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"
Death
Railway
"
 Kanchanaburi
It
was
constructed
in
1942,
when
the
Japanese
army
decided
to
build
a
415
km
(260
mile)
long
railway
line
linking
Burma
and
Thailand,
thereby
guaranteeing
an
unbroken
link
between
the
Japanese
base
in
Singapore
and
the
Indian
front.
Several
hundreds
of
thousands
of
coolies
from
the
region
and
some
60,000
allied
prisoners
of
war
were
forced
to
work
under
inhuman
condition
in
order
to
complete
the
Kanchanaburi
section
through
mountainous
jungle
territory,
including
the
construction
of
the
bridge
over
the
River
Kwai.
No
fewer
than
90,000
coolies
and
16,000
prisoners
of
war
died
during
construction,
thus
giving
rise
to
the
tragic
name
of
"Death
Railway"
When
in
October
1943
the
first
trains
rattled
over
the
bridge,
the
Japanese
had
already
virtually
lost
the
war
in
Southeast
Asia.
In
1944,
the
bridge
was
bombed.
At
the
end
of
the
war
most
of
the
railway
line
war
dismantled
by
the
Thais
and
today
the
passengers
in
the
trains
which
still
run
across
the
bridge
are
mainly
tourists. To
one
side
the
remains
of
the
temporary
wooden
bridge
erected
during
construction
and
almost
completely
destroyed
in
an
allied
bomb
attack
still
stand.
Nearby
lies
the
modest
but
crucial
Japanese
monument,
framed
by
four
cornerstones
with
inscriptions.
At
the
end
of
November/beginning
of
December
each
year,
the
first
bombing
of
the
bridge
is
commemorated
in
an
elaborate
sound
and
light
spectacle.
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