Kanchanaburi
 

We are planning a trip to Thailand in March. I have learned so much from reading the forums here!

We will be going to Bangkok and Phuket.

We would like to take a trip to Kanchanaburi, specifically to see the things related to the bridge over the River Kwai and the railway. We would also like to go to the Tiger Temple.

We had looked at the two day tour here http://www.hellfirepass.com/tours_hellfirepass.html

We travel a good amount and usually aren't tour people, but this seemed like it went everywhere we wanted to go. Anyone know anything about the tour? Would we be better off to do this on our own? Any other tours that are better?

Thanks for the help!

Lisa

I don't think you need to visit these places on a pre-arranged tour. I was just in Kanchanaburi a couple of months ago for 4 nights.

Are you comfortable on a motorbike? That is a great way to visit everything you want to see and you can rent a bike for about $4.50 per day.

The Tiger Temple is really spectacular.

If you would like to see my K-buri photos you can view them at www.windjammer.smugmug.com Go to the end of the 2006 Thailand album and you will find my photos.

I loved this area!

Cheers!

Euro is talking about renting a motorbike once you are there, not taking one from Bangkok.

Lots of tour agencies can set up a tour for you. You can also opt to hire a car and driver and do it on your own. It really depends on your preferences.

Thanks for clarifying Kathie. Renting a motorbike in Bangkok would be far too exciting/dangerous, even for me, the adrenaline junkie!

We were just there in Nov. 2005. Those prices look pretty expensive to me. You can take a bus from the Southern bus station in BKK for about $5 USD. Once in K'buri, local tour operators offer a full day tour, covering everything you want to see for around $18/pp/day. Bus back to BKK.

i think i would take a day trip from bkk with one of the guides often spoken about here: cherry, tong or ratt or any of their assistants...

we did this two years ago....it was about a 13 hour day and cost about $100 plus lunch....it would cost a bit more now because of gas etc and would depend on the inclusions each guide would offer...

we saw: floating market, kantchburi, khmer ruin, monkeys, burma border, historic museum, bridge, museum, railway, etc...its a long day but quite nice...

by going for one day you could do it in the middle of your bkk stay and still keep your hotel room and not have to move all your stuff...

Yowza! I just took a look at the prices of the two day tour and I choked on my beer! ((B))

K-buri is very inexpensive compared to much of Thailand. You can get a decent double room with bath and air con on the river for $15 a night. Spend $50 and you will even have a pool and other luxuries although you won't find grand hotels like the ones in Bangkok.

Meals are also very inexpensive. Most of the meals I ate ranged from 30-100 baht per entree, beers run about 60 baht each.

The 1st class bus from
Bangkok to K-buri is very comfortable and an interesting ride. On the way there and back the bus was nearly empty and it was during the River Kwai festival. I think it is busier on Fridays and Sundays because many Thai's go there for a weekend get-a-way.

People are very friendly in town. I met wonderful people and had many interesting conversations with mostly locals. There weren't a lot of other tourists around.

I would recommend you do it on your own unless you have money to burn.

Thanks to everyone for their advice. The tour did seem a little pricey. I think we will take the bus out and then hire a driver on the way back so we can stop at the Tiger Temple on the return trip. I know that we could probably do it as a day trip, but we want to make sure that we have time to fully enjoy everything. We are planning on going at a spot in our itinerary where we are changing hotels anyway.

Having never been to Thailand before, it is fairly easy to find a driver there? Or should we try to make some arrangements before we leave?

Wuro has given you all the info you need, I would add a couple of points, just to get a price perspective even using a large major tour company day tours to kanchanaburi incluidng the sights range from the USD 60-72 range per person, top end of that for a private trip, so that can help put into perspective the other rates.

Another idea, instead of doing a rush day trip, but at the same time making the most of your time, what about heading to Kanchanabui the early evening before ?
So instead of spending the night in your Bangkok hotel take a taxi to Kanchanaburi and spend the night there, you will be 'on the spot' in the morning, you can breakfast and if needed check out and leave your baggage there, tour around and then go back there at the end of the day to pick up your baggage and taxi back to Bangkok, the hotel would sort you a taxi.
That means instead of getting up pre dawn in Bangkok to make the most of the day you would already be there, 3-star easy is the Felix about USD 47 - 62 ( upper price river view ) with breakfast.
That I think is a good option instead of sleeping in bangkok and the rushing in the early morning traffic to River kwai.

