Kanchanaburi

The Bridge on the River Kwai

2/2(Fri)	excurtion to Kanchanaburi by Panda Travel meeting with Bangkok-based friends
Lodging	Holiday Inn Silom Bangkok / US$73 per night
Lodging	[booking sites for you / agoda.com Booking.com Hotel Club venere]
Major expense(s)	tour charge: 2,000B elephant ride (extra): 400B
Related Sites	General Links - Asia Thailand Bangkok and its surroundings
BGM	Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel (MIDI)

Full day tour to River Kwai and ride the train on Death Railway
Visit of the JEATH War Museum Ride a a boat to the River Kwai Bridge Stop at the River Kwai bridge Ride the train on Death Railway to Nam Tok Elephant ride (optional: tour charge excluded) Visit of Japanese War Memorial and Kanchanaburi Allied War Cemetery

River Kwai Bridge


The scenery along the Death Railway for Nam Tok


elephant ride (optional)

The JEATH War Museum
(Wat Chaichumpol, Bantai, Muang, Kanchanaburi, Thailand Tel. 034－515203)

History

The JEATH museum is an open air museum. Its structure is a realistic reconstruction of a prisoner of war hut. It was established in 1977 by the present chief abbot of Wat Chaichumpol. Venerable Phra Theppanyasuthee. This museum is now run by the temple.

The JEATH museum was established to collect various items connected with the construction of the Death Railway by prisoners of war (Pow's) during the second world war, 1942-1943 (BE. 2485-2486).

(1) The first thing you will see when you arrive at the museum is the bamboo hut with a collection of photographs. This hut is very similar to those used as living quarters by PoW's while they were forced, by the Japanese Army, to construct the Death Railway linking Thailand and Burma. Actually, the hut is not an original but it has been built as a copy of an original. Here you will see how the prisoners lived while working on the railway.

(2) Secondly, we exhibit many photographs taken of real situations by Thais and prisoners of war. The Japanese did not object to photographs in the beginning although later they prohibited prisoners from taking photographs or making any kind of record because of the bad reflection on themselves. There are also many articles written by former prisoners, their relatives, their friends and writers who interviewed many of the prisoners telling of the suffering of the prisoners of war.

(3) Thirdly, there are many items such as pistols, knives, helmets, water canteen etc. which were used by PoW's. Here you will also see a large bomb dropped to destroy the bridge over the River Kwai and the railway track to stop the transportation of the Japanese army between Thailand and and Burma. We call it the JEATH museum for the abbreviation of the names of the six countries involved: Japan (J), England (E), America and Australia (A), Thailand (T) and Holland (H). The Japanese were the controllers of the railway project, Thailand was involved as the conquered country and the other four countries were involved as PoW's on the actual construction of the 415 kilometers long Death Railway and the bridge over the River Kwai.

The word JEATH also replaces the word Death because it sounds too horrific.

The JEATH museum is a very important part of the history of Death Railway which will complete your visit to the River Kwai Bridge.

WHAT IS THE DEATH RAILWAY AND THE RIVER KWAI BRIDGE?

The Death Railway was a strategic railway built between Thailand and Burma. It was 415 kilometers long (303 kms in Thailand and 112kms in Burma) and passed through the Three Pagoda Pass in Sangkhlaburi District, the most northern part of Kanchanaburi Province. Construction was began on September 16, 1942 at Nong Pladuk, Thailand by approximately 30,000 prisoners of war from the afore mentioned countries and more than 200,000 impressed laborers from India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Burma and Thailand. Of these, more than 16,000 PoW's and 100,000 impressed laborers died of many diseases, due to starvation and lack of medical equipment. It is said that the first survey by the Japanese engineers predicted that it would take at least five years to finish this railway line, but the Japanese army forced the prisoners to complete it in only sixteen months. Thus it was completed on 25 December 1943.

Dear visitors, JEATH museum has been constructed not for the maintenance of the hatred among human beings, especially among the Japanese and allied countries, but to warn and teach us the lesson of HOW TERRIBLE WAR IS.