Kanchanaburi

Kanchanaburi reviews

Backchat from the Travelfish community

• Great town but don't miss the hinterland

  Kanchanaburi is the Bridge on the River Kwai town. It and the surrounding district contains some of the most interesting tourist attractions close to Bangkok
  The town is a typical bustling Thai provincial capital about 2 hours by bus or train out of Bangkok. It is also a major tourist destination on account of:
  - The Bridge on the River Kwai and associated wartime stuff like the war cemeteries and museums
  - Some neat accommodation on rafthouses and stilts right over the river which initially attracted backpackers and weekending Thais. Now accommodation of all standards can be found all over town.
  - A lively expat community which sees many bars and the inevitable bar-girl trade which in turn attracts a fair amount of sex-tourists. BTW this is no reason to avoid the town - the bar girl activity is not in your face like some other locations.
  - A fabulous hinterland making Kanchanaburi the perfect base for daytrips and overnighters up-country.
  
  I thought town accommodation costs, meals and booze were considerably less expensive than the typical island prices I'm used to paying.
  The biggest change since my previous 1998 visit was the increase in midrange visitors - it was more a haven for backpackers and holidaying/weekending Thais back then. The daytrip industry out of Bangkok (too far for a daytrip IMHO) has also grown greatly.
  
  The hinterland offers an array of attractions - hot springs, waterfalls, rafting, temples, the Death Railway, war cemeteries, elephants, tigers, caves, ethnic villages etc. One of the best ways to see some is to take one of the packages which combines 4 or 5 activities into a full day with transport by van and often for part of the trip by train - often throwing in a trip on the river by raft, longtail or even a fast 2km drift downstream in a life-jacket detailed to me by one enthusiastic middle-aged Aussie lady.
  I’m not big on animal attractions so I reckon a good combo would take in fabulous Erawan Falls, rafting, a trip on the Death Railway and a stop off at the bridge over the River Kwai. Aussies and war buffs would add Hellfire Pass.
  The Hinterland also offers dozens of good places to stay. I split my accommodation between the town and a lower-midrange raft house on the river about 50km up the Kwai Noi - the latter was the most enjoyable stay of a 9 resort visit to Thailand.
  All price ranges are covered in the hinterland - you can even camp in National Park areas at Erawan and Sai Yok Yai waterfalls.
  

  • Sights & activities
  • History & culture
  • Scenery & environment
  • Eat & drink
  • Traveller's scene
  • Romance
  • Value for money
  • I'll be back (or not)

  By tezza (dabbler)
  Written on 21st March, 2012 after a visit to Kanchanaburi in March, 2012

  Also reviewed by tezza: Ao Phang Nga National Marine Park, Coral and Raya Islands, Haad Nopphara Thara, Haad Sai Khao, Khao Lak, Ko Bulon Lae, Ko Kho Khao, Ko Kut, Ko Lipe, Ko Maak,

• A few days in kanchanaburi

  Having emailed Sam direct at Sam's House to book a room I arrived from BKK via air con minibus (cost 110B) and arrived at the bus station. As ever, was accosted by the cycle tuk tuks. It cost me another 60B and a polite visit to 2 more guest housed before arriving at Sam's House. Sam was there and is a very pleasant man with good English. I was in one of the bungalows with air con and my own shower / toilet room. For 400B I thought this was reasonable. There are no bar or cafe facilities at this guest house - but that's ok as there are plenty on the strip. The town is spread out which makes for good exploring or moped hire. The bridge is a good 30 minute walk, but once there well worth it. There are market stalls and food stalls aplenty. I booked a 1 day tour for 1,090B. I was picked up to 8 oclock from my guest house at had half an hour elephant rude, a half an hour bamboo river raft, a trip to the Erawan National Park to have a wander round the waterfalls. Lunch was thrown in and then it was off to the death railway for a walk along the line and then a train ride along the tracks and then a trip to the bridge. All in all a very worthwhile tour which was informative, interesting and not rushed. The Thailand - Burma Railway museum really is worth a visit. I can see why people would want to stay more than the 3 nights I had booked for. In fact, I nearly did ! Well worth a few days recharging batteries and exploring.

