TripAdvisor places Hellfire Pass in Top 10 of Asian museums

Thailand’s WWII themed Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum took sixth place in the just released TripAdvisor awards for Asia. The Kanchanaburi Province attraction was one of six Southeast Asian museums to feature in the travel website’s Travellers’ Choice Top 10 for the region.

Hellfire Pass is a cutting on the infamous Death Railway which was built during the Japanese occupation of WWII. The Japanese army used forced labour comprising Allied prisoners-of-war and conscripted Asian labourers to build the railway.

More than 60,000 POWs and countless Asians died building the railroad. The Memorial Museum was designed and built as a lasting monument to the dead. The museum building itself is more like an interpretive facility which provides an audio-visual record of the hardships the prisoners faced. 

The building is above Hellfire Pass. The museum experience includes a walking trail through the pass. This starts at a black pyramid memorial stone and takes in the sites of former bridges and Hintok Station.

Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum is one of Thailand’s best known historical sites and sees an estimated 100,000 visitors a year.  It is 80kms from downtown Kanchanaburi and the Bridge over the River Kwai.

Other Southeast Asian museums to feature in the Top 10 were Ho Chi Minh City’s War Remnants Museum, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi, Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Pinang Peranakan Mansion on Penang Island and the Islamic Arts Museum in Kuala Lumpur.

12GO ASIA offers ticketing services on routes throughout Southeast Asia. We can get you within striking distance of most of these premium attractions. All you need to do is book a local tour after arrival.

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