West Thailand

Western Thailand is defined by its dramatic geography — the Tenasserim Hills and Dawna Range rising to over 2,000 m, forming the natural border with Myanmar, and channelling the rivers and jungles of one of mainland Southeast Asia's most biodiverse corridors. The region is compact in tourism terms, centred overwhelmingly on Kanchanaburi province, but punches far above its weight in historical significance and natural beauty.

Kanchanaburi is inextricable from the history of the Second World War. Between 1943 and 1945, the Imperial Japanese Army used Allied POWs and Asian labourers — roughly 100,000 workers, of whom an estimated 16,000 POWs and 90,000 Asian labourers died — to build the 415-kilometre Burma-Thailand Railway (the Death Railway) through jungle and mountain. The famous iron bridge over the Kwai Yai River, now repaired and walkable, is an extraordinarily moving site. The JEATH War Museum and the impeccably maintained Kanchanaburi War Cemetery honour the dead and explain the history with considerable depth and care.

Beyond its wartime legacy, Kanchanaburi surprises visitors with its natural credentials. Erawan National Park, 65 km north of town, contains a seven-tiered emerald waterfall system of almost surreal beauty — the upper pools are swimmable and genuinely pristine. Khao Laem Reservoir is home to the submerged temple of Wat Sam Prasob, visible when water levels drop. Hellfire Pass (Konyu Cutting), where labourers worked by torch light through the night, offers a sobering 4 km walking trail along the original railway bed. And the Mae Klong River raft-house floating communities offer one of Thailand's most distinctive overnight experiences.