That of course should be 'Euro'.

I agree that you would be better off going on your own.

We went on a day trip one Sunday from the main Railway station Hua Lamphong.
We booked our tickets in advance as this is also a popular day trip for Thai people. It was a very early start.
The train is slow but you see some wonderful countryside. This way you also get to meet the locals. The whole trip was incredibly inexpensive. As you seem to be seasoned travellers, you might prefer to do it this way or, as has been suggested, spend a couple of days there.

When we got to Kanchanaburi we booked a trip down the river on a large square raft ( steered by a kamikaze Thai, who if he hit anything, got a hammer out and straightened out the damage).This trip included a visit to the Jeath war museum, the World War II cemetery, the lime stone caves and a shopping stop for some local delicacies—biscuits. Too our surprise it also included lunch on the raft. I think that we might have been on one of the excursions organised by the State railway of Thailand, but we paid for our rail tickets and tours separately (entrance tickets to the museums etc. were extra).We were the only Europeans on the tour which was great.

Of course, the primary reason for going was to see the famous Bridge on the River Kwai.

I have found a good review, with pictures, of all the possibilities for your trip. It is written by an ex pat living in Thailand.I would have loved to see the "Floating Nun" and the waterfalls.

A Trip to Kanchanaburi by Richard Barrow

http://www.thai-blogs.com/index.php?...;tb=1&pb=1

Best wishes,

Gill.

The 2nd Class train from Hualamphong is only available on the weekends. The daily 3rd Class Train to Kanchanaburi leaves from Thonburi/Noi station.

Train 257
Departs 7:45
Arrives 10:24

Train 259
Departs 13:35
Arrives 16:19

I am so glad you have decided against this tour. We did a tour with same company and it turned into The Tour From Hell - you can read about it on my pages below under Bangkok - Things To Do - The Tour From Hell.
www.cathyandgarystravelpages.com

You are far better doing it on your own.
Cathy

CathyP: Looks like Tour From Hell is using multiple urls :-)

Check phone numbers on those 2

http://www.tigertemplethailand.com/
http://www.hellfirepass.com/tours_hellfirepass.html

Thx for the warning!!!

The weekend train trip mentioned above is a great inexpensive way to see some of the sites of Kanchanaburi and at the same time have an opportunity to really mingle with Thai people. Most visitors do not know about this since it not mentioned in most travel books and is not that well advertised. It will cost you 100 baht for a fan or 200 baht for an air conditioned seat in a 3rd class coach with wooden or plastic seats. And what do you get for this ridiculous low price - a stop on the way at Nakorn Pathom to see the Chedi and the large Buddha image, stops at the war cemetery and the bridge itself, travel past the original death valley railway tracks on to Nam Tok station where you will have lunch (included in the price) and then a walk to Sai Yok Noi waterfalls. After a couple of hours of relaxation you will re-board the train and head back to Bangkok. Also included are drinks on the train and a thai speaking guide. Don't worry, the guide will try her best to explain things in english (even if there are only a few westerners) and make sure you are not left behind. In all probability some of the friendly thai people will want to practice their english with you and will gladly help you along the way. The train leaves from the main Bangkok station at 6.30am and arrives back at around 8-9pm. This is a very popular tour with Thais and tickets are sold out fast so must be purchased well in advance. For the price, there is no other tour that can match this. Check this site for details and more trips. http://www.railway.co.th/English/Travel.asp

We did this as a daytrip from Bangkok. Long day but well worth it. Can't remember who we booked it with. We went to the Jeath War Museum and to the war cemetary( both really moving- I defy anyone to not have a tear in your eye when reading the inscriptions on the graves). We then went on to the bridge and walked across it( bit scarey for my liking!) and finally a trip on the train through breathtaking country and a stop for lunch.

Don`t miss Hellfire pass, also very moving.