seruriermarshal
05-12-2004, 10:54 PM
Thailand's infamous Death Railway sees tourist boost
KANCHANABURI, Thailand (AFP) May 13, 2004
Renowned for its fabled Bridge on the River Kwai, Kanchanaburi province in Thailand's west is winning new fame as a top "war tourism" destination, amid a surge in interest for military history and ongoing conflicts.
The provincial capital of the same name has long played host to daytrippers, mostly Thai, Japanese and Chinese, blazing in from nearby Bangkok to see the death railway bridge which was immortalised by the Hollywood film.
One researcher involved with the town's ever-multiplying museums and attractions says the Iraq conflict has sparked renewed interest among young travellers keen to experience one of Asia's most important World War II sites.
"There is the war in Iraq and we are living in an age where there's more awareness about war and we see this in the increasing amount of young people coming to Kanchanaburi to find out about the past," said Rod Beattie.
"Australian, Dutch, English and American prisoners of war (POWs) all worked on the railway under the Japanese, as well as Asian forced labourers from across the region, so there are many people connected to this line," said Beattie, who is also the caretaker of the town's two war cemeteries, the largest of which holds the remains of 7,000 POWs.
Tourists who make the two-hour drive west of Bangkok are greeted by countless vendors selling Death Railway T-shirts and three newly erected concrete letters which unashamedly spell out "WAR" -- the town's prime attraction.
For the camera-wielding visitors, the years of conflict are primarily rediscovered along the tracks of the infamous railway, which claimed the lives of about 16,000 POWs and 100,000 Asian forced labourers.
It was built by the Japanese between 1942-43 to move supplies from Thailand into Myanmar, then called Burma, along a route that engineers had long considered impossible.
It was completed in 16 months, and destroyed 20 months later by Allied bombers in 1945.
A long stretch of the Death Railway is still in use, and sections that disappeared beneath jungle for decades -- such as Hellfire Pass, where hundreds of mostly Australian POWs died hand-cutting a passage through steep rock -- have been restored and documented.
Trains used by the Japanese on the line now lie rusting in the town which for centuries acted as a front line between Thailand and its one-time enemy Burma.
Despite its historical link with the conflict, Kanchanaburi's first war museum opened as late as 1977, the brainchild of a Buddhist monk who thought the centre could enlighten people on the horrors of war.
The JEATH museum -- which stands for Japan, England, America and Australia, Thailand and Holland -- still sits in the temple grounds beside the peaceful Kwai river, under the care of Buddhist monk Pramaha Thomsan, who took over when the former abbot died.
"For a long time people did not want to be reminded of the things that happened along the Death Railway but now many, many people come from all over the world," said Thomsan as he tended to the museum's collection, housed in bamboo huts identical to those in which the POWs lived.
"The old Japanese still don't want to come and remember the bad history but many of the young Japanese come to learn," he said.
That learning curve can be a traumatic experience, according to the manager of another museum, Hugh Cope.
"I've seen many Japanese in their 20s and 30s in tears here with the emotion of the whole thing, they look and they cry," said the Englishman who has run the state-of-the-art Thailand-Burma Railway Centre since it opened in
"There is an entry in our guest book by a young Japanese which says 'Very sorry, we didn't know, the adults should have told us'," Cope said, adding that former Japanese engineers on the line helped the museum with research.
Visiting a shrine built by a former Japanese soldier near the river bank to honour all the railway's victims, 32-year-old Ruiji Tanaka said his experiences in the town had been "interesting but very sad".
Nearby, gazing at the bridge, a young Dutch backpacker said he came here to learn more about his grandfather who survived the railway but died shortly after the war from poor health caused by the gruelling conditions.
Along with the growing number of sites and museums which offer a detailed account of the past, Kanchanaburi also offers its fair share of operators seeking to cash in on the recent rush of tourist curiosity about the war.
One of the town's largest museums offers a wide display of objects from the 1950s to the 1970s painted with Japanese flags and billed as genuine war relics, as well as a glass case of bones supposedly the remains of POWs.
Bad taste is not the only issue, as another exhibit contains rusting live bombs within easy reach of passersby.
Despite the few bizarre exhibits, the town and its surrounds have plenty to offer those seeking a deeper understanding of the past.
Ernie Redman, 83, who survived malaria and dysentery as an Australian POW on the line, returns to the Death Railway each year.
"A few years ago I started bringing school groups with me because of the new interest among the young about what went on here," Redman said while walking along the tracks he had once helped to lay.
"It was absolutely awful, but it was also a triumph of character and the human spirit and I'm glad more and more young people are coming here as there are many things for them to learn and understand."
