Chungkai War Cemetery

This was the site of Chungkai POW camp. The first prisoners arrived in October 1942 to build the Tamarkan bridges and the Chungkai cutting; a camp hospital built in November 1942 treated 19,975 patients in all. Prisoners buried their dead beside it, so most of those here died of disease in the hospital rather than in construction accidents. The camp and hospital closed in June 1945.

In 1946 it was decided to gather the railway graves into three cemeteries — Chungkai, Kanchanaburi (Don Rak) and Thanbyuzayat in Myanmar — and Chungkai's camp cemetery was extended. It now holds about 1,739 graves: 1,426 Commonwealth, mostly British, and 313 Dutch. There are no Americans, whose dead were repatriated.

A memorial shelter leads to rows of bronze plaques on low plinths among flowering shrubs and lawns, with a Cross of Sacrifice. Unlike the Don Rak cemetery in town, with 6,982 graves and on almost every tour, Chungkai is quiet and is the original burial ground the prisoners made themselves. Names can be searched on the CWGC 'Find War Dead' site.

The CWGC lists it as permanently open; other sources give 09:00–17:00, so visit in daylight. Entry is free, with roadside parking by the entrance shelter and a step-free route to its left. Dress and behave respectfully, don't walk or sit on the plaques, and flowers are welcome. Snakes may be about, especially at dusk or after rain; there is little shade, and the riverbank can flood in September–October. Wat Tham Khao Pun is just beyond.