Kanchanaburi
Jan 24th 2013, 9:49 am
#1
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Kanchanaburi
Hello people,
Just wondering aloud here if any of you live in or have visited Kanchanaburi?
My Grandfather's brother was a Japanese POW and is buried in the war cemetary there. I've seen a few photos of the cemetary online and it looks beautifully tended and looked after.
Just wondering aloud here if any of you live in or have visited Kanchanaburi?
My Grandfather's brother was a Japanese POW and is buried in the war cemetary there. I've seen a few photos of the cemetary online and it looks beautifully tended and looked after.
Jan 24th 2013, 4:00 pm
#2
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 129
Re: Kanchanaburi
Why not come to have look at it yourself? It is gorgeous and peaceful. Also do the simulated Japanese camp near by and the Bridge on the River Kwai plus some tourist attractions. Remember to bring with you a piece of face tissue for your tears. No one really won the war, but all lost with deep pain.
Jan 25th 2013, 8:49 am
#3
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Joined: Dec 2012
Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand
Posts: 103
Re: Kanchanaburi
Yep been there a few times (quite a long time ago though). The railway is still there, the bridge was rebuilt after the war (the British blew it up during the war) but a little further up the river (so it didn't sink like the first one would have).
The graveyard is beautiful, next door is the Thai graveyard for all the Thai workers that died on the railway (bare in mind that Thailand was officially on the Japanese side!) - there are many more Thai graves.
The railway doesn't go anywhere really any more, I think - you can get a train over the bridge and up to the next station and back (again I believe - didn't do this). Personally I joined the multitudes walking across the bridge instead. You can also take a small boat up river (and under the bridge) and then you can also see some of the other sights near by (temples mostly).
They used to have a display of photos from the Japanese occupation too.
In Chiang Mai there is a museum (sort of - its basically a shack out back in some guy's plot) where there are literally thousands of early photos of Thailand - many from very early on camera-wise (turn of the 20th century) - but looks like a hundred years before! - and a whole section from the war. Some a quite disturbing - like Japanese beheading competitions (two guys with samurai swords run up a line of prisoners beheading them as they go - as a race), and naked headless people - but these are few and far between and can be avoided easily.
One thing that always interest me here is what we call locally "the farang cemetry". Its on the edge of town, (opposite the electrical company head office - and just past the Gymkana Club). It is quite small, can be waqlked around and all stones read in under an hour easily. But inb the little graveyard of maybe 60 people or so, there is a massive obundance of medal winners - purple hearts, distinquished crosses, VCs and so on - the earliest is a Christian priest in the 1880s (if I remember) that settled here and set up clinics and schools - really well liked by the locals it seems - I think his wife is buried there too. There is also a statue (maybe ten feet tall or so) of Queen Victoria - it was given to "the people of Chiang Mai and Northern Siam" by "Her Royal Majesty Queen Victoria"....etc - there is a plaque on it. It was a real head turn when I first saw it several years ago. No other statue of a head of state other than Siamese/Lanna seems to exist here at all. They have a visitor book to sign - just to say how good it is
but helps the little old lady that lives there in a tiny little house and tend it - you can also buy a booklet about its history and residents (some real characters and history buried there!)
The graveyard is beautiful, next door is the Thai graveyard for all the Thai workers that died on the railway (bare in mind that Thailand was officially on the Japanese side!) - there are many more Thai graves.
The railway doesn't go anywhere really any more, I think - you can get a train over the bridge and up to the next station and back (again I believe - didn't do this). Personally I joined the multitudes walking across the bridge instead. You can also take a small boat up river (and under the bridge) and then you can also see some of the other sights near by (temples mostly).
They used to have a display of photos from the Japanese occupation too.
In Chiang Mai there is a museum (sort of - its basically a shack out back in some guy's plot) where there are literally thousands of early photos of Thailand - many from very early on camera-wise (turn of the 20th century) - but looks like a hundred years before! - and a whole section from the war. Some a quite disturbing - like Japanese beheading competitions (two guys with samurai swords run up a line of prisoners beheading them as they go - as a race), and naked headless people - but these are few and far between and can be avoided easily.
One thing that always interest me here is what we call locally "the farang cemetry". Its on the edge of town, (opposite the electrical company head office - and just past the Gymkana Club). It is quite small, can be waqlked around and all stones read in under an hour easily. But inb the little graveyard of maybe 60 people or so, there is a massive obundance of medal winners - purple hearts, distinquished crosses, VCs and so on - the earliest is a Christian priest in the 1880s (if I remember) that settled here and set up clinics and schools - really well liked by the locals it seems - I think his wife is buried there too. There is also a statue (maybe ten feet tall or so) of Queen Victoria - it was given to "the people of Chiang Mai and Northern Siam" by "Her Royal Majesty Queen Victoria"....etc - there is a plaque on it. It was a real head turn when I first saw it several years ago. No other statue of a head of state other than Siamese/Lanna seems to exist here at all. They have a visitor book to sign - just to say how good it is
but helps the little old lady that lives there in a tiny little house and tend it - you can also buy a booklet about its history and residents (some real characters and history buried there!)
