Banchango
Looking Back Towards Kanchanaburi From Thakilen Station On The River Kwai Railway.
This line if referred to by many names – River Kwai Railway , Thai-Burma Railway, Death Railway. The Thais also call it the JEATH railway after those who built the line from Japan, England, Australia, Thailand and Holland with no reference to the many, many Malays, Singaporeans and Chinese who also suffered during the construction of the line during WW2. The most inappropriate of the names is probably “The River Kwai Railway”. When the book and later the film “Bridge Over The River Kwai” gained international recognition for what happened during the building of the line there was no river known as the River Kwai. Now there are two rivers using the Kwai name in Thailand - The Kwai Yai and the Kwai Noi meaning River Kwai Large and River Kwai Small respectively. The River Kwai Yai is the one most associated with the film and the book. To bring fact in line with the fiction of the book and film two stretches of river were renamed. This certainly has not done Thai tourism any harm although the area has not been spoilt as development has not been overdone. I would recommend that anyone considering a visit to Thailand should include this area in their itinerary with the War Graves Cemetery at Kanchanaburi an absolute must place to visit.
I caught my train along the line from Thakilen Station. It was a very peaceful place. It was hard to connect it with the hardships suffered by the Allied prisoners of war who built the line.
This photo dates from Tuesday 27th September 1994.
Looking Back Towards Kanchanaburi From Thakilen Station On The River Kwai Railway.
This line if referred to by many names – River Kwai Railway , Thai-Burma Railway, Death Railway. The Thais also call it the JEATH railway after those who built the line from Japan, England, Australia, Thailand and Holland with no reference to the many, many Malays, Singaporeans and Chinese who also suffered during the construction of the line during WW2. The most inappropriate of the names is probably “The River Kwai Railway”. When the book and later the film “Bridge Over The River Kwai” gained international recognition for what happened during the building of the line there was no river known as the River Kwai. Now there are two rivers using the Kwai name in Thailand - The Kwai Yai and the Kwai Noi meaning River Kwai Large and River Kwai Small respectively. The River Kwai Yai is the one most associated with the film and the book. To bring fact in line with the fiction of the book and film two stretches of river were renamed. This certainly has not done Thai tourism any harm although the area has not been spoilt as development has not been overdone. I would recommend that anyone considering a visit to Thailand should include this area in their itinerary with the War Graves Cemetery at Kanchanaburi an absolute must place to visit.
I caught my train along the line from Thakilen Station. It was a very peaceful place. It was hard to connect it with the hardships suffered by the Allied prisoners of war who built the line.
This photo dates from Tuesday 27th September 1994.