Bloody Legacy Of “Death Railway” Carries Hard-Learned Peace Lesson

Located approximately 120 kilometers northwest of Bangkok, capital of Thailand, Kanchanaburi Province is home to a dark steel bridge lying at the throat of a 415-km railway steeped in blood and tears.

Sitting at the bridgehead, local musician Somprasong, cradling a guitar and with a harmonica hanging around his neck, emotionally sang a song composed for the bridge that goes, "How many lives were buried here; those who survive must grit their teeth and move on..."

The lyrics echo the historical truth that during World War II, the Japanese forced more than 60,000 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) and hundreds of thousands of Asian laborers to build a railway simultaneously from Thailand to Myanmar.

Under the coercion of the Japanese army, the project, which should have taken six to seven years, was completed in just over a year, leaving more than 100,000 people to perish due to heavy labor, shortages of necessities, rampant epidemics, and other causes, and giving the railway its name -- the "Death Railway."

According to Somporn Ajirasak, a resident of Kanchanaburi, the Japanese military decided to build this railway because maritime transport was vulnerable to attacks by Allied aircraft and submarines. At that time, the area around Kanchanaburi was densely forested, making the railway a relatively concealed overland military supply route.

"They used this railway to transport weapons, ammunition, and other supplies to the front lines to continue their offensives against other cities and countries," Somporn noted, adding that the laborers and POWs involved in the railway construction came from many countries and regions and totaled about 300,000, with Asian laborers making up the largest group.

"For those POWs, death was easy; the hard part was how to stay alive," Somporn said. After Asian laborers died, some bodies were even thrown directly into the River Kwai, giving rise to the saying "one railway sleeper equals one life," which reflects the human cost of this railway.

Boarding a train from the bridge over the River Kwai and traveling northwest for about an hour brings passengers to Tham Krasae, the most perilous section of the "Death Railway," where the tracks run on a wooden trestle structure built between cliffs and the river below.

When a train passes through, it slows to a near crawl for safety, yet even as a passenger, the experience is breathtakingly perilous. To build this railway section, laborers at that time had to scale the cliffs to lay the tracks with their flesh and blood.

Chulanee, a teacher who led a study tour group from a secondary school in Nonthaburi Province to visit the section, said they had specially chosen landmarks along the "Death Railway" in Kanchanaburi for the trip, aiming to help students learn about history and remember it through real-life experiences.

Continuing dozens of kilometers northwest from the cliff section leads passengers to the "Hellfire Pass." The name "Hellfire" comes from the fact that POWs and laborers were forced to work day and night; the flickering firelight cast shadows of figures, resembling the inferno described by Dante. Locals, however, more directly call it the "Broken Pass," citing its topographic features -- a testament to the immense hardship of manually cutting through the mountain to build the road at that time.

Now, a memorial museum has been established here at Hellfire Pass, with the clinking and clanging sounds of stone chiseling echoing through the indoor exhibition hall from time to time.

At the exit leading to the Hellfire Pass Railbed, a quote by Australian POW Max McGee is inscribed on the wall: "Every man who worked on the railway, in whichever section, would have an automatic passport to Heaven. They have all done the requisite stretch in Hell."

A guestbook at the information desk collected reflections of visitors from countries such as Australia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Thailand: "Never forget, never repeat the same mistakes!" "I have come here to pay my respects many times." "A very immersive and sobering experience." "I have learned a great deal and will definitely come back again."

However, in stark contrast to the world's commemoration and remembrance, the Japanese government has covered up and downplayed the atrocities. "Most of the Japanese I met said they knew nothing about it; if they hadn't come to Kanchanaburi, they would have had no idea that their country had committed such brutal crimes in Thailand," Somporn said.

Even more worrying is that Japan's defense budget requests have repeatedly broken records, and it plans to introduce offensive weapons and adopt "new ways of warfare".

Sondhi Limthongkul, a Thai media figure who has been following this issue, bluntly noted, "Japan is very frightening now... its rearmament is a fait accompli. The core question is whether the Asia-Pacific community has a sufficiently robust diplomatic framework to manage and coordinate the risks of this new giant war machine?"

"It is a history lesson that came at an extraordinarily high cost. It should never have happened, and it must never happen again in the future," Sahaphan Rungrojpanich, a Thai senator born in Kanchanaburi, told Xinhua that he had submitted relevant proposals to parliament and the government, in a bid to promote the nomination of the "Death Railway" and the Bridge over the River Kwai for UNESCO World Heritage status.

Sahaphan said that he hopes to tell the story of suffering to peace along the "Death Railway," so that every visitor can feel the preciousness of peace while looking back at history.

"What we should do is tell this part of history to young people and the next generation, and let them know that today's peace comes from the sacrifices of those in the past," Sahaphan said.
-XINHUA