River Kwai-dagtour vanuit Bangkok – geschiedenis, landschap en cultuur

Average. Tour started well with commentary during the first half an hour of the drive then it went downhill. Jeath Museum itself was disappointing. It is a replica of hut (living conditions of POW) with photos on the walls. That’s it. Guide did not even walk us through it. Left to wander on our own. Paid extra for boat ride under the bridge. The walk on the bridge itself was good. Then bus again to catch the train. I elected to not pay extra for reserved seats on train and I was happy with that (there weee plenty of seats available). Lunch was lukewarm and disappointing. Yes they had a few options but it was not flavourful or tasty. No more commentary. Just time to walk around on our own. Then bus to the memorial. It wasn’t bad. Just average. The guide did not eat lunch with us, barely spoke after the mini-lecture at the start of the day. and slept all the way back to Bangkok and did not engage with any one. He could have done better. Maybe he was having an off-day but I have had much better tour guides with other companies.

I was charged for a tour that never took place. I booked the tour the morning of the day before the trip. That evening it was cancelled for no unknown reason. My credit card was charge and not refunded. I filed a claim to dispute the charge wiht me credit card company to reimburse my $180+ for two people. This tour group has not responded to my messages. They accepted the booking and less than 12 hours later cancelled it and then charged my credit card and will not reimburse me - or at least have the politeness to reimburse me.

The tour guide collected ‘the train upgrade fee’ , 300 THB each from myself and my friend during the trip, he claimed if you don’t pay the upgrade fee, you won’t get a seat , you need to stand during the 1.5 hour train ride. This is a rip off. The tour guide OOM also said the first half of the train ride, you sit on one side of the train , halfway he will ask everyone to switch the side, so you get to see the ‘mountain side’ of the view , you will also get to see the ‘riverside’ of the view . It did not happen, he offered something he failed to deliver.

We made the death train as a family. It’s a nice experience but surely a little overrated. At the beginning the view is not very pretty, only on the end you pass over the bridge with a nice landscape. When we arrive at our terminal we walk back on the tracks, with our teenagers no worries, but with young children it can be complicated and dangerous. However, the panorama is pretty.

Well organised. Delivers what it advertises. Guide Rach was informative & spoke good English. Options available on the day to upgrade train seat(apparently only hard benches in Economy class & not guaranteed one of those either). Also option to add boat on day to see bridge from river. Lunch buffet style with plenty of options.

Great tour that takes you back in time to see the Bridge over the river Kuai and ride the actual train that the POW'S and other citizens rode in. The stop at the cemetery was very moving.

After reluctantly agreeing to collect us from our hotel our "guide"arrived 20 minutes late in a clapped out bomb of a car with no seat belts and apparently only one gear. After a slow but hair raising half hour drive we pulled in to a petrol station where our van and driver were waiting. I opened the door to get in and alarmed the driver who was asleep in the front seat. He glared at me and uttered not a single word for the rest of the day. Our guide, Oom, told us that the other couple who had booked to come had cancelled so it would be just us. The van was tired, rattly and the air con didn't work. Oom spent the next 1/2 hour holding up his ipad showing us movie trailers from The Bridge Over the River Kwai and The Railwayman, ignoring the fact we'd seen both movies. The coffee stop was good. The visit to the immaculately kept WWII Memorial Cemetery in Kanchanaburi was very moving but too rushed and he was not very informative. Next stop was the JEATH Museum (which we thought was the main museum. Only afterwards did we realise that the main museum is by the cemetery and he didn't take us there or even mention it! ) It was very run down and hugely disappointing. We were rushed through a replica POW bamboo hut which had faded, dirty pictures scruffily hung around and then bundled into a longboat for the ride up the river to the bridge. We enjoyed the boat ride. We walked over the bridge and then caught the train, crossing the bridge and travelling for 1/2 hour up into the hills through beautiful scenery. Sobering thinking of the thousands of lives that were lost along the way. Our lunch stop was good with a great view. We were disappointed not to see Hellfire Pass but you need 2 days to do that. Oom slept the whole 2 hours back to Bangkok and the driver was silent. We pulled up and Oom said "I get out here, the driver will take you back." And that was that. The driver silently and I felt begrudgingly dropped us off at the hotel and we were left thinking we'd been had.

Great experience and knowledge guide (Thank you Oom). The train experience was fantastic and lunch had options for each of us.

Really great trip. Knowledgeable and interesting guide. Good value. Full day. Historically interesting. awesome being on the bridge over the river Kwai

Great trip, covers WWII history in Kanchanaburi. Rach, the tour guide, was charming and had extensive knowledge. He was very concerned with the guests and the quality of the tour. The driver did a great job.