KANCHANABURI, Thailand (AFP) May 13, 2004
Renowned for its fabled Bridge on the River Kwai, Kanchanaburi province in Thailand's west is winning new fame as a top "war tourism" destination, amid a surge in interest for military history and ongoing conflicts.
The provincial capital of the same name has long played host to daytrippers, mostly Thai, Japanese and Chinese, blazing in from nearby Bangkok to see the death railway bridge which was immortalised by the Hollywood film.
One researcher involved with the town's ever-multiplying museums and attractions says the Iraq conflict has sparked renewed interest among young travellers keen to experience one of Asia's most important World War II sites.
"There is the war in Iraq and we are living in an age where there's more awareness about war and we see this in the increasing amount of young people coming to Kanchanaburi to find out about the past," said Rod Beattie.
"Australian, Dutch, English and American prisoners of war (POWs) all worked on the railway under the Japanese, as well as Asian forced labourers from across the region, so there are many people connected to this line," said Beattie, who is also the caretaker of the town's two war cemeteries, the largest of which holds the remains of 7,000 POWs.
Tourists who make the two-hour drive west of Bangkok are greeted by countless vendors selling Death Railway T-shirts and three newly erected concrete letters which unashamedly spell out "WAR" -- the town's prime attraction.
For the camera-wielding visitors, the years of conflict are primarily rediscovered along the tracks of the infamous railway, which claimed the lives of about 16,000 POWs and 100,000 Asian forced labourers.
It was built by the Japanese between 1942-43 to move supplies from Thailand into Myanmar, then called Burma, along a route that engineers had long considered impossible.
It was completed in 16 months, and destroyed 20 months later by Allied bombers in 1945.
A long stretch of the Death Railway is still in use, and sections that disappeared beneath jungle for decades -- such as Hellfire Pass, where hundreds of mostly Australian POWs died hand-cutting a passage through steep rock -- have been restored and documented.
Trains used by the Japanese on the line now lie rusting in the town which for centuries acted as a front line between Thailand and its one-time enemy Burma.
Despite its historical link with the conflict, Kanchanaburi's first war museum opened as late as 1977, the brainchild of a Buddhist monk who thought the centre could enlighten people on the horrors of war.
The JEATH museum -- which stands for Japan, England, America and Australia, Thailand and Holland -- still sits in the temple grounds beside the peaceful Kwai river, under the care of Buddhist monk Pramaha Thomsan, who took over when the former abbot died.
"For a long time people did not want to be reminded of the things that happened along the Death Railway but now many, many people come from all over the world," said Thomsan as he tended to the museum's collection, housed in bamboo huts identical to those in which the POWs lived.
"The old Japanese still don't want to come and remember the bad history but many of the young Japanese come to learn," he said.
That learning curve can be a traumatic experience, according to the manager of another museum, Hugh Cope.
"I've seen many Japanese in their 20s and 30s in tears here with the emotion of the whole thing, they look and they cry," said the Englishman who has run the state-of-the-art Thailand-Burma Railway Centre since it opened in
"There is an entry in our guest book by a young Japanese which says 'Very sorry, we didn't know, the adults should have told us'," Cope said, adding that former Japanese engineers on the line helped the museum with research.
Visiting a shrine built by a former Japanese soldier near the river bank to honour all the railway's victims, 32-year-old Ruiji Tanaka said his experiences in the town had been "interesting but very sad".
Nearby, gazing at the bridge, a young Dutch backpacker said he came here to learn more about his grandfather who survived the railway but died shortly after the war from poor health caused by the gruelling conditions.
Along with the growing number of sites and museums which offer a detailed account of the past, Kanchanaburi also offers its fair share of operators seeking to cash in on the recent rush of tourist curiosity about the war.
One of the town's largest museums offers a wide display of objects from the 1950s to the 1970s painted with Japanese flags and billed as genuine war relics, as well as a glass case of bones supposedly the remains of POWs.
Bad taste is not the only issue, as another exhibit contains rusting live bombs within easy reach of passersby.
Despite the few bizarre exhibits, the town and its surrounds have plenty to offer those seeking a deeper understanding of the past.
Ernie Redman, 83, who survived malaria and dysentery as an Australian POW on the line, returns to the Death Railway each year.
"A few years ago I started bringing school groups with me because of the new interest among the young about what went on here," Redman said while walking along the tracks he had once helped to lay.
"It was absolutely awful, but it was also a triumph of character and the human spirit and I'm glad more and more young people are coming here as there are many things for them to learn and understand."