A History Lesson at the JEATH War Museum

[Thailand Explore]

A History Lesson at the JEATH War Museum
By Meanwhile in Thailand

 

World War II history lessons

Today I want to visit the last places in my travel schedule here in Kanchanaburi. I rent a bicycle near the guesthouse. The program includes the Wat Khao Pun cave and the JEATH War Museum. Wat Khao Pun was used by the Japanese during World War II as storage space for ammunition and such but now filled with Buddha and Hindu statues. The cave is about 10 kilometers away on the other side of the river, also the furthest point of my trip today.

 

 

Buddha and Hindu relics inside a former storage cave

With a map supplied by my guesthouse – though not to scale – I find the cave reasonably easy. To reach the site, you have to drive up a hill at the end. Quite a challenge with my rickety bike. I arrive almost completely exhausted. I decide to rest a bit and have a soda before going down into the cave. Inside Wat Khao Pun regularly you have to crawl through narrow dens to get further, it is all somewhat creepy – especially as I also walk around the place alone. In the larger rooms, and even in all sorts of corners and niches, you will find many statues Of Buddha`s and Hindu gods. Bats are also present. I am satisfied that I have made an effort to visit this cave.

 

Kanchanaburi has 2 war cemeteries

About a mile away on the way back is a war cemetery which I also visit. In the center of Kanchanaburi, there is another one, but I skip that one. After a rest at the edge of the river for a while, I head to my last destination for today, the JEATH war museum. JEATH stands for Jew, English, American, Australian, Thai, and Holland, but also as a pun on death. The museum was founded by a Buddhist monk to explain the atrocities committed by the Japanese during World War II.

 

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