Mueang Kanchanaburi District, Thailand
Tha Ma Kham,
N/A
Very well kept war cemetery. Visit my uncle yearly here.
like
Peaceful and a well kept cemetry. A remote corner of the world for those that lost their lives during WW2. May their spirits shine with the stars for eternity.
A very difficult review as I just feel so sad when I visit here, and I've been here a bunch of times. At a distance, it looks so nice, but then walking around and seeing the gravestones, and seeing how young they were, and the words of their family, I find it to be overwhelming. It has to be seen though.
I headed for the River Kwae restaurant, however there are many near the bridge itself. The restaurant I found had a great view of the bridge and river from its seating area, much of which was open to the views. After the meal, which was good and reasonable, I got talking to a Thai man who owned one of the long tailed motor boats. He offered to take me to the cemetery up river and the Cave Temple called Koapoon Cave Temple. Not knowing the area I thought this cemetery we were going to was the main one. Sadly it was not, it was Chungkai War Cemetery. However leaving the boat it was a short walk to the entrance of this Cemetery. Chungkai War Cemetery is about 5 kilometres west of Kanchanaburi in Tha Ma Kham Mueang and can be reached by highway 3228 or a little farther north, over the narrow sud chai bridge leading from Maenamkwai road, or by ferry crossing at the junction of the two rivers, or by any of the many river boats similar to the one I went on. The impressive entrance to this solemn cemetery and the well kept gardens are a tribute to the Thai people who look after them. The two huge Juniper trees in the centre are original trees that were in the camp during that time. Whilst this cemetery is not the largest it now contains 1,426 Commonwealth and 313 Dutch burials from the Second World War who did not survive the ordeal. 1691 are marked with names, rank and service, however 50 sets of remains have yet to be identified. The Americans repatriated the remains of their men. Chungkai was one of the base camps on the railway and contained a hospital and a church built by Allied prisoners of war. The war cemetery is the original burial ground started by the prisoners themselves, and the burials were mostly of men who died at the hospital. The gardens are beautifully laid out in remembrance to those brave men who struggled to build this incredible Death Railway against all odds.
It is beautifully maintained. And very overwhelming to walk through. Makes you question life and death. Some of the trees around are old and stand tall.
Deli
The best companies in the category 'Deli'