Jan 26th 2013, 4:33 am
#4
Joined: Feb 2010
Location: Buraydah , Saudi Arabia
Posts: 2,863
Re: Kanchanaburi
There are also some good routes up into the mountains if you're interested . Very beautiful out towards the Burmese border .
Nice enough town , go early to the bridge when you go because it gets very busy there . Loads of options for resorts by the river.
Nice enough town , go early to the bridge when you go because it gets very busy there . Loads of options for resorts by the river.
Jan 26th 2013, 10:16 pm
#5
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Joined: Apr 2008
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Re: Kanchanaburi
Yep been there a few times (quite a long time ago though). The railway is still there, the bridge was rebuilt after the war (the British blew it up during the war) but a little further up the river (so it didn't sink like the first one would have).
The graveyard is beautiful, next door is the Thai graveyard for all the Thai workers that died on the railway (bare in mind that Thailand was officially on the Japanese side!) - there are many more Thai graves.
The railway doesn't go anywhere really any more, I think - you can get a train over the bridge and up to the next station and back (again I believe - didn't do this). Personally I joined the multitudes walking across the bridge instead. You can also take a small boat up river (and under the bridge) and then you can also see some of the other sights near by (temples mostly).
They used to have a display of photos from the Japanese occupation too.
In Chiang Mai there is a museum (sort of - its basically a shack out back in some guy's plot) where there are literally thousands of early photos of Thailand - many from very early on camera-wise (turn of the 20th century) - but looks like a hundred years before! - and a whole section from the war. Some a quite disturbing - like Japanese beheading competitions (two guys with samurai swords run up a line of prisoners beheading them as they go - as a race), and naked headless people - but these are few and far between and can be avoided easily.
One thing that always interest me here is what we call locally "the farang cemetry". Its on the edge of town, (opposite the electrical company head office - and just past the Gymkana Club). It is quite small, can be waqlked around and all stones read in under an hour easily. But inb the little graveyard of maybe 60 people or so, there is a massive obundance of medal winners - purple hearts, distinquished crosses, VCs and so on - the earliest is a Christian priest in the 1880s (if I remember) that settled here and set up clinics and schools - really well liked by the locals it seems - I think his wife is buried there too. There is also a statue (maybe ten feet tall or so) of Queen Victoria - it was given to "the people of Chiang Mai and Northern Siam" by "Her Royal Majesty Queen Victoria"....etc - there is a plaque on it. It was a real head turn when I first saw it several years ago. No other statue of a head of state other than Siamese/Lanna seems to exist here at all. They have a visitor book to sign - just to say how good it is but helps the little old lady that lives there in a tiny little house and tend it - you can also buy a booklet about its history and residents (some real characters and history buried there!)
The graveyard is beautiful, next door is the Thai graveyard for all the Thai workers that died on the railway (bare in mind that Thailand was officially on the Japanese side!) - there are many more Thai graves.
The railway doesn't go anywhere really any more, I think - you can get a train over the bridge and up to the next station and back (again I believe - didn't do this). Personally I joined the multitudes walking across the bridge instead. You can also take a small boat up river (and under the bridge) and then you can also see some of the other sights near by (temples mostly).
They used to have a display of photos from the Japanese occupation too.
In Chiang Mai there is a museum (sort of - its basically a shack out back in some guy's plot) where there are literally thousands of early photos of Thailand - many from very early on camera-wise (turn of the 20th century) - but looks like a hundred years before! - and a whole section from the war. Some a quite disturbing - like Japanese beheading competitions (two guys with samurai swords run up a line of prisoners beheading them as they go - as a race), and naked headless people - but these are few and far between and can be avoided easily.
One thing that always interest me here is what we call locally "the farang cemetry". Its on the edge of town, (opposite the electrical company head office - and just past the Gymkana Club). It is quite small, can be waqlked around and all stones read in under an hour easily. But inb the little graveyard of maybe 60 people or so, there is a massive obundance of medal winners - purple hearts, distinquished crosses, VCs and so on - the earliest is a Christian priest in the 1880s (if I remember) that settled here and set up clinics and schools - really well liked by the locals it seems - I think his wife is buried there too. There is also a statue (maybe ten feet tall or so) of Queen Victoria - it was given to "the people of Chiang Mai and Northern Siam" by "Her Royal Majesty Queen Victoria"....etc - there is a plaque on it. It was a real head turn when I first saw it several years ago. No other statue of a head of state other than Siamese/Lanna seems to exist here at all. They have a visitor book to sign - just to say how good it is
but helps the little old lady that lives there in a tiny little house and tend it - you can also buy a booklet about its history and residents (some real characters and history buried there!)WOW! Not a single website could have given me so much information. Thanks you guys.
It means a lot xxx
