Death railway and bridge on the river Kwai

Apart from wonderful scenery and a range of trekking activities,  Kanchanaburi is probably most famous for the history surrounding the Burma railway and bridge on the river Kwai. The railway, which was to connect Thailand to Burma, was considered essential by the Empire of Japan as a way of transporting supplies to their troops after they invaded Burma. The project was started in June 1942 and finished in December 1943.

The man power required to build the 415km of tracks and numerous bridges was enormous and Japan utilised the thousands of Allied Prisoners of War (POW) they were holding captive in South east Asia at that time. They also forced locals to join in construction when it became clear that they did not have enough workers from POW's alone. 

The railway was completed in an impressive time scale although the loss of life was tragically extensive.  It is estimated that approx 13,000 POWs and 100,000 native labourers died during this time. One man died for every sleeper laid. The conditions they had to survive in were horrendous. They worked for up to 18hrs a day in tropical heat, humidity and then monsoon rains. They were only fed twice a day on small bowels of rice with a few salty vegetables if available. Due to malnutrition and fatigue they succumbed to a number of illnesses and diseases (tropical ulcers, Vitamin B deficiency, dengue fever and Cholera). They were forced to work until they dropped and many suffered torture at the hands of their captors (for personal accounts of POW see link: Burma Railway: British POW).

The river Kwai bridge has become one of the most famous portions of the railway following the release of the 1957 war drama film 'The bridge over the River Kwai' based on the fiction book by French author Pierre Boulle. It is thought that the story may not be entirely true to life but did highlight this side to WW2 occurring outside of Europe. The bridge itself was bombed a number of times by allied air forces and the railway was eventually put out of action by these bombings.

It was another incredibly hot day when I took a taxi to Kanchanaburi railway station and brought my ticket for the 10:30 train to Nam Tok (end of the line on the Death Railway). The south Asian Orient Express was at the station and I watched as workers dressed in immaculate uniforms stocked the train ready for its next departure. I peered through the windows into opulent cabins with beautiful furniture and fittings. You can imagine my excitement when we were signalled to board the Orient express and I couldn't believe my luck that I was going to get to ride on this train. However, we were merely  being ushered through the train and out the other side where our old and dirty train awaited.

The 2hr journey along the railway was hot, dusty and uncomfortable but the scenery was lovely with mountain range backdrops behind tranquil rivers. However, this was a tourist hot spot and it was difficult to fully soak up the atmosphere as the train was full and people were scrambling for the best view.

I caught myself thinking I felt slightly disappointed that I was not enjoying the trip as much as I thought I would and then quickly reminded myself that this was meant to be an experience not a lovely outing. The whole point was to ride along the railway because if its historical significance. It may have seemed a long 4hr round trip for me but that was nothing compared to the tragic journey of the railway's construction.