River Kwai Bridge Week

[Surfcrest]

River Kwai Bridge Week Kanchanaburi
25 November 2013 - 5 December 2013
Thursday December 5th is the King's Birthday


This event takes you going back in time to World War II through the River Kwai Bridge built by Allied prisoners-of-war. This bridge was the part of the тАШDeath RailwayтАЩ that spanned the River Kwai connecting Thailand and Myanmar, costing thousands of lives of prisoners and local laborers supervised by Japanese troops. This event features a remembrance ceremony held at the Allied War Cemetery, light and sound presentations which the audience see a more exciting battle scene with simulated effects such as life-like explosions, flying bomber planes, and trains running through fire during a stunning scene when the bridge is first revealed. Moreover, there are cultural performances, historical displays and exhibitions, and selling of five-star OTOP products, local products and food.

[youtube:1gcztxbz]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxRpPCR7JaU[/youtube:1gcztxbz]

Surfcrest

[thaiguest]

To get the record straight there never was any 'Bridge' over the river 'Kwai'. There was a movie by that name but it was just a movie.
The smart Thais have capitalised on the movie to earn huge income on a fictional version of the real horror and at the same time have thrown a smoke and mirrors veil over their own collaboration with the sadistic Japanese and Korean 'engineers'.
Two thirds of the people murdered and worked to death there were Asians- Burmese, Indonesians and some non-partisan Thais- you can't visit their graves because they were buried like so many dead dogs beside the railroad.- the movie barely acknowledges these victims.

[Nirish guy]

To get the record straight there never was any 'Bridge' over the river 'Kwai'.

?? Just for clarity can I just check that you mean that whilst there may well have been / were two bridges built over the Mae Klong River during the war years that as the river wasn't called the River "Kwai" at that time thus there wasn't / couldn't have been a bridge / bridges built over it bearing that particular name at that time ??

[Surfcrest]

It's a great destination for a weekend or a few days out of Bangkok, on the train from Thonburi. The train will take you all the way up to Nam Tok...which this time of the year, after the rain should be nice with plenty of water coming over the falls. The train passes through Nakhon Pathom home to Phra Pathommachedi Chedi the tallest stupa in the world, where the whole scene seems a bit surreal with the chanting they play from the speakers at the top.

Staying along the river in Kanchanaburi is a great experience, especially in a house boat or a floating hostel...provided you're screened off well from the mosquitos.
Whatever the history is for the bridge, they've looked after it well and it's very photogenic...in fact the whole waterfront area is quite nice.
The River Kwai Bridge Week is just something extra to throw in, if you're going out of town for the holiday.
It's a great place to take someone for a getaway!

Surfcrest

[bobsaigon2]

The precise location of a bridge, or where the bridge once was, is of little consequence except for historians.

Enjoy the scenery and then take a look at the war cemetery, the final resting place of the allied and local troops who never made it home. One of the most powerful and moving sights I have ever experienced. Well deserving of a few minutes of respectful silence and gratitude.

[thaiguest]

To get the record straight there never was any 'Bridge' over the river 'Kwai'.

?? Just for clarity can I just check that you mean that whilst there may well have been / were two bridges built over the Mae Klong River during the war years that as the river wasn't called the River "Kwai" at that time thus there wasn't / couldn't have been a bridge / bridges built over it bearing that particular name at that time ??

In case you're a little slow or a little mau let me say again that the phrase" Bridge over the river Kwai" refers to movie , not to a bridge or a river or even a war. That's what I said and that's what I mean.
I have visited the memorial sites and the graves on a number of occasions- (not the graves of the victim majority though). The place speaks for itself, it doesn't need a fiction/faction movie to interpret the horror or honour the resiliance of human grit. That's only my opinion. I never heard of the Mae Klong and the Mae Kong flows between Lao, Thailand, Cambodia et al at the other side of the country, far away from the location in question.

[Nirish guy]

To get the record straight there never was any 'Bridge' over the river 'Kwai'.

?? Just for clarity can I just check that you mean that whilst there may well have been / were two bridges built over the Mae Klong River during the war years that as the river wasn't called the River "Kwai" at that time thus there wasn't / couldn't have been a bridge / bridges built over it bearing that particular name at that time ??


In case you're a little slow or a little mau let me say again that the phrase" Bridge over the river Kwai" refers to movie , not to a bridge or a river or even a war. That's what I said and that's what I mean.

I am neither of the above and simply asked a question to educate myself as to the facts as your post stated you were "setting the record straight" that there was "no bridge over the River Kwai" hence I merely asked did you mean that at that time as the river in that area wasn't called the Kwai the bridges (that appear in pics below) to cross the river mentioned at that time could not then have correctly been called "bridges over the River Kwai" as that name didn't yet exist ( and again I'm not taking about the movie there but the actual physical bridges).

