Death Railway

The day we visited the Tiger Temple and the Elephants, we also visited the Bridge of River Kwai.  The Bridge of River Kwai is a part of the Death Railway.  I decided not to included this part of our day in the previous post because it is such a somber story as compared to the happiness of seeing the tigers and elephants.
The Death Railway was built from Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) to Bangkok, Thailand by prisoners of the Japanese during World War II.  After so many of the prisoners died they hired 200,000 Asian laborers.  Of the Asian laborers approximately 80,000 died.  There were about 77,000 prisoners of war.  At least 13,000 (actually closer to 14,000) of those prisoners died while building the railway.  Though, it is thought that the number could be closer to 80,000.  Around 350 of those were American POWs.
The bridge we visited, the Bridge over the River Kwai, was actually the second bridge built over the river.  The first bridge, which is no longer standing, was built of wood.  The prisoners were forced to build two bridges at once, one of wood and one of concrete and steel.  The wooden bridge was damaged by a bombing by the US.  The POWs were only offered 2 meals a day, which consisted of rice and vegetables, and worked at least 16 hours a day.  The POWs are buried in 3 cemeteries around Kanchanaburi and every December there is a festival to honor the victims.
We visited the railway at two different locations.  The first was at the Bridge of River Kwai.  The second was near a hidden Buddhist cave temple.

We are grateful to have experienced this trip.  Until next time.