Category Archives: Kanchanaburi

For people who don’t have much time, a trip to Kanchanaburi is an ideal option. The province, which is the third largest in Thailand, is so diverse that there is plenty to see and do. The landscape has both mountains and plains. Natural beauty includes the waterfalls and national parks. There are also limestone caves, tranquil rivers, forests and reservoirs. You can go bamboo rafting, elephant riding, trekking into the forests and a lot more. The province is also historically important because of the infamous death railway.

You can visit Kanchanaburi as a day trip from Bangkok. You can even join day tours organized by the State Railway of Thailand. These are relatively inexpensive if your time is limited. But, I would suggest you go by yourself. The first time I went there, I went by train. Travel third class and you will have a great time with ordinary Thai people. However, the four or five times I have been back I have driven there myself. From Central Bangkok, it takes just over two hours.

I would suggest that you stay in Kanchanaburi at least two nights and three days. There is plenty of guesthouse accommodation down near the river which is quite inexpensive. Unless it is a holiday weekend, you don’t need to book in advance. We went during the last long weekend and had a little difficulty in finding a room. We ended up at a hotel. Most backpackers stay away from hotels as they think they are all expensive. However, sometimes hotels can work out better value for money if you are looking for a little more comfort.

What I am going to write about today is some of the tour options you have and places that are worth seeing.

Look out! There is a train coming!

Day One: Arrive in Kanchanaburi before noon. Find a guesthouse. We suggest either Jollyfrog Guesthouse or Apple Guesthouse. They both have onsite travel services and good restaurants. VN Guesthouse also has good reviews. If you are staying in a guesthouse on Khao San Road, just ask your fellow travellers going the opposite direction where they stayed. Consider renting a motorcycle for the day. It only costs a few hundred baht and you will be able to see more of the town in a short time.

Your first stop should, of course, be the bridge. Fight through the crowds of package tourists to step onto the bridge. Wow! This isn’t obviously the bridge in the movie. That one was wooden and was located about 50 metres downstream. It was destroyed by the Allies during a bombing raid at the end of the war. Notice the arches on this bridge are curved at the start and end of the bridge. The middle span is a different style. This is because the middle section was bombed by the Americans during the war and that part had to be replaced later.

After that little bit of nostalgia, you should now take time out to pay your respects to the prisoners of wars that died building the infamous Death Railway. The neatly attended cemetery is in the center of town and easy to find. On the western side of the cemetery, you will find the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre. I had never been there before and I found the place to be both modern and informative in telling the story about the building of the railway. It only costs 60 baht for adults (doesn’t use two priced system). I would suggest you go there.

The Kanchanaburi War Cemetery

If you are a bit of a war buff then there a couple of more museums in town you could visit. My old favourite is the JEATH War Museum. You can find this down by the river next to Wat Chanasongkhram. They have reconstructed the barracks of a prisoner of war camp. There are drawings and pictures you can look at. This was interesting when I first visited nearly ten years ago. But now it isn’t really comparable to the new one by the cemetery. There is also another museum next to the bridge, but again, this is only worth a visit for enthusiasts.

On the other side of the river, there is a quieter cemetery called Chungkai. I went there on a previous trip as I felt it was important to pay respects at all memorials in Kanchanaburi. The question is, where is the memorial for the thousands and thousands of Asian labourers that died? These far outnumbered the Allied prisoners of war deaths.

By this time you probably had enough. If you are staying at Apple Guesthouse then eat there. You can go to eat at their restaurant even if you are not guests. We did. The food is delicious. In town, you will find a number of travel services by the side of the road. There are plenty around so you can easily pick and choose. I suggest you book a tour now that you can go on the next day.

Day two: As this is your only full day, then I suggest you do a tour today. There are quite a few you can do, but one I did when I first came to Thailand included: elephant riding, bamboo rafting, swimming and walking at Erawan Waterfalls, and a scenic ride back on the Death Railway. The last time I did this it cost 500 baht. But, there is now a 200 baht entrance fee for foreigners at all national parks. This tour is now about 850–890 baht and lasts all day.

There are quite a few different tours you can join with different combinations. For example: Elephant ride, bamboo raft, hot springs, Hellfire Pass Memorial, Death Railway, all for only 490 baht. If you don’t want to do the elephant ride and bamboo raft then there is another tour which will give you longer at Erawan Falls for about 570 baht. Most tours will bring you back by about 6 p.m.

