the place. We chanced upon a small area which had, in my opinion, rather stunning paintings of Kanchanaburi's landmarks like the Death Railway and the Bridge on the River Kwai. There were also pictorial depictions of the Allied bombing of the bridge. Beside the paintings, a portrait sketch caught our eyes and we found ourselves eager to have a portrait of the four of us drawn. Next to the area sat a man eating a simple meal of rice and vegetables in a metal container and after exchanging words with him, yes, we spoke no Thai and he,no English, we presumed that he was the artist responsible for the masterpieces on display. He said that he could not do a portrait sketch for us at that hour and told us to wait till 2 in the afternoon the next day. As we would have left the city by then, we got him to agree to make a souvenir for us. This special souvenir (I've no idea what it's called) was a flat piece of wood presumably from a very small tree would contain words of our choice. The man took an interminable length of time to complete it, using sandpaper to smoothen the wooden surface, etc. We patiently and respectfully observed him, having had no idea what the final product would look like. All we could do was speculate and judging from the time he spent rubbing the piece on sandpaper, Luke remarked that he was attempting to make the piece of wood disappear using that method. In the end, we were rewarded with a simple souvenir, written on it our initials and the date on which the piece was completed.

Our final day in Kanchanaburi, though short, was to prove quite fulfilling as well. Our first stop was the Thailand-Burma Railway Museum and for a fee of 100baht (which included a free cup of diluted coffee), we were allowed in the view the numerous exhibits which supplemented the information we took in the day before at the Hellfire Pass Museum. The museum emphasized the tremendous suffering and loss caused by the war and the building of the railway and fondly remembers the prisoners who were involved in the construction and reminds us from family letters that the loss of a life is not a mere statistic but a son or daughter.

Located next to the museum was the War Cemetery. The neat rows of gravestones on the green could only serve to commemorate a fraction of the actual number of victims on the railway. The glorious sunshine reflected on the beautiful flowers served to enliven what would have otherwise been a sullen place. From my time in Kanchanaburi, I feel that the effort made to remember the deceased has been truly commendable.

Our next stop in the city was a visit to the Monkey School where we were treated to a monkey show which cost us 100baht each. Several monkeys were made to perform for us, displaying their prowess at basketball, cycling and even at number guessing. Members of the audience were also encouraged to participate at some stages. We also had a chance to take photographs with the Joy the gibbon outside though not without difficulty. A couple of us were playfully bitten. The school trains monkeys for farmers and we were able to watch the monkey pluck coconuts at phenomenal speeds. The school also sells monkeys to farmers and the prices range from 40-60 000 baht. Despite having been thoroughly entertained, it was rather saddening to see the monkeys, naturally so agile and active, locked in cages, limiting their area for free movement.

We couldn't miss the city's most famous landmark and on the way back to the hotel, stopped by the Bridge over the River Kwai. We spent a while enjoying the view of the river from the bridge itself. After taking a few photographs, we were on our way back to the hotel, rushing to check out of it on time.

Our time in Kanchanaburi was, in my opinion, a truly edifying one. The combination of historical and cultural knowledge derived from our two days or so made the trip west worthwhile. We would look forward to an equally gratifying, though expectedly dissimilar, experience in Bangkok.

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Photos

The Death Railway
Remnants of the Infamous Railway

Sai Yok Moi Waterfall
Locals enjoying the cool water

Muang Singh Historical Park
Remains of an Ancient Civilisation

The War Cemetery
Remembering WW2 Dead

Comments

[Mark]

nicely covered
heh, you've captured the essential moments, less jordan's spectacular poses at muang sing. definitely a separate experience to bangkok, in a good way.