Bridge on the River Kwai

Bridge in Kanchanaburi

One of Kanchanaburi’s most famous attractions is the Bridge on the River Kwai, immortalized by the 1957 Oscar-winning film of the same name. Tourists from around the globe visit to walk across and photograph this historic site. For those with more time and an interest in history, taking a train journey across the bridge to Nam Tok offers stunning views of the countryside and provides a deeper appreciation for the immense effort and tragedy involved in building the Thailand-Burma Railway, infamously known as the Death Railway. Constructed during World War II by Allied POWs and forced civilian labor, the railway claimed the lives of approximately 16,000 POWs and up to 100,000 civilians. Many of the POWs are buried at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, a short distance from the bridge.

The Real Bridge and the River Kwai Misnomer

While the 1957 film “The Bridge on the River Kwai” brought international attention to Kanchanaburi, it also introduced some historical inaccuracies. For instance, the actual bridge spans the Mae Khlong River, not the Kwai River. To address tourist confusion, the Thai authorities renamed the section of the river near the bridge to “Khwae” in the 1960s. Today, the bridge is a combination of original curved steel spans transported from Java during the war and post-war replacements for those damaged by Allied bombings. Located about 5 kilometers north of Kanchanaburi, the bridge originally included a wooden structure completed in early 1943, followed shortly after by the steel bridge, which remains a lasting symbol of both resilience and tragedy.

The Bridge on the River Kwai appears in our Complete Guide to Visiting Kanchanaburi!

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