FILE PHOTO: Prisoners of war from Allied forces — namely British, Australian, Dutch and American soldiers — along with Asian labourers were conscripted for the arduous task of cutting through dense jungle to build a railway from Burma to Thailand during World War II. - ANRI
TOKYO: During World War II, the Japanese military constructed the Thai-Burma Railway connecting Thailand and Burma, now Myanmar.
While the section in Thailand has become a tourist destination showcasing war relics, the train tracks on the Myanmar side were removed by British forces after the war.
Myanmar has been in the grip of a civil war between the country’s military and ethnic minority armed groups, and little information about the railway’s condition has surfaced.Payathonzu
Three pagodas
On the mountainous border between Thailand and Myanmar lies a pass called the Three Pagodas Pass, and as per the name, there are three pagodas there standing in a row. The town on the Myanmar side is called Payathonzu, meaning “three pagodas.” The Japanese military divided construction of the railway into Thai and Burmese zones, and this was the dividing line.
About three kilometers away is an area controlled by the New Mon State Party, an ethnic minority group in Myanmar. The village’s name, which is in the Mon language, translates to “Japan Well Village.”
“It seems to be named after a well that was built by the Japanese forces,” said a party leader with a grin.
That well still exists in the tropical forest. Its circular opening had a thick concrete lid, and there was also a dilapidated water storage tank.
“The well has never run dry,” an elderly villager said.
Along a nearby path, pieces of what appeared to be lauan wood are embedded at intervals in the ground. These were the remnants of railroad ties.
Beyond these ties is a grass-covered embankment, about one metre high and two metres wide.
It is said that during the war, tracks were laid on the embankment and paths for locomotives and freight cars to carry military supplies. A border station must have existed nearby.
Road full of holes
Thirty-six stations were built on the Thai side and 19 on the Burmese side. To avoid British air raids, most were built deep within forests. Station buildings were simple huts made of bamboo and wood, so by now, they have probably decayed down to nothing.
The exact route is unknown because the Japanese military burned the relevant documents. But around 2012, under the Thein Sein administration, there was road construction along the route.
There were settlements along the roads with names identical to or resembling the station names, such as Kyondaw, Apalon, Mezali, Taungzun, Anankwin and Wegare. However, construction had been halted, and most of the sections of road were unpaved, potholed and littered with stones.
The Zami River, about an hour’s slow drive from Payathonzu, is about 30 to 50 metres wide and winds through the wild plains. During the war, there was a station called Apalon several kilometres to the west, and a factory for military machine tools was reportedly built in the tropical forest.
A bridge pier, protrudes about five metres above the water. The deck that once ran over the pier and carried trains is gone.
“In the 1990s, fighting intensified between the Karen National Union [KNU] and the [Myanmar] military. The KNU blew up the bridge deck to disrupt military operations,” a Mon youth explained.
Two sturdy trapezoidal supports stood on either side of the river, while downstream, the remains of iron girders lay submerged.
During WWII, a military base with facilities and equipment for railway and communications systems was built in the surrounding forest. After a long period of time, however, the pier of the Zami River bridge stands alone in its solitude.
Memories of soldiers
About 35 kilometres farther to the north-west, there is a settlement called Anankwin.
In the dimly lit forest, there is a roughly three-metre-tall concrete bridge pier, with grass growing all around it, and on top of it is a small stupa, or Buddhist shrine. It is said that, about 40 years ago, a monk advised the villagers to build the stupa, saying, “Do not ever destroy this structure.”
The Japanese military established a large base with railway and communications equipment in this area as well.
‘Many remains to be found’
On the plains eight kilometres away from Thanbyuzayat, one can still find a hot spring that was dug out by the Japanese forces.
Four concrete rooms for private bathing have been preserved on the grounds of a local recreational facility. The rooms were built for high-ranking officers. The facility’s guest bath area has an old, five-metre-long trough for hot water, which may have been used by soldiers.
Adjacent to the facility is a Myanmar military site, where the railway’s Wegare station was located during the war.
The facility manager said, “There was a field hospital nearby, and my grandfather said he helped bury deceased Japanese soldiers.” He said that the nearby forest was a burial ground. “You’re sure to find many remains there,” he added.
