The Time Memorial Park

The Time Memorial Park has nothing to do with World War II, despite that being Kanchanaburi’s best-known wartime association — it’s a 90-rai park built in 1990 to mark the 90th birthday of Princess Srinagarindra, the late King’s mother, with time as its guiding theme. She was known for placing high value on using time well, and the park’s centerpiece reflects that literally: a large curved sundial.

The sundial is the reason to visit. Built from reinforced concrete, it curves 23.8 metres along its arc, ranging from 6.25 to 9.95 metres wide and 0.8 metres thick, with a 6.5-metre metal gnomon angled at 28.6 degrees that throws a shadow across colour-coded lines marking the hours (roughly 7 AM to 6 PM) and the months of the year. It’s a genuinely unusual piece of public design — more sculpture than instrument — and there’s little else quite like it in Kanchanaburi.

Beyond the sundial, the park is a straightforward hillside garden at the edge of the Srinakarin Dam reservoir: shade trees, mown lawns, and paved paths with reservoir views. It’s a stop people fold into a wider Srinakarin Dam visit rather than a standalone destination — the dam itself, viewpoints over the reservoir, and Khuean Srinagarindra National Park’s waterfalls and boat trips are all close by, and the park shares contact details with the national park office.

Insider Tip: Time your visit around midday, when the sun angle makes the sundial’s shadow line up most clearly with the hour markings — it’s a more interesting photo than the same shot in flat morning or evening light.

Watch out: This is a genuinely remote stop — about 70 km from Kanchanaburi town on Highway 3199, with limited signage in English and no on-site food beyond what you might find at the dam itself. Fill up on water and fuel before heading out.

Reaching the park means driving from Kanchanaburi town through Si Sawat district; there’s no public transport route direct to the site, so a private car, motorbike, or hired driver is the only realistic option. Entry is free, and the site is walkable in well under an hour unless you’re combining it with the rest of the Srinakarin Dam area. The route in is scenic in its own right — Highway 3199 climbs and curves along the reservoir edge for much of the drive, which is worth the detour even before you reach the sundial.