IT may be known as the Land of Smiles, but Thailand has its own solemn memories of war and communism.

Take a walk down memory lane and become part of its history. That's just what Mr Nazir Keshvani did.

The 44-year-old freelance writer and editorial consultant's first stop was an old communist camp in Bentong, Southern Thailand, known as the Piya Mit Underground Shelter.

Like an adventure novel, the entrance is a concealed trap door, leading to a network of underground tunnels and passageways.

Today, the walls of the tunnels are cemented and fitted with lights.

Said Mr Keshvani: "The tunnels run for several kilometres, but I was soaked in sweat after half-crawling through 500m of the airless 'mole run'."

Surprisingly modern for its time, the tunnels are equipped with beds, kitchens, elaborate smoke-dispersal systems and an operating theatre.

The tunnels, built by the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), were meant for guerrillas to hide in the day, and emerge at night to attack their enemies, said Mr Keshvani.

As you leave, you'll feel like a different person, probably even a communist.

Mr Keshvani recalled: "On the way out, I bought a red scarf with yellow etchings. I then asked an old man there if it had any significance.

"He told me in Malay that it was a CPM scarf, and placed the scarf around my neck with a big grin, saying, 'You're communist now'."

Mr Keshvani had yet another peek into the grim past of charming Thailand at the JEATH War Museum located in Kanchanaburi near the River Kwai in western Thailand last year.

The Piya Mit Underground Shelter, an old communist camp in Bentong, has an intriguing network of tunnels and passageways

JEATH is short for Japan, England, America and Australia, Thailand and Holland - the countries whose people were involved in the building of the Death Railway.

Here, prisoners of war (POWs) had been forced by the Japanese to construct two parallel bridges spanning the River Kwai as part of the Burma Railway during World War II.

The museum is a bamboo hut, replicating the living quarters of prisoners.

RESORT-LIKE

Yet, while having such strong associations with the brutal history of the war, Mr Keshvani said that Kanchanaburi is far from being such.

"Today, it is more like a resort," he said.

A steam-engine resembling those used during the war took him past the plantations, rivers and the towering mountains of Thailand.

There are even all-night parties on floating discos that ply up and down the waterways.

And, with these charming offers, the dark memories of Thailand are again replaced with bright smiles - signature of the country and its people.