Just so you know I was taking my information from the following website ( and several others where the information contained on that site appears to concurs) - this is http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-bat ... 2/kwai.htm (http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-battles/ww2/kwai.htm) - as you can see it clearly indicates that there there was indeed two "bridges over the Mae Klong River (which was renamed Khwae Yai River in the 1960's) - and again that is no reference to the movie and THAT is was why I asked the question that I did in the first place, so if the info contained below is incorrect and you are a Thai local with more accurate information then I welcome your correction to my understanding of what the pics below do then show ?. I am GUESSING here ( and I think what may have already been suggested is that the river Kwai itself does not have any bridge but the river Khwae Yai in a totally different location does and that that area of river was renamed solely to encourage tourists - is that ccorrect and what you mean - and again I'm not arguing the point, merely asking the quesion.

COPIED FROM SITE WITH ACCOMPANYING PICS BELOW.......

Tamarkan, Thailand. c. 1945.

Train crossing the wooden bridge which spanned the Mae Klong River (renamed Khwae Yai River in 1960).

Begun in October 1942, using prisoner of war (POW) labour, it was completed and operational by early February 1943.
Both the wooden and the adjacent steel bridge were subjected to numerous air raids between January and June 1945. POW labour was used to repair the wooden bridge on each occasion. Tamarkan is fifty five kilometres north of Nong Pladuk (also known as Non Pladuk),or five kilometres north of Kanchanaburi.(Donor A. Mackinnon)

Tamarkan, Thailand. c. October 1945.
Located fifty five kilometres north of Nong Pladuk (also known as Non Pladuk), 359 kilometres south of Thanbyuzayat, and five kilometres north of Kanchanaburi (Kanburi).
The photograph shows the two bridges built by the Japanese, using prisoner of war (POW) labour, which spanned the Mae Klong river (renamed Kwa Yai river in 1960).The wooden trestle bridge was completed in February 1943, and the steel bridge in April 1943.

This eleven span bridge had been dismantled by the Japanese and brought to Tamarkan from Java in 1942. Both bridges wee subjected to numerous attacks by Allied aircraft during the period December 1944 to June 1945. One span of the steel bridge was destroyed in a raid mid February 1945. Two more spans were dropped during raids between April and June 1945. (cont'd below)

[thaiguest]

[quote="Nirish guy":y3gdwytu]?? Just for clarity can I just check that you mean that whilst there may well have been / were two bridges built over the Mae Klong River during the war years that as the river wasn't called the River "Kwai" at that time thus there wasn't / couldn't have been a bridge / bridges built over it bearing that particular name at that time ??
COPIED FROM SITE WITH ACCOMPANYING PICS BELOW.......

Tamarkan, Thailand. c. 1945.

Train crossing the wooden bridge which spanned the Mae Klong River (renamed Khwae Yai River in 1960).

Begun in October 1942, using prisoner of war (POW) labour, it was completed and operational by early February 1943.
Both the wooden and the adjacent steel bridge were subjected to numerous air raids between January and June 1945. POW labour was used to repair the wooden bridge on each occasion. Tamarkan is fifty five kilometres north of Nong Pladuk (also known as Non Pladuk),or five kilometres north of Kanchanaburi.(Donor A. Mackinnon)

Tamarkan, Thailand. c. October 1945.
Located fifty five kilometres north of Nong Pladuk (also known as Non Pladuk), 359 kilometres south of Thanbyuzayat, and five kilometres north of Kanchanaburi (Kanburi).
The photograph shows the two bridges built by the Japanese, using prisoner of war (POW) labour, which spanned the Mae Klong river (renamed Kwa Yai river in 1960).The wooden trestle bridge was completed in February 1943, and the steel bridge in April 1943.

This eleven span bridge had been dismantled by the Japanese and brought to Tamarkan from Java in 1942. Both bridges wee subjected to numerous attacks by Allied aircraft during the period December 1944 to June 1945. One span of the steel bridge was destroyed in a raid mid February 1945. Two more spans were dropped during raids between April and June 1945. (cont'd below)[/quote:y3gdwytu]

I didn't say the Mae Klong didn't exist, I said I never heard of it.

Renamed the Khwae Yai River in 1960? I wonder why? Life copying art maybe? This is Thailand -what do you think?
I think Thai tourism is doing very well out of the movie despite the real facts of history.
Thankfully the bookshop at the "River Kwai (Yai?)" has a number of genuine autobiographical accounts of the death railway horror on sale. The accounts trump anything a movie can presume to represent.
If they allow another movie I'd like to see the deaths of all the Asians on the death railway featured; they made up the vast majority of victims.
The graves of the American victims cannot be visited either because they were all repatriated. The Japs did a remarkable u-turn once the death of a western prisoner occurred- they allowed burial rituals and a marked grave in most cases though they beat or starved the prisoner to death in the first place. The testimony of survivors points to a superstitious fear of the departed spirits of the western dead on the part of the Japs/Korean operatives. Strange people.