Anzac Day in Kanchanaburi marred by poor planning
Each year I join fellow Australian war veterans in visiting Hellfire Pass and the Kanchanaburi Cemetery for the Anzac Day services.
This year’s event didn’t go well and the follow-up note I sent to the Australian embassy elicited no response, so I reproduce it here, in the hope it will be brought to the attention of the relevant embassy staff.
1. A bar that offers “girls for hire” is not an appropriate establishment for guests to be asked to visit after such a ceremony.
2. I would guess there were over 1,000 people at the cemetery, while the bar could probably hold 100.
3. The post-ceremony announcement for drinks and sausages on River Kwai Road made no mention of the bar name. Many seniors started walking, thinking it must be close, but in the heat they couldn’t make it.
4. There was no parking space anywhere near the bar.
5. Upon reaching the bar I could not seat my wife and kids. I found several other Australians similarly upset at the arrangements. These people had travelled from Australia and this event was their main reason for choosing Thailand for their holidays.
Please consider better planning for next year’s event, which otherwise is a fantastic occasion.
Stewart Duncan
Nonthaburi
