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Amazing Packages
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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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Getaway Packages
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