To the west of Bangkok and not far from the border with Burma, Kanchanaburi is perhaps best known as the site of the bridge on the River Kwai that was the subject of a film of the same name, itself adapted from a French novel. It was through here, during World War II, that the infamous "death railway" linking Thailand with Burma was built at the cost of the lives of thousands of Allied prisoners of war and some 100,000 Asian forced laborers. On a happier note, the area nearby is the location of Erawan National Park, whose beautiful waterfalls are said to be the most popular in all of Thailand.