Kanchanaburi Background

Kanchanaburi was established in the 1830s, although the ruins of Muang Singh to the west date from the Khmer period. On entering the town (called Muang Kan by most locals); visitors may notice the fish-shaped street signs. The fish in question is the yisok, a small freshwater fish and the symbol of Kanchanaburi. Another slice of Thai fauna for which this area of Thailand is known is Kitty’s hog-nosed bat. As with so many tourist success stories, Kanchanaburi has its downside. In this case, it is pollution from the 900-odd raft-based guesthouse and restaurant operations. Almost none of the rafts have water treatment or waste disposal systems. This was fine when there were just a handful of rafts and a few thousand tourists a year. Now the numbers are far greater and public health officials have detected a significant rise in water pollution.