Of Bridges & Bombs in Thailand

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Movies have been made and much has been written about this place, but it barely ever makes it to the list of top places to visit in Thailand. Thailand Tourism chooses not to aggressively market it. The Death Railway ring any bells? The Burma Railway perhaps?! It’s one of the saddest chapters in recent human history.

The Original Idea

Once upon a time, Burma was a British colony. The British government planned to build a railway line connecting Thailand to Burma. But the project was shelved in its initial stages as the proposed course of the line – through hilly jungle terrain divided by many rivers – seemed impossible to complete.

And then World War II broke out; the Japanese seized the colony from British control.

Why did they decide to build?

Now the Japanese needed to maintain their forces in Burma, which required bringing in supplies and troops. They had two ways of doing this

Route 1 - by sea, through the Strait of Malacca and the Andaman Sea.

Route 2 - by rail, connecting Ban Pong in Thailand with Thanbyuzayat in Burma.

Route 1 was a risk, susceptible to attack by Allied submarines, and that was a risk the Japs could not afford in the middle of war. So well, they chose Route 2.

Time Constraints

By August, 1942, approval had been solicited from all those required to start the project. All the papers were in order. The estimated time of building was 5 years. Construction began in October, 1942 from both ends of the line. The two lines met by August,1943. Less than a year!

How did they do it?

The estimated total number of civilian labourers and POWs who died during construction varies considerably, but the figures suggest that of the 330,000 people that worked on the line (including 250,000 Asian labourers and 61,000 Allied POWs) about 90,000 of the labourers and about 16,000 Allied prisoners died. But who cares, the Japanese had their railway line.

And that’s how it got named the “Death Rail”, just BTW.

Why did so many people die?

After the first fifty-five km from Nong Pladuk to Kanchanaburi, were easy to construct because of the flat terrain. The rest of the way was hell, jungles, hills and rivers with barely any access to civilization. Starvation, sickness and death were rampant and who knows what other untold horrors.

Even after the railway was completed, 30,000 prisoners were kept in six camps along the lines for maintenance. These camps were close to the bridge and other strategic positions, they were bombed several times by the Allied forces resulting in more carnage.

Evidence

Life in the POW camps during construction was recorded at great risk to themselves by a number of artists. Human hair was often used for brushes, plant juices and blood for paint, and toilet paper was the ‘canvas’. Some of these works were actually used as evidence in the trials of Japanese war criminals after the war.

Bridge 277

Probably the most famous portion of the railway, popularly known as ‘the bridge on the River Kwai’, was built over a stretch of river which was a part of the Mae Klong. The association with the ‘River Kwai’ came from the fact that the greater part of the Thai part of the route followed the valley of the Khwae Noi, ‘Kwai’ being the Thai word for Water Buffalo. In 1960, because of this discrepancy between fact and fiction, the part of the Mae Klong which passes under the famous bridge was renamed as the Khwae Yai (“big tributary”).

Walking across the bridge is somewhere on the top of my list of things to do in Thailand, even though it isn’t the original one.

Post-War

After being bombed and reconstructed twice, the bridge was out of commission by 24th June, 1945. After the Japanese surrendered, the British Army removed 3.9 kilometers of track on the Thai-Burma border. Thai Railways relaid the 130 km Ban Pong–Namtok section and it is still in use today.

Also read our guide to culture of Thailand and browse all best Thailand tour packages.

As the newest member of the content team, Shivangi Rajendran comes from the world of professional dancing. With a passion for travel and a flair for writing, the Masters in Mass Communication is just an added advantage. A gypsy at heart, she doesn’t believe in planning and is always ready to pack her bags and leave.

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