Oct 24, 2008 Fri

It's a little museum with an access to the bank of Kwai River

Cost 600b, kind of expensive. It's 1.5 hour and go to 3 places (Khao Poon Cave, Cemetry and the River Kwai Bridge). It's cheaper if you rent your own motorbike and do it yourself.

Like a classic B-movie, it is so bad that it is good.
You see all kinds of curiosities from World War II relics (which you expect) to Miss Thailand wardrobes (which is completely baffling).

It is the only proper museum in Kanachaburi. It's fair and balanced. It explains the view from both sides. Not only has it described the inhuman treatment of the Allie POWs, it also explained from the point of view of the Japanese.

The POWS in Singapore were moved to the Thailand jungle and were told the condition there would be better. At the very beginning, it was promised as advertised. The POWS were allowed to move freely and they were able to trade freely with the natives. The trains that shipped them there were a bit packed but otherwise everything was fine? until the Japanese guards arrive and rounded them up.

You see, most countries don't put their brightest soldiers into guarding POW camps. So the soldiers guarding Kanachaburi were from the bottom of the barrel. There were hierarchies among the soldiers. The one on top always treated the one on bottom cruelly. And the bottom ranks (i.e. the Korean auxiliary) had to took their frustration on the POWs. That's how the cruelty happened on the first place.

The POWS were divided into different camps and not all the camps were as bad as the other. The survival rate of a camp depends on effectiveness of leadership, water supply, location and type of works.

At the beginning, workload at normal rate, at dry season, not too bad, a couple people died but most survived.

Even during the speedo period, death rate increased a bit but still OK, most POWS survived. But when the wet season came, shit happened....

At the beginning, the treatment of the POWS was not particularly brutal (only individual case). But later on, when pressure mounted on the Japanese officers, brutality multiplied.

Some POWS were killed by the Allied bombs because the Japanese army wouldn't identity where they put the POWS camps.

Goodtime travel
Mini bus from Kanchanaburi to Bangkok Khao San rd.
160b
Every hour from 7:30am to 7:30pm

inside the India Imporium complex (with a big MK restaurant sign)
the staff doesn't speak any English but the menu has enough English and picture

In Bangkok, cost 1500B when booked from the Internet (breakfast not included).