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Captive Cave (Tham Chalei)

Lum Sum Sub-district, Sai Yok District, Kanchanaburi

A Hidden WWII Bomb Shelter and the Miracle of the Sacred Cave Water While Kanchanaburi is famous for its breathtaking landscapes, it is also home to places of profound historical significance. Captive Cave (locally known as Tham Chalei) is one such place. Located just 1 kilometer before reaching the legendary Tham Krasae Cave (The Death Curve), this historic cavern sits directly along the tracks where Allied prisoners of war (POWs) faced the most brutal conditions of World War II.

During the railway’s construction, this area served as a major camp for Allied POWs—mostly British, Australian, and Dutch soldiers. Because the nearby cliffside railway construction was the most perilous section of the entire route, Allied air raids frequently targeted the area to destroy Japanese supply lines. Whenever the sirens wailed, both Japanese soldiers and POWs would scramble up the mountain seeking cover. They discovered this cavern, using it as a natural bomb shelter that miraculously shielded everyone inside from direct hits.

The Historic Legend of Captive Cave

To fully appreciate the spirit of this cave, visitors should know the incredible story passed down by Mr. John Coast, an Australian POW who survived the ordeal and recorded the history of this sanctuary.

The Plight of the Abandoned Soldiers

Between 1941 and 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army forced over 200,000 Asian laborers and Allied POWs to construct a 400-kilometer railway through the dense, malaria-ridden jungles of Kanchanaburi toward Burma. The rugged terrain provided excellent camouflage against maritime attacks, but it was a living hell for the workers. Thousands died daily from malnutrition, cholera, and tropical diseases.

At this massive base camp, a group of dozens of POWs fell critically ill with severe jungle fever (malaria). Deeming them too weak to work and too close to death, the Japanese guards abandoned them in the cave without food, medicine, or care, leaving them to die on the mountain.

The Miracle in the Stone Basin

With no medicine, the starving prisoners survived on wild honey and forest fruits. For water, they turned to a small, natural rock basin inside the cave. Inexplicably, no matter how much water they scooped from this tiny basin, it never ran dry. Even more astonishingly, after drinking the water, every single terminally ill POW fully recovered from their severe fever.

The Japanese guards were stunned to see the men they left for dead walking back down the mountain completely healed. When Mr. John Coast explained that they had been cured by the “sacred water” inside the cave, the skeptical guards tested it on sick Japanese soldiers and other ailing POWs. Within days, those soldiers recovered as well. Convinced of the miracle, the Japanese army appointed Mr. John Coast as a foreman, and he eventually survived the war to share this remarkable piece of WWII history.

To honor the resilience and survival of these men, this sanctuary was officially named Captive Cave.

Historical Markers

• Original Granite Inscription Plaque: Recorded in 1972 (B.E. 2515)
• Site Development & Monument Construction: Completed on September 8, 2015 (B.E. 2558)