The River Kwai, more correctly Khwae Noi (Thai: แควน้อย, English small tributary) or Khwae Sai Yok (Thai แควไทรโยค), is a river in western Thailand, near the border with Myanmar. It begins at the confluence of Ranti, Songkalia and Bikhli Rivers. At Kanchanaburi it merges with the Mae Klong river, which empties into the Gulf of Thailand at Samut Songkhram.

The river is chiefly known from the Pierre Boulle novel and David Lean film The Bridge on the River Kwai, in which Australian, Dutch and British prisoners of war were forced by the Japanese to construct two parallel bridges spanning the river as part of the Burma Railway, also called the Death Railway for the many lives lost in its construction. One bridge was wooden and temporary. The other was made of concrete and steel and still exists. Ironically, the bridges actually spanned the Mae Klong, but as the railway subsequently follows the Kwae Noi Valley, the bridges became famous under the wrong name. In the 1960s, the upper part of the Mae Klong was renamed the Kwae Yai (big tributary).

Vajiralongkorn Dam (formerly named Khao Laem Dam) is a hydroelectric dam on the river.

Extracted from Wikipedia: Kwai River

Just a few photos .

The river



The bridge




The cemetery .




Joe

Thanks for the pics Joe. Much appreciated.

Piccys

Thanks Ben, nice pics.

Great pics it is hard to imagine what those men endured while building it under the daily threat of torture......

Cheers!!!

Gman

Ben & Joe

Is it worth the trip to have a look?

I think its only about 5 hours from Pattaya I thought of going on my last trip.

I'm glad I made the trip ,
its about half a days ride from Pattaya .

Joe

YES!!!

Book a 2 night, three day tour - cost about 4200 baht per person......including transport, hotel, breakfast, luch, dinner + all activities.

I booked with an agent between soi7/8 but you can e.mail the tour company directly on........riverkwaispecialtravel@yahoo.com

call: 01-1920413

Picking you up at about 5am the first morning, you will enjoy the following activities:

World War 2 Museum
World War 2 Cemetery
Bridge Over River Kwai
Historical Train Ride & Death Railways
Elephant Riding
Bamboo Rafting
Erawan Waterfall & National Park
Kayaking
Floating Market & Long Tail Boat
Woodcraft & Thai Silk Centre (surprising enjoyable)

I have nothing but praise for this particular company. Lots of operators offering this tour but I'd use these guys again.

The settings for lunch and dinner were STUNNING!!!

Every minute of every day held my attention.

You will not regret making the effort. I guarantee it!

Every single activity is simply an awesome experience.

So many memories of these three days but I often recall the moment I stood on the bridge (safe area) watching a train go past full of schoolkids. Anyway, these two boys saw me and leaned out the window. Then motioned they wanted to 'high five' me. lol.............so it was 'high fives' all round, with the boys laughing their heads off!

All other activites, simply fantastic. Value for money 110%

This post has been edited by ben99: Jan 24 2007, 06:25 PM

thanks for the reply guys.

I saw the tour advertised and when I did a bit of reading and found out it was half a days drive away I thought I could either take the tour or hire a car and get one of my GFE BG to come along for the ride and show me the way.
None of them knew.

I think next time in July when I am back for 3 weeks I will definatley do the tour.

This post has been edited by nus01: Jan 24 2007, 07:00 PM

its not really surprising - Thai history teaching (usually) makes no mention of the alliance with the Japanese as it is something they would rather forget. It ws after-all a rather "forced" alliance created by the then leader to avoid a full scale occupation by Japan.

Oddly enough, they DO make a great deal of fuss over the USAF bombing of Bangkok which claimed several thousand lives over 3 nights.

Finally, YES - do try and make the trip. Its a bit like going to the Concentration camps if you are in Germany - eerie and unpleasant but an absolute "must see". When I say unpleasant I mean the "feeling" - the place itself is breathtaking.

Going to take a look this time around... also hope to play a couple of rounds of golf in that vicinity.