  • Sights & activities
  • History & culture
  • Scenery & environment
  • Eat & drink
  • Traveller's scene
  • Romance
  • Value for money
  • I'll be back (or not)

  By Prettyfish16 (dabbler)
  Written on 5th June, 2011 after a visit to Kanchanaburi in May, 2011

  Also reviewed by Prettyfish16: Hoi An, Kampot,

• A really fun, action-packed destination

  We liked Kanchanaburi a lot and while we only had three nights there, could have easily spent three weeks there.
  
  Why? Because it has something for just about anybody. There are national parks, river trips, temples and stacks of great guesthouses to choose from. There are cooking schools, elephant rides, floating discos (they call them disco ducks) and even a floating nun.
  
  But, despite all these things to do, Kanchanaburi is also just a great spot to chill out and do nothing -- not that we had time to do that as we were busy doing all the above.
  
  Another great thing about Kanchanaburi is that if you're looking to meet other travellers, perhaps with a view to finding some travel companions, this is a good spot. There's a real social vibe and with so many tours (short one-day tours, not package tours) going, even if you're not bar hopping you're bound to meet others - we did.
  
  As you can see from Kanchanaburi guesthouse listings on Travelfish, there's a heap of places to stay at. We stayed the first night at Jolly Frog which, while ok, is an absolute backpacker factory, then we moved to Blue Star for the other two nights, which was a far better choice. It was still full of backpackers, but the staff were far friendlier (not that that would be hard when compared to Jolly Frog).
  
  We did two tours, one to Erawan National Park and the other to Hellfire Pass. The Hellfire Pass one was absolutely fantastic. The museum is a fabulous and really moving tribute to what happened there and if there was just one museum to see in Thailand, this should be it.
  
  Erawan was a bit more circus like. It was during the weekend when we went so I think about half the student population of Bangkok was there, and, not joking here, I saw people doing their laundry in one of the lower falls! Further up it is better and, being about 700 degrees, the water was very refreshing. I'd say overall the waterfall is worth visiting, just don't expect a deserted jungle waterfall. We heard from others that the waterfalls up near Sangkhlaburi are better and far less crowded.
  
  Back in Kanchanaburi, we swam in the river every day. There are a lot of reeds and stuff in the river, which didn't bother me, but there are also these very long thin needle fish -- which did bother me! I don't know if they are dangerous, but they freaked me out!
  
  Last thing we did was the cooking course at Apple's. While there are a bunch of cooking classes, this is the best. It was a fun, not too serious time and we got to eat what we cooked. I don't remember the cost, but it wasn't too much. They also have bungalows, but I think it is far better to stay on the river.
  
  One last thing, we went here on a bit of a spur of the moment, but would definitely return, so if you're looking for something that is just a couple of hours out of Bangkok, but not an island or beach destination like Ko Samet, I'd say this should be your first choice.
  
  Have fun!

  • Sights & activities
  • History & culture
  • Scenery & environment
  • Eat & drink
  • Traveller's scene
  • Romance
  • Value for money
  • I'll be back (or not)

  By beachgirl (dabbler)
  Written on 18th May, 2009 after a visit to Kanchanaburi in February, 2008

  Also reviewed by beachgirl: Ayutthaya, Phu Quoc Island, Sukhothai,

Have your say

• You need to be logged in to add a review.

  Username: Password:

  Not a member? you can join here.

  Review title

  Snappiness encouraged ;-)

  When did you visit here?

  January February March April May June July August September October November December 2013201220112010200920082007200620052004200320022001200019991998199719961995199419931992199119901989198819871986
  

  This gives your review a bit of context - especially if you were last in Chiang Mai in 1932.

  Your review

  (Remotely sensible, non-ranting comments are much appreciated. If you don't like somewhere, please explain why -- it's all far more helpful for others that way.) Serial ranters, loons and spammers will be banished!
  And please, no self-promotional URLs -- that's what your signature field is for.

  So how does it rate?

  On a scale of one to ten (with 10 being outstanding and 1 being bloody awful) how would you rate here under the following criteria?

  Note: Ratings are OUT OF TEN -- not five!

  • Sights & activities: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • History & culture: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Scenery & environment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Eat & drink: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

  • Traveller scene: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Romance 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Value for money: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • I'll be back (or not): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

  Please note comments are edited for clarity, typos and style before they appear. Ranting tirades, spam and anything else that really belongs somewhere else won't make the cut. If you want to rant, go to Thorntree.

  Please login and refresh this screen before writing your review -- thanks!