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Published: March 22nd 2006
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We briefly went through Bangkok, but Bangkok gets hotter and smoggier every time we go there, so we left as soon as we could for Kanchanaburi, which is 2 hours away and is supposed to be a bit cooler. Kanchanaburi is a laidback town on the river. There is a lot to do in the Kanchanaburi area and we had fun while we were there.
Our main purpose for going there was to see the bridge on the River Kwai, which is one of Stevan's favorite movies. This infamous bridge was part of the Burma-Thai Railway (often referred to as the Death Railway) that the Japanese built using Asian coolies and Allied POW's. Since the Allies cut off the supply routes by sea, the Japanese built a railway through Thailand and Burma to supply troops and other vital materials for their Southeast Asian offensive. After the fall of Singapore, the Japanese captured tens of thousands of POWs who could help build the railway.
More than 100,000 people died constructing the railway, most of them after the Japanese moved up the timetable for completing the railway and men were forced to work even longer hours for less food. Prisoners died
of malnutrition, accidents, diseases such as dysentery, malaria and cholera, and brutality at the hands of the guards. The Korean guards were badly treated by the Japanese and took it out on the prisoners, so they were particularly sadistic, much like the Ukrainians were for the Nazis in Poland.
The movie "Bridge on the River Kwai" does not feature the Asian forced laborers from Malaysia, Burma, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Vietnam and other countries, even though most of the workers were Asian. Thousands of British, Australian, and Dutch POW's died, but the Asians made up the vast number of deaths. Malay and Burmese laborers comprised 70-80% of all these deaths.
We rented bikes one day to see the bridge, the Allied soldier cemetery, and the Thai-Burma Railway Museum. Our first stop was the bridge, which is still in use as a railway bridge today, though it required major repairs after it was heavily damaged by Allied bombings. It was really neat to walk over such a historical place, though it was a bit scary to look down at times. The walkway is a bit narrow and there are no coverings over the wide gaps next to the track, so
you could easily fall into the river if you aren't careful.
We also stopped by the WWII/JEATH (Japan, England, Australia/America, Thailand, Holland) museum. There were some expected exhibits, such as photos and models of the POW laborers and military and office equipment used by the Japanese army. There were also some very bizarre exhibits, such as the hall of minerals with full-size portraits of all the Miss Thailands from the 1930s-1990s painted on the walls.
Next we visited the Allied cemetery, which is the final resting place for thousands of British, Australian and Dutch soldiers. These soldiers were POWs who died while working on the railway. They were moved from smaller cemetries alongside the railway points to the Kanchanaburi cemetry and other cemeteries in Thailand and Burma after the war. There were also a few American POWs who died at the Death Railway. They were moved to the US after the war.
We wondered why almost all the graves in the cemetery were marked with names and dates of death because we expected that there would be more unknowns. We were very surprised to learn that even though the Japanese treated the prisoners brutally while they were
alive, they were very respectful of the dead. The Japanese allowed them to bury the dead in marked graves and hold funerals for deceased prisoners. The Japanese even attended the funerals and sometimes collected money in honor of deceased prisoners. As we understand, this was because the Japanese were superstitious of ghosts.
The Thai-Burma Railway Museum is a very interesting place that explains the history of the bridge and other sites. We learned a lot about the Pacific War and the history of the railway. There was a very interesting exhibit on daily prisoner life and medical care. They lacked medical supplies, so anything and everything were used. For instance, doctors used bamboo as syringes and sake bottles as IB bottles.
We also took a day trip to Erawan National Park and Hellfire Pass. Erawan has a beautiful waterfall with places where you could go swimming. The water was so clear and the temperature was perfect for such a hot day. We have bad karma with these vicious little fish that bite us no matter where we swim in Thailand, and we had to kick hard to fend them off because these little suckers chased us wherever we
went. Despite this, this was one of the nicest swimming holes we've seen and we had a fantastic time there.
Konya cutting, which is better known as Hellfire Pass, is a place where the prisoners were forced to carve through thick rock using flimsy hammers and insufficient equipment. Prisoners worked 16-18 hours a day under very tough conditions, often through the night. Many died of disease and accidents during the blasting. It was dubbed Hellfire Pass because men who looked down into the cutting at night thought that the illumination lamps and the gaunt prisoners toiling resembled hell. There is now a museum near the site and you can see tools and railway spikes stuck in the clearing and on the ground. Visitors often leave crosses, flags and notes there. We saw one poignant note that simply said, "To Dad."
We also got to ride a section of the railway. It was a short ride, but the tracks covered part of the Death Railway. The train was older and slow, so we got to see some great views of the river and surrounding scenery. It is hard to imagine the immense suffering that occurred during the construction of
the railway, because this is such a beautiful and peaceful place.
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