Burma Railway At The Kwai River

World War 2 Burma Railway

The Allied War Cemetery, museum and bridge on the Kwai River at Kanchanaburi have become a popular tourist destination. The area has been settled since prehistoric times and the reason for the Burma railway and the death camps has reasons repeated continuously in history. The area is to the west of Bangkok and is on ancient trade routes first used for trade between the Khmer Empire and China.

The Three Pagodas Pass linking Thailand with Burma (Myanmar) through the Mountains was used by all the Burmese armies invading Thailand. It was a strategic location for the defence of Thailand and the Tai invasions of Burma. In World War 2 the Japanese army then occupying Thailand and seeking to strengthen their supplies for the invasion of Burma and India used Kanchanaburi as a depot to base prisoners of war to be used as slave labour. The use of slave labour was common in South East Asia for 2000 years by the Khmer, the Tai and the Burmese and the practice is still common in Burma (Myanmar) today.
The Buma Railway at Kwai River is in Kanchanaburi, near other major tourist places of interest .

Slaves used by the Japanese were both local Asians, Thai, Burmese, Malaysians etc (estimated to be 250,000) and Europeans from Netherlands, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, The United States of America and elsewhere (estimated to be 61,000).

What you see today is not the original bridge which was made of teak wood. However downstream 100 metres are the ruins of the original bamboo temporary bridge then constructed. The original railway was to be 415 kilometres (260 miles) and became known as Death Railway. The rail track was dismantled after the war but portions are still visible at some locations.

Major Sites To See Are:

Hellfire Pass cut through stone by slave labour and its Museum
JEATH War Museum
Nam Tok by rail (77km).This provides a vivid view of the railway, its wooden viaducts, cliff faces, the River and an appreciation of what slave labour was forced to construct.
The River Kwai and the Allied War Cemetery
Chong Khai Cemetery
The Bridge on Kwai River

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