Michael Batson

The small city of Kanchanaburi sits at the base of the Tenasserim Hills on the edge of the flood plains of the Chao Phyra, the River of Kings, in what was once jungle. The hills border Myanmar and shelter the Kingdom of Smiles from the typhoons of the Andaman Sea. They also provide a physical barrier between the two countries, long-time rivals and dynastic adversaries and have played a part in putting this small regional centre in western Thailand on the map. Kanchanaburi has been famous in contemporary times for its war history, the river Kwai and a movie named after it about the aptly named ‘Death Railway’. The effort to connect one country with the other by rail by Japan for the purposes of empire and warfare is what gave the bridge on the River Kwai its infamy. But there’s more to Kanchanburi. It also has a decades-old reputation as a laidback backpacker destination on the Thailand circuit, like a Thai island but without a beach. These days it rather more gentrified with a small resident expat community and close enough for anyone to make it over from Bangkok. My first memories of Kanchanaburi was years ago and of floating bungalows, a jungle curry so hot I couldn’t taste let alone eat, and a police officer in brown, sporting a handgun with a barrel so long it resembled artillery. The town had rows of traditional wooden shophouses, and still does. The town was small enough to walk around or cycle and I’m pleased to say that can be done today. There