Death Railway Museum -Thanbyuzayat
Details:
At the south end of town. Museum
A indoor/outdooer museum remembering the Thai-Burma Railway, also known as the "Death Railway".
From the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website:
The notorious Burma-Siam railway, built by Commonwealth, Dutch and American prisoners of war, was a Japanese project driven by the need for improved communications to support the large Japanese army in Burma. 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 (Myanmar).
Two labour forces, one based in Siam and the other in Burma worked from opposite ends of the line towards the centre. The Japanese aimed at completing the railway in 14 months and work began in June 1942. The two sections of the line finally met near Konkoita towards the end of October 1943 and the completed line, 424 kilometres long, was operational by December 1943.
The 1956 Movie, "Bridge over the River Kwai" is about his episode in history.
Source: Commonwealth War Grave Commission
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