Walk through the dragon to some caves at Wat Ban Tam

Day three: This is now your last day. I suggest you rent a motorcycle for the day. Don’t forget to checkout by midday so you will need to split up your day. You have a number of destinations you could go in the morning. You can pick up a free map at the Tourist Authority of Thailand office on the main road. I would strongly suggest exploring the area around Wat Tham Sua. There are quite a few limestone cave temples that you could explore. Some you won’t find in your guidebook. However, the most popular is Wat Tham Sua. Climb to the top of the pagoda for some spectacular views of the surrounding countryside. If you are up to it, consider visiting Wat Tham Mangkon Thong which is otherwise known as the Floating Nun Temple. As the name suggests, you watch a nun floating in a tub of water! Skip it if you don’t have much time.

Make sure you are back at your guesthouse to checkout. Have lunch here then head out towards Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno which is better known as the Tiger Temple. It costs you a 300 baht donation to see the tigers. But you not only have the opportunity to have your photo taken as many times as you like, but you also help contribute to building a better home for the tigers. Make sure you go there after 1.30 p.m. as this is the time the tigers are taken out of their cages for their afternoon walk.

An elephant and a monk at the floating nun temple

There are other places you could see. But, you have by now seen all of the major attractions. There are other national parks, like Sai Yok, you could visit. Also, there is Prasat Muang Singh which is a temple complex dating back to the 12th Century. You can even do longer treks where you can stay overnight in remote villages. Then there are the raft houses where you can spend your time going up and down the river. Endless possibilities. I am already planning my next trip which will probably be next year.

Like I said before, Kanchanaburi is a very big province and there is more to see than what the average tourist gets to visit. Later this week I will tell you about the major destination I visited during my recent trip there. Kanchanaburi city was only two hours from Bangkok. It took me more than six hours to reach my final destination at the far end of Kanchanaburi Province.

Another place on my “Relatively Unknown Thailand” list is the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi Province. Although this temple (real name Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno)  is barely mentioned in most guidebooks, it is fast becoming one of the major attractions of Kanchanaburi. The abbot, Phra Acharn Phusit, pictured above, has been caring for abandoned tigers ever since 1999. The mother of the first cub he took in had been killed by poachers.  By that time, Phra Acharn Phusit was already known locally as a Thai version of Dr. Doolittle for his caring of sick and and abandoned wildlife and pets. While most temple grounds have stray dogs, this temple has wandering buffalo, horses, wild goats and monkeys. The first tiger cub died from its injuries, but a few weeks later two more tiger cubs were rescued from poachers and brought to the temple. Word soon spread and more abandoned or injured tigers were brought to the temple. Today, the tigers outnumber the monks by about two to one.

I must admit I wasn’t too sure whether I would visit this temple or not during my holiday in Kanchanaburi. The idea of having my photo taken with a tiger doesn’t really excite me. You can do this at my local Crocodile Farm here in Samut Prakan. However, what caught my attention were the photographs in the press of monks taking tigers for a walk in a canyon. The temple first opened it doors in early 2004. They asked for a 100 baht donation to enter and a further small fee to have your photograph taken with the tigers. Just before I left for Kanchanaburi, I learned that the “donation” had been increased to 300 baht. I almost decided not to go. Partly because of this sudden increase in price (were the monks getting greedy?) and also because there had been some negative press reports of the temple becoming a tourist trap with more concern of making money than the welfare of the tigers. But, I felt, for the sake of readers of Thai-Blogs.com, I should investigate the real situation.

The temple is 38 kms north of Kanchanaburi city center. Take the 323 highway towards Sai Yok waterfall. Look out for the Bangchak petrol station on your left and the road next to it leading to Phasat Muang Singh. Drive a further 6 kms on highway 323 looking out for the billboard for this temple on the right. It is not too easy to spot if you are coming back from Sai Yok on your way to Kanchanaburi. Look our for a yellow sign that says “Tiger Temple”. From here take a dirt track about two kms to the temple car park. If you don’t have your own transport, then tour operators in town will take you there and back for 130 baht.

Arriving at the temple gates we found a small car park and a ticket office. A group of foreign tourists were busy signing pieces of paper which basically said that if you were half eaten by the tigers that you wouldn’t get upset and sue the temple. The ticket seller was keen to emphasize that no-one had ever been harmed by the tigers but they didn’t want to be held responsible as they were, after all, wild animals. We signed the form ourselves and paid, a little grudgingly, the 300 baht donation. My only consolation was that Thai people were paying the same price. We then passed through the front gate and started walking up a dirt track. It was actually a bit like Safari World where you drive through the park with wild animals on either side. But, here we were walking out in the open. We weren’t too sure what to expect or do so just decided to keep walking. We did glance around a few times wondering whether there would be any roaming tigers. I did read that the temple was now finding it hard to pay for the fresh meat for the tigers. Maybe this was there plan to have foreigners donate 300 baht and then to be eaten alive.

