Is the Death Railway still in use?
The Thai portion of the railway continues to exist, with three trains crossing the original bridge twice daily bound from Bangkok to the current terminus at Nam Tok. During the railway’s construction, around 90,000 Southeast Asian civilian forced laborers died, along with more than 12,000 Allied prisoners.
What happened Kanchanaburi?
During World War II, the Japanese forced more than 60,000 allied prisoners of war and nearly 300,000 Southeast Asian labourers to build a 415km railway across the mountains and jungles between Thailand and Myanmar (then Burma). Tens of thousands died during the construction and it became known as the “Death Railway”.
Was Bridge over River Kwai a true story?
The film “The Bridge on the River Kwai” dramatized the WWII story of the Thailand-Burma Railway, yet it was largely fictional. Over 65,000 Allied P.O.W.s battled torture, starvation, and disease to hack the 255-mile railway out of harsh jungle for the Japanese.
How many died Railway death?
The workers were maltreated, malnourished and exhausted, and as a result it’s thought that in excess of 100,000 people died during the construction of the railway – showing precisely why it came to be known as the Death Railway. It’s thought that one worker died for each wooden sleeper that was laid for the track.
Where is Kwai?
western Thailand
The River Kwai, more correctly ‘Khwae Noi’ (Thai: แควน้อย, English small tributary) or Khwae Sai Yok (แควไทรโยค), is a river in western Thailand, near, but not over the border with Myanmar.
How many died building the bridge over the River Kwai?
13,000 prisoners
During its construction, approximately 13,000 prisoners of war died and were buried along the railway. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 civilians also died in the course of the project, chiefly forced labour brought from Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, or conscripted in Siam (Thailand) and Burma.