Town for placating lost souls
Thanbyuzayat is about a 20-minute drive from the facility. The Thai-Burma Railway was connected to existing tracks, allowing supplies to be transported toward Rangoon, now known as Yangon.
The town is for the repose of the dead. In a vast war cemetery for Allied forces, more than 3,500 gravestones for soldiers, mainly from Britain, Australia and the Netherlands who died building the railway, stand in orderly rows among the grass. Each bears a name, an age and a message from family. Many of those who died were young men in their 20s.
About one kilometre south, a solitary memorial erected by the Japanese military stands on grass beside a national highway. Entering the woods beyond, embankments that will never see another locomotive are overgrown with weeds.
Tens of thousands dead
Officially called the “Tai-Men Rensetsu Tetsudo” (Thai-Burma Link Railway) in Japanese, the railway is famous because of the film “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” which has the theme music “The River Kwai March.”
Following a devastating defeat at the Battle of Midway, the Japanese military, looking to secure supply routes to Burma such as for the Imphal Campaign and other operations, constructed a 415-kilometre railway linking Nong Pladuk in Thailand and Thanbyuzayat in Burma in a gruelling 15-month construction period. It opened in October 1943.
Prisoners of war from Allied forces — namely British, Australian, Dutch and American soldiers — along with Asian labourers were conscripted for the arduous task of cutting through dense jungle. Diseases such as cholera and dysentery were rampant in the unsanitary labour camps. Tens of thousands died from disease and malnutrition. In Thailand, Myanmar, Europe, the United States and Australia, the project became known as the “Death Railway.”
Estimates of the dead include “13,000 prisoners of war and 33,000 Asian labourers,” as mentioned in “Taimen Tetsudo: Senjo ni Nokoru Hashi” (The Thai-Burma Railway: Bridges left on the battlefield), written by Toshio Hiroike and published by The Yomiuri Shimbun. However, no precise records exist.
The railway is considered to have had insufficient logistics capabilities as it was a single-track line and suffered from frequent landslides, bridge washouts and derailments. To avoid British air raids, operations were reportedly restricted to the nighttime.
Japan expected to play leading role
Along the Myanmar section of the railway, the situation has deteriorated, due to the 2021 military coup and the encroachment of China-affiliated fraud groups.
Based near the borders of China and Thailand, groups conducting fraud online and internationally have begun building bases and casinos in Payathonzu, raising concerns that the town might become a new hotbed for international crime.
“Chinese nationals are expanding their area of operations to Payathonzu,” said a senior official of the KNU in July. “Their aim is not to avoid crackdowns, but to expand their bases in Myanmar.”
The fraud groups first set up bases in the state of Shan, which borders China. Then they advanced south to Myawaddy, a city bordering Thailand, several years ago. And continuing farther south, they eventually hit Payathonzu. Since May 2024, local digital media outlets have been reporting that Chinese nationals are “operating casinos and conducting fraud in Payathonzu.”
Since the 2021 coup, the Myanmar military has been battling armed groups including ethnic minority forces in many parts of the country, making it virtually impossible to follow the Myanmar section of the Thai-Burma Railway. The military plans to hold a general election in December to effectively make the military regime permanent, raising concerns that conflict with ethnic minority groups will intensify.
The people of Myanmar are striving for democracy and peace. The international community must help to achieve these goals and eradicate international crime. Japan has an invaluable part to play.
For the future good of the region, Japan should propose that the Thai-Burma Railway, known as the “Death Railway” in the 20th century, be transformed into the “Route of Peace and Prosperity” in the 21st century.
When the Thai-Burma Railway was being built, the Japanese military discussed nearly 10 routes and concluded that the one through Payathonzu was best.
From Payathonzu to Thanbyuzayat, it is only about 100 kilometres. Why not build a road facilitating shipping that meets international standards along this route, instead of building a railway, which would require much funding and time?
If the road links up with the Southern Economic Corridor — which connects Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam — there will be a major artery tying the South China Sea with the Indian Ocean. It will bring economic benefits to Myanmar and other countries along the network, as well as to Japanese companies.
Given the current circumstances, this may sound like a pipe dream. However, if Japan can get the United States, Europe and countries along the artery to cooperate in turning the Thai-Burma Railway into a road for peace and prosperity, it may also serve to placate the souls of those who died constructing the railway. - The Japan News/ANN
