Kanchanaburi History, Thailand

Archaeology found in Kanchanaburi dates back to the 4th century which proves of trade with surrounding countries even in that time. Very little is also historically known about the actual Khmer influence in Kanchanaburi but there is evidence of their occupation with Prasat Muang Singh – one of the country's most well-known Khmer sites.

Not much was historically recorded about Kanchanaburi province before the reign of King Rama I, but some historians believe that the province played much strategical importance during the Ayutthaya period. In 1982 the Fine Arts Department found many human and elephant skeletons and swords in Phanom Thuan District. Thus, this site might even have been the location of the famous battle of King Naresuan against the Burmese crown-prince, most commonly assigned to the Don Chedi district in Suphanburi province nearby.

With the rise of the Chakri Dynasty and General Chakri (who would later become King Rama I) Kanchanaburi certainly played a distinctive strategical point as defense against the invading Burmese.

For foreigners however, it is only Kanchanaburi's recent history which really stands out with the name ‘The Death Railway'. During the Japanese occupation of Thailand in 1942 POWs both allies and Asian laborers were ordered by the Japanese to build a Thailand-Burma railway. Eventually, an unprecedented more than 100,000 POWs (16,000 allies and 90,000 local Asian laborers) died from horrific working conditions.

Whilst Asia remained largely unaffected during World War I, the rise of the Japanese empire during the 1940's plunged Thailand into a period of history for which Kanchanaburi was to play the central role.

Having effectively occupied the Malay Peninsula, the Japanese Imperial Army started construction of the infamous Thai-Burma "Death Railway", which was needed to help carry supplies to Japanese soldiers in Burma.

The project was started in Ban Pong in neighbouring Ratchaburi Province, branching off from the existing railway tracks and heading through Kanchanaburi into Burma via Three Pagodas Pass.

However, the major stumbling block was to be how to cross over the River Kwai, hence the decision to create the now famous bridge. Over 100,000 POW's would ultimately lose their lives building the railway, forced to work under horrific conditions with many of them buried where they fell!

There are monuments, museums and cemeteries all around the region comemorating the events of 1942-1943 and the "Death Railway" has become the iconic legacy of Kanchanaburi.

Even Hollywood has got in on the act, with a couple of high profile films telling the story. The highly inaccurate portrayal by Alec Guinness and his chums in "The Bridge on the River Kwai" as well as the more recent "To End All Wars" which tells the story of a young POW forced to work along the railway. The latter is far nearer the truth!