World War 2 and the Death Railway

To get a good understanding of what occurred in World War 2 with the construction of the Thailand-Burma Railway or Death Railway, I suggest visiting certain locations in Kanchantaburi.  The Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum will give you a lot of the history of the difficulties that the prisoners of war and the Asian workers endured to build the railway under the brutal command of the Japanese Military.   The Death Railway section of the Tham Krasae Railway Station will show you the amount of rosk that needed to be removed and the bridges that needed to be built, mostly by hand.  The Kwai River Bridge that was made famous by the 1957 film “Bridge over the River Kwai”.  And the somber Kanchantaburi War Cemetery, the final resting place for many of the prisoners of war who died during the railway construction.  

---

Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum

The Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum was built and is maintained by the Australian government.  The Museum opened in 1998 and is located just above Hellfire Pass (Konyu Cutting) and is dedicated to the Allied prisoners of war and Asian laborers who suffered and died at Hellfire Pass and elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region during World War II.  Read more...

---

Death Railway

Many people died building the Thailand–Burma Railway during World War 2.  One way to appreciate how difficult was is to visit locations along the “Death Railway” where the difficulties were at the extreme.  The area east of the Tham Krasae Railway Station that is still in use today.  This area is very scenic with the sheer cliffs...  Read more...

---

River Kwai Bridge and the Death Railway

The River Kwai Bridge was made famous by a 1960's film "Bridge over the River Kwai" . The film, however was in fact fiction based loosely on the events surrounding this bridge. I will not go into detail of the differences between the film and this bridge but...  Read More..

---

Kanchantaburi War Cemetery 

The Kanchantaburi War Cemetery is located in the heart of the town of Kanchanaburi, Thailand along Main Street.  The cemetery is the final resting place for 6,982 prisoners of war that died in the construction of the Thailand-Burma Railway constructed during World War 2 in support of the Japanese War Effort in the region.  Read More...