Explore The central plains
The parallel valleys of the Kwai Noi and the Kwai Yai, northwest of Kanchanaburi, are stacked full of great day-tripping opportunities, from the exceptionally beautiful Erawan Falls to the drama of a ride on the Death Railway and the pathos of the World War II museum at Hellfire Pass. There are Stone Age artefacts at the Ban Kao Museum, twelfth-century Khmer temple ruins at Prasat Muang Singh, the (controversial) opportunity to get up close to a tiger at the Tiger Sanctuary Temple and several good caves, including at Tham Than Lot National Park and the riverside Tham Lawa.
Many of these attractions are served by public transport, the train being an obvious option along the Kwai Noi valley as far as its Nam Tok terminus, with buses useful along both valleys. But train schedules are unreliable and bus connections can be time-consuming so many people either opt instead to join one of the many mix-and-match tours offered by Kanchanaburi agents or rent their own wheels for a day. Distances are not large, and there’s a handy connecting road between the two valleys just south of Nam Tok.
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Erawan Waterfall
Erawan Waterfall
Considered by many to be the most beautiful falls in Thailand, Erawan Waterfall is the star attraction of Erawan National Park. It’s a great day out – so popular, in fact, that you can get a commemorative photo of yourself at the falls printed on a plate – and combines well with a ride on the Death Railway.
The falls really are astonishingly lovely: the clear glacial-blue waters gush through the forest, dropping in a series of seven tiers along a route of around 2km. At each tier, cascades feed a pool shaded by bamboo, rattan and liana, and the whole course can be walked, along a riverside trail that gets increasingly tricky the further up you go. The distance between tiers, and the ascent to each, is clearly spelled out on signs in the park. It’s just 720m from the visitor centre to level one, and then fairly easy going on and up to the dramatically stepped fifth stage (1800m). The route on to the sixth and seventh levels is steep and slippery and features some dilapidated bridges and ladders: wear appropriate shoes and avoid doing the last bit alone, if you can; it’s about a ninety-minute hike from bottom to top. The best pools for swimming are level two (which gets the most crowded) and level seven, which is a hard slog but rarely busy, and also boasts stunning views over the jungle. The seventh tier is topped by a triple cascade and is the one that gave the falls their name: Erawan is the three-headed god of Hindu mythology.
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Riding the Death Railway
Riding the Death Railway
The two-hour journey along the notorious Thailand–Burma Death Railway from Kanchanaburi to Nam Tok is one of Thailand’s most scenic and most popular train rides. Though the views are lovely, it’s the history that makes the ride so special, so it’s worth visiting the Thailand–Burma Railway Centre in Kanchanaburi before making the trip, as this provides a context for the enormous loss of human life and the extraordinary feat of engineering behind the line’s construction (see Thailand–Burma Railway Centre). Alternatively, take the bus straight up to the Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum, just north of the line’s current Nam Tok terminus, which provides an equally illuminating introduction to the railway’s history, then return to Kanchanaburi by train. A good tip, to get the best views, is to make sure you sit (or stand) on the right-hand side of the train on the journey back to Kanchanaburi, and on the left-hand side when travelling towards Nam Tok.
Leaving Kanchanaburi via the Bridge over the River Kwai, the train chugs through the Kwai Noi valley, stopping frequently at country stations decked with frangipani and jasmine. The first stop of note is Tha Kilen (1hr 15min), where you can alight for Prasat Muang Singh. About twenty minutes later the most hair-raising section of track begins: at Wang Sing, also known as Arrow Hill, the train squeezes through 30m-deep solid rock cuttings, dug at the cost of numerous POW lives; 6km further, it slows to a crawl at the approach to the Wang Po viaduct, where a 300m-long trestle bridge clings to the cliff face as it curves with the Kwai Noi – almost every man who worked on this part of the railway died. The station at the northern end of the trestle bridge is called Tham Krasae, after the cave that’s hollowed out of the rock face beside the bridge; you can see the cave’s resident Buddha image from the train. North of Tham Krasae, the train pulls in at Wang Po Station before continuing alongside a particularly lovely stretch of the Kwai Noi, its banks thick with jungle and not a raft house in sight, the whole vista framed by distant tree-clad peaks. Thirty minutes later, the train reaches Nam Tok, a small town that thrives chiefly on its position at the end of the line.
Three trains operate daily along the Death Railway in both directions, but they often run very late. At the time of writing, they’re scheduled to leave Kanchanaburi at 6.07am, 10.35am and 4.26pm and to return from Nam Tok at 5.20am, 12.55pm and 3.30pm; Kanchanaburi TAT keeps up-to-date timetables. If you’re up at the Bridge, you can join the train five minutes later.
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Boat trips from Nam Tok
Boat trips from Nam Tok
You can rent a longtail boat (plus driver) from the restaurant beside Nam Tok’s Pak Saeng pier for the forty-minute boat ride upstream to Tham Lawa and its nearby riverside accommodation. To reach the pier from the Highway 323 T-junction, cross the road, turn southeast towards Kanchanaburi, then take the first road on your right; it’s 2km from here to the river. The return journey to the cave takes roughly two hours, including half an hour there, and costs B1000 for the eight-seater boat; for B2000 you can continue to Sai Yok Yai Falls, a six-hour return trip.
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Day-trips, rafting and trekking around Kanchanaburi
Day-trips, rafting and trekking around Kanchanaburi
All the places listed below advertise day- and overnight trips around the Kanchanaburi and Sangkhlaburi areas, including infinite permutations of rafting, elephant-riding, Erawan Falls, Hellfire Pass and the Death Railway, sometimes with a short trek thrown in. Prices listed are per person, usually for a minimum of four. They all also do tailor-made guided tours to the war sights (often by boat or raft) and to Damnoen Saduak floating markets, and will also provide a cheap transport service – car plus driver but no guide – for the more accessible attractions. If you’re given the opportunity to visit Kanchanaburi’s “Monkey School” as part of your tour, you’re strongly advised to turn it down. The monkeys here are said to have been rescued from abusive owners, but now they spend their days chained up by the neck until they are coerced into performing circus tricks like shooting hoops and riding children’s bicycles.
Good Times
Travel 63/1 Thanon Maenam Kwai t034 624441, wgood-times-travel.com. Energetically run, with competitively priced day-trips (B900–1550/person) and longer treks that get good reviews. Especially popular for its two-day trip to a Karen area near Hin Dat hot springs, which includes four hours’ trekking each day (B3450/person, based on two sharing). Also offers cycle tours around Thong Pha Phum and Sangkhlaburi and can arrange for joint cycle tours to Ayutthaya.
KTC Travel
99–101 Thanon Maenam Kwai t086 396 7349 or t087 153 4147, wtourkanchanaburi.com. Offers a twice-daily trip out to bathe elephants in the river (B650) as well as short bamboo rafting trips (B350). Longer full-day trips are also available (B750–1090) and for your fee you’re promised lunch, fruit, drinking water and an English-speaking guide.
Safarine
To the west of town at 120/5 Moo 4, Tambon Nongbua t086 049 1662, wsafarine.com. French-run kayaking specialist offering short, full-day and overnight kayaking trips in the Kanchanaburi area for B300–2850.
