We did an organised trip arranged through the tour operator we went with.

It was very good only six of us on a mini bus with a driver and a tour guide who gave us all the information that we needed.

Included a visit to the war cemetery, lunch some free time and a ride on the train with a certificate to say that we had travelled on the train on the bridge over the river kwai.

Very good value for money. Most of the hotels have tour desks who can organise this for you.

I stayed on a houseboat on the River Kwai, which was fabulous, and to be recommended. The night market has some interested delicacies.... (deep fried cockroach anyone?)

We did an organised daytrip, much the same as Joans. It was absolutely brilliant. It also included a visit to the Jeath war museum. The visit to the war graves- I defy anyone to not have a tear in their eyes when they read the words on the graves.

Been on the organised tour which takes in the war graves. Good value trip. Takes you to the station adjacent to the bridge over the river Kwai (nothing like the one in the movie!) from where you take the train for about an hour then disembark have lunch and coach home.
Also done the diy way by taking the train from Bangkok; a lot cheaper but you don't get to see the war graves and, at about five hours each way, it is a bit hard on the bottom!
Saddest thing of all is that, after the great loss of life in the construction, only part of the railway remains in use.

If you can, do the trip whilst you are there. We went on an organised trip, it is better to do it this way, as it is less hassle than DIY, it is cheap and good value for money, I think we paid about £15 each, mind you, that was about 7 years ago, lunch would be included and the trip woud take in the war graves, rose garden, train ride, and POW museum. I would highly recommend this trip.

Thanks for the advise
Is it best to book before we go or when we get to the hotel (arrive hotel 5pm only have next day to do trip)

You would probably have to book before then, you will be extremely tired as you are normally met for this trip at 6 in the morning. Good Luck

Hello, We have just done this trip combined with Floating Markets and we booked with Nui who was excellent. The website is tourwithtong.com all the guides come recommended. It was a long day, picked up in airconditioned van at 6.30am, then onto floating market and taken around in our own boat for an hour with all sorts of food bought for us to try, then on to river kwai for a look around we never caught the train but you can choose different options. Then we went to tiger temple, lunch, fed wild monkeys and bathed elephants, then onto the other end of death railway. It was a superb day and we arrived back to hotel at 7.30pm. if you look at the website there are many options or you can tailormake trips. It was about £40 each for this trip so quite expensive but well worth it!

lady wrote:

Hello, We have just done this trip combined with Floating Markets and we booked with Nui who was excellent. The website is tourwithtong.com all the guides come recommended. It was a long day, picked up in airconditioned van at 6.30am, then onto floating market and taken around in our own boat for an hour with all sorts of food bought for us to try, then on to river kwai for a look around we never caught the train but you can choose different options. Then we went to tiger temple, lunch, fed wild monkeys and bathed elephants, then onto the other end of death railway. It was a superb day and we arrived back to hotel at 7.30pm. if you look at the website there are many options or you can tailormake trips. It was about £40 each for this trip so quite expensive but well worth it!

this trip looks brilliant and well worth it can you help me with the name of the tour op and where you booked it as I would love to do all that

Hi, Look at the website tourwithtong.com, it gives all the information on the tours, click on itineraries, then floating markets full day tour and at the bottom of that page we did the FK9 tour. I emailed tong and asked for a price for four of us with guide and driver, including lunch. Tong has several guides who work for her and they all seem very good, we had Nui. Tong may take a while to reply if you contact her as she is out touring most days try again if she does not reply after a few days. We found her very good I booked it all by email and everything turned out fine when we arrived. if you bathe the elephants it is a brilliant time but take a swimsuit as you get soaked!

thanks lady for your help I will email them

I notice there are posh rafts to stay at now http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g297924-d507135-r14903063-River_Kwai_Jungle_Rafts-Kanchanaburi.html

Although I stayed at a cheaper version (some years ago), a couple of days on the rafts on River Kwai remains one of my happiest Thai memories, and I do (again!) strongly recommend it!