| 06:30 hrs |
Meet your private English-speaking
guide in the hotel's lobby. |
| |
Depart
for Kanchanaburi,
Thailand's third largest province
with an area of 19,486 square kilometers.
The provincial area is mountaineous
and has the west border next to Myanmar.
(2 hours
drive)
|
| |
|
|
|
Visit
JEATH War Museum, a realistic
depiction of prisoner of war living
quarters, with photographic, pictorial
and physical memorabilia dating from
World War II.
|
| |
|
|
|
Continue to Kanchanaburi
War Cemetery It contains the remains
of 6,982 war prisoners (mostly the British,
Dutch, Australian and American) who
lost their lives during the construction
of the Bridge over the River Kwai and
the railway to Burma (the Death Railway).
|
| |
|
| 09:15 hrs |
Then depart for Hellfore
Pass. (1
hour drive) |
| |
|
|
|
Arrive Hellfire Pass Memorial
Museum, The museum explains to visitors
the story of why and how the railway
was built and attempts to convey the
hardships and suffering endured by so
many who were forced to work in extremely
harsh conditions. The Hellfire Pass
Memorial Museum symbolises the importance
of this site to the Australian people. |
| |
|
|
|
After visiting the memorial
museum and contemplation deck, we are
encouraged to proceed to the walking
trail. The walking trail follows
the alignment of the original Burma-Thailand
railway for approximately four kilometres
from Hellfire Pass to beyond Compressor
Cutting. Small shelters and interpretative
panels have been provided at various
locations and toilets are available
at the Hintok Road stop. |
| |
|
| |
Hellfire
Pass is the name of a railway
cutting on the Death Railway in Thailand,
known by the Japanese as Konyu cutting.
There is a museum co-sponsored by
the Thai and Australian governments
at the site to commemorate the suffering
of those involved in the construction
of the railway. Konyu cutting was
a particularly difficult section of
the line to build due to it being
the largest rock cutting on the railway,
coupled with its general remoteness
and the lack of proper construction
tools during building. A tunnel would
have been possible to build instead
of a cutting, but this could only
be constructed at the two ends at
any one time, whereas the cutting
could be constructed at all points
simultaneously despite the excess
effort required by the POWs. The Australian,
British, Dutch and other allied Prisoners
of War were required by the Japanese
to work 18 hours a day to complete
the cutting. It was estimated that
68 men were beaten to death by the
Japanese guards in the six weeks it
took to build the cutting, although
many more died from cholera, dysentery,
starvation, and exhaustion [Wigmore
p568]. However, the majority of deaths
occurred amongst labourers whom the
Japanese enticed to come to help build
the line with promises of good jobs.
These labourers, mostly Malayans (Chinese,
Malays and Tamils from Malaya), suffered
mostly the same as the POWs at the
hands of the Japanese. The Japanese
kept no records of these deaths. There
are 4 Commonwealth War Graves Commission
cemeteries along the line of the railway,
2 at Kanchanaburi in Thailand, and
another as Thayzakarun in Burma.
The railway was never built to a level
of lasting permanence and was frequently
bombed by the Royal Air Force during
the Burma Campaign. After the war,
all but the present section was closed.
There are currently no plans to reopen
it.
|
| |
|
| 12:30 hrs |
Scenic boat ride along
the River Kwai. |
| |
|
| 13:00 hrs |
Lunch at local restaurant. |
| |
|
| 14:00 hrs |
Visit Sai Yok Noi Waterfall,
located on highway 323. We can visit
there easily from the car park. Head
back to Kanchanaburi Town. (45
mins drive) |
| |
|
|
|
Visit
world-famous Bridge over the River
Kwai, a part of the Death Railway
constructed by Allied prisoners of
war. Take leisurely walks around town
and pictures on the world-renowned
Death Railway.
|
| 16:00 hrs |
Leave form Kanchanaburi pass
green paddy fields, villages, and temples
then return to bangkok. (2-2.5
hours drive) |
| |
|
| 18:00 hrs |
Arrive your hotel. |