Riding the Death Railway

Kanchanaburi: Riding the Death Railway.

[If you have a passion for the things historic then a visit to Kanchanaburi is a must for you]

I haven’t seen the movie ‘The Bridge on River Kwae’ which is said to have been shot somewhere in Sri Lanka, not in Thailand where the river and the bridge actually exist. Kanchanaburi is the historic town of the WW II vintage. The real bridge on the River Kwai (Kwae), a wooden one, stood here in use for 20 months before it was bombed and destroyed in 1945 by the Allied war planes. The present steel bridge spanning the same spot of the river was constructed later on. However, history and the related emotions to the then bridge are reflected in the present one. Tourists from all over the world throng to see and photograph this iconic representation of something so memorably related to the world war.

History

After the war broke out in 1939, and before the allied forces could make any headway they were surprised by the Japanese who captured them. More than ten thousand POW taken in a flash. The captured among others mostly included British, Dutch, and Australian soldiers under the Allied command. There were many Indians among the POW who were somehow freed due to the intervention of a nationalist Indian – Subhash Chander Bose, who raised an army to fight the British for the liberation of India. But that’s another story.

The Japanese had a broad vision in their war tactics. They wanted to build a railway line right up to the northeast of India in order to fight the British there. They decided to lay a railway line from Ratchaburi (Ban Pong) in Thailand to Thanbuyuzayat in Burma (Myanmar). The 415 Km (250 miles) railway line was to be laid in 3 years. But the POW and local people made that possible in just 16 months. They say more than a hundred thousand perished on the job during the construction of the railway line. The name Death Railway comes from those deaths.

The JEATH war museum situated near the Bridge in Kanchanaburi has a detailed record and representation of the whole story. A visit to the museum will add to the overall experience of a traveller.

There are two war cemeteries in Kanchanaburi. One Allied War Cemetery (Dan Rack) has about 7000 symbolic graves of those captured soldiers who died during the construction of the railway line.

Kanchanaburi

Situated some 120 Km from Bangkok it is well connected through railway as well as road. The trains leave twice a day starting early in the morning. Since the train timings weren’t conducive to me I decided to take a bus. Excellent bus service is available from the Bangkok Central bus station situated at Sai Tai Mai and after about two and a half hour you are in Kanchanaburi. The buses leave from bay number 10 of the bus station building. Fare amounts to THB 100, the same as the train ticket. The buses are big, comfortable, pushback type seats, and air-conditioned. Very comfortable indeed.

There are many touts at the bus station, just around the entry gate. They offer minibus tickets ranging from 100 to 120. The minibusses, however, have cramped seats and tight space in between the rows. Avoid those.

The Ride

The first train that leaves the Thonburi station in Bangkok at around 0430 hr will reach Kanchanaburi around 1030 hr. The train stop is close to the bridge. From here the tourists take the train ride to Nam Tok (77 km) – the last station on the Death Railway Route. The train passes through a lush green valley, rocky terrain, and the Deadly Curve that is the riskiest stretch of the railway line laid over wooden poles in the shape of viaducts. There are many caves in the cliffs which were not destroyed while laying the track.

The Krasae Cave Bridge (Viaduct) is famous and much photographed location.

Reach Nam Tok at around 1245 hr, walk about a kilometer and half (straight along the highway) and see the Sa Yok Noi waterfall. Nothing much to write home about this waterfall but the spot is good to take rest and have your lunch before you take the return train to KB at 1530 hr.

I couldn’t make it to the Hell Fire Pass some 20 Km further by road as it started raining. It was the month of July.

Overall, I enjoyed Kanchanaburi very much.

Some Photographs