Around Kanchanaburi, Thailand

Kanchanaburi is a very infamous place, due to the fact that the Death Railway made its way through this area of Thailand. During WWII, it was very strategic for the Japanese to have a railway that went from Bangkok to Burma. To get the project done, they enlisted laborers and forced Allied POW's to build to the tracks. They worked long hours under horrible conditions; many were beaten to death, others died from disease and starvation. All in all, over 100,000 men lost theirs lives.

Part of the Death Railway

The bridge on the River Kwai was made famous by a 1957 film of the same name.

Other reasons to visit this area:
Erawan National Park has a hiking trail that takes you to 7 different tiers of beautiful falls. The lower few have good pools for swimming.


One of the main reasons we wanted to come to this area was to visit the Tiger Temple. It is esentially an animal sanctuary on the grounds of a Buddhist Monastery. Many different kinds of animals live here, but there are 17 Indo-Chinese tigers at the temple and they are the main reason to come. Many were brought here as abandoned cubs due to poaching, some were born and raised here. Since the tigers have been hand-raised by humans, they are easily approached and you can have a picture taken with them. The goal in having tourists come and pay money to have this interaction is to raise enough money to build a large, natural habitat sanctuary for these tigers who have nowhere else to go. Once this happens, future generations will be raised without human contact for release back into the wild.

I need to rant here for a moment, if I may. There are many misinformed people out there spreading rumors that these tigers are being drugged (by Buddhist monks, nonetheless) in order to make a buck off the tourists. I had my doubts about going because of this rumor, but I had to know for myself. Yes, the tigers are very calm. Yes, the tigers are sleeping for most of the day. No, they don't move much and hardly ever open their eyes. But, if you know anything about tigers, the fact that they are nocturnal and sleep 20 hours a day (especially in the heat of the day, when the tourists are there) and spend enough time there, more than the time it takes to stand in line and have your picture taken, and then leave, then you know there is no truth to this lie. The tigers have been hand-reared and have had contact with humans every day of their lives; tourists are there interacting with them everyday of their lives. When evening comes, and it is time to walk back to their encosures, they are wide awake and playful, even.. If they were drugged, there is the potential for more danger because of the disorientation they would experience. We spent many hours there, talking with the volunteer staff that comes from all over the world, and asked many questions about the program. These people are genuinely trying to do the right thing for these animals and there is no foul play.

To these ignorant people, I ask: If you truly believe the tigers are drugged, why would you support such a horibble program by coming here just to have your picture taken with a tiger?

To see other pictures from Kanchanaburi and the Tiger Temple, please visit the following link:

Around Kanchanaburi, Thailand