Backing up the award, TripAdvisor says the museum is a scenic yet peaceful and memorable monument to a location that saw incredible ugliness. In the category of best museum in the Asian region, Hellfire Pass Museum took ninth place in the list topped by the terracotta warriors at the Museum of Qin in Xi’an, China.
TripAdvisor bases its annual awards on calculations that factor in the amount and quality of travellers’ reviews for each museum, beach, hotel or other class of award. In total, 591 museums from all over the world featured in the various different awards based on geographical locations.
Hellfire Pass Museum is jointly supported by Australia and the Thai military. Its displays and audio recordings give insights into the building of the Thai-Burma railway and the hardships endured by the prisoners-of-war. A section of the cutting from which the museum takes its name is part of the museum.
The current terminus of the rail line from Bangkok is at Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi Station, but most tourists visit the museum on organised daytrips from Kanchanaburi. 12GO ASIA offers taxi and minibus transfers from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi. There are also third-class trains from Bangkok’s Thonburi Station.
TripAdvisor names Hellfire Pass best museum in Thailand
News in Asia
In its annual awards for 2015, TripAdvisor has named Hellfire Pass Museum as the best such facility in Thailand. The Kanchanaburi museum is dedicated to the WWII Death Railway and the Allied and Asian prisoners who lost their lives building it.