Bangkok land tours - do they include the river Kwai ?

My father was a POW in WWII on the Death Railway and having never been to Thailand before want to ensure if I 'cruise' that I can get to visit the cemetery and the bridge. Any Azamara Thailand cruises managed to do this? I know I can do it by land tour but prefer to cruise on Azamara!

Thanks!

Hello Fraj1,

I'll look into this for you, but do give me a few days to reply since it is the weekend ;)

Bonnie

Thank you Bonnie - I met you on the uk tour August!

For what its worth, when we visited Bangkok a few years ago, we hired a women and her cousin for the day and one of the visits was to the Rover Kwai and the Tiger Temple. We were actually picked up on foot at our hotel and walked to the train station since it would have been a nightmare getting out of Bangkok. We then went a few stops on the train and when we got off her cousin with the car was waiting. It took us about 2.5 hours to get to the River Kwai (this was something my husband wanted to do since his father was a POW there) Do bear in mind though that it is a mock up of what it was like and not the actual bridge over the River Kwai but still very emotive and interesting. We then had lunch beside the river and then proceeded to the Tiger Temple. Due to travelling we left our hotel about 9.30 and got back about 5 pm so its a long day but if the ship docks overnight you will be ok.

We are going to Bangkok again on the April 2016 sailing from Singapore and stopping overnight. We wont do the River nor the Tiger Temple again but will find something else to do. We had in mind trying to arrange for a round of golf but think it will be far too hot to play.

My father was a POW in WWII on the Death Railway and having never been to Thailand before want to ensure if I 'cruise' that I can get to visit the cemetery and the bridge. Any Azamara Thailand cruises managed to do this? I know I can do it by land tour but prefer to cruise on Azamara!

 

Thanks!

Hi fraj1

My father too was on the railway and we did a similar trip from here - http://www.bangkok.com/beyond-the-city/riverkwai.html?pid=AWINP70

The visit to the cemetry at Kanchanburi was in fact a hospital near the end of the war where my father spent the last 6 months there. Parts of the track of the train ride are still the original tracks. As Jarronwood says, it is still an motive experience especially considering the climate and the fact they had to work in it as they did. If you ever get to Singapore , the same applies to Changi Jail - very emotional

Adrian

Thank you! My father was in Changi jail too .... I have some planning to do!

My father was a POW in WWII on the Death Railway and having never been to Thailand before want to ensure if I 'cruise' that I can get to visit the cemetery and the bridge. Any Azamara Thailand cruises managed to do this? I know I can do it by land tour but prefer to cruise on Azamara!

 

Thanks!

On a day tour from Bangok it would be possible to visit the JEATH museum, the Hellfire Pass museum, and the main war cemetary in Kanchanaburi. It would be best to do his by private tour. We especially recommend the Hellfire Pass museum - http://hellfire-pass.commemoration.gov.au/remembering-the-railway/hellfire-pass-memorial-museum.php

Re tour to River Kwai: we don't offer a tour to River Kwai in our regular tour program, but our shorex team would be more than happy to put together a customized tour for this party.

If interested, please contact our team at GroupShorex@rccl.com.

We can assist with putting together some wonderful tour options.

We stayed in Bangkok a few years ago and booed a day tour to Kanchaniburi. This included a trip by train across the bridge to see where one of the camps was. We also looked around the museum there about the camps and spent some time in the graveyard there, which was very moving, especially as there was a British Legion tour group there at the time.

I'm sure you could book such a tour online before you go.

Hi we booked a Hotel for a couple of days and hired a local guide, she met us from the port and transferred us to Bangkok. We did a city tour and in the evening a dinner cruise, the Loy Nava, which was very good. Then we did a day trip out to the River Kwai , fascinating!

We hired Wandee of Wandee Tours. her contact is wandee@wandeetours.com, and she was first class, nothing was too much trouble. Prices were fair and all arrangements were top notch

Well worth the effort to visit the River Kwai, Hellfire Pass is unforgettable, a long day but as I said worth the effort, saw things never to be forgotten!