A bit further we reached a track which seemed to lead down to a canyon. Another smaller track led higher up to the left of the canyon. There weren’t really any helpful signs about where to go and as we spotted a monk and two lay people on top of the canyon we decided to follow them. But, as soon as we reached the top, the monk was no longer in sight and the path disappeared intoa thick bush. Obviously we had gone the wrong way. Not exactly lost, but no nearer to finding the tigers. Then we heard some shouts and laughter in the canyon below. We carefully moved to the edge and looked down. What we saw was a small trickling waterfall on the far left, a group of tigers in the middle and about a dozen foreign tourists standing behind a line on the far right. The tourists were being led by the hand to different tigers so that they could have their photograph taken. I couldn’t see any monks but just some guys dressed in blue shirts. It reminded me of the construction workers at building sites that are brought in for specific jobs. Our first impression was then, “What a rip-off. We could have done this at a zoo”.

We moved back from the edge before any of the blue-shirted guys spotted us. I was once nearly kicked out of  Disneyland and I had a feeling that I would be told off here too. I have this habit of going places where I shouldn’t be. (In fact, I did later get told off for trying to stand on a rock to get a better view to take a wide angle picture of the tourists and tigers.) Back down in the canyon we approached the group of tourists with some trepidation. Were they really going to charge us more to walk among the tigers? But, no, it wasn’t so. Our 300 baht donation now included as many opportunities as we liked to enter the tiger end of the canyon. What happened, is that you gave one of  the blue shirted guys (they had the words “Tiger Temple Thailand” on the back) your camera and another one would then lead you by the hand to a tiger. This was done in such a way that you were always behind the tiger. They told you where to sit and then, quite expertly, took pictures for you. They even took close-ups of the tigers so that you would get your money’s worth. This was then repeated with two or three different tigers.

It was then that I spotted the monk sitting off to one side. It was Phra Acharn Phusit. Obviously he was keeping an eye on his “children”. Every now and then he would get up and help arrange poses to make better pictures. At one stage, he lifted the head of one tiger to place it in the lap of one of the female tourists. He even posed a few times himself for the cameras. It was actually these kinds of pictures that I really wanted for myself. The image of a monk with a tiger. Seemingly opposite ends of the spectrum but here working together in harmony. I was disappointed that there was only one monk. Maybe the others were now bored of this daily routine of photo sessions for the tourists. At first I was a little annoyed with the blue shirted guys. It looked like that they were trying to commercialise everything by taking the “monk” factor out of the equation. If it wasn’t for the one lone monk and the setting of the canyon, this might as well have been in a zoo. At least in a zoo you would see many other animals and not just tigers. But, I later found out that these guys in blue shirts were volunteer workers.

In conclusion, I now have to say whether I think it is worth for you to visit. To be honest, I am little worried about the direction they are starting to take. What attracted my attention at the start was the idea of these monks taking tigers for walks in the temple grounds. It was unique. Asking for a 100 baht donation at the start was also fair. Then, at some stage, the novelty of having tourists coming to watch these afternoon walks started to wear off. Instead of monks walking the tigers down to the canyon, volunteers took over the task. The admission price, sorry I mean donation, was raised to 300 baht. What will happen next? Will the abbot only attend the photo sessions on some days? Will they start selling postcards, t-shirts and other tacky souvenirs? I hope not, as the place will lose its original charm.

Having said that, after talking to another monk later and reading their web site (www.tigertemple.org) I started to come to the conclusion that their cause is worthy of a donation. These tigers are indeed endangered and if it wasn’t for the sanctuary of the temple they would most likely now be dead. I also could see that it is costly for them to feed these tigers and other animals that roamed the temple grounds. After I left the canyon, I walked up towards the temple where I saw the cages where the tigers lived for the rest of the day and night. Not exactly ideal locations. This is exactly why the admission price was increased to 300 baht. The abbot has a dream of building an artificial island where the tigers could wander freely. I could see that the man has a good heart and I now felt better about my donation.

My only hope is that they don’t commercialize everything too much, that they will let more monks take the tigers for the afternoon walk down to the canyon and that, most importantly, the guys in the blue shirts would have the word “volunteer” printed on the back of their shirts. Yes, I am now suggesting for you to go and visit the tiger temple. Pay your donation happily and have your photo taken with a tiger. At least these tigers have a chance of a better future than the ones in a zoo.

UPDATE: We are now told that the entrance fee is 500 baht which includes basic photos of the tigers. If you want a special photo sitting with the tigers you now have to pay an extra 1,000 baht! Some visitors are also reporting they no longer see the monks with the tigers. (4th November 2008)