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Written by Shirley T
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Saturday, 12 July 2008 19:31 |
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The Bridge over the River Kwai - The title of a novel by Pierre Boulle published in 1952. The novel was made into film by David Lean in 1957 as 'Bridge on the River Kwai'. Either 'The Bridge over the River Kwai' or 'The Bridge on the River Kwai', these lines spurred huge excitement when I learned about the opportunity to see this place with my own eyes! The bridge became a top tourist attraction after the movie released. A place that no tourist would miss out from their itinerary if they were traveled to Kanchanaburi, the third largest province in Thailand, located about 130 km to the west of Bangkok capital.
 If you have watched the movie 'The Bridge on the River Kwai', the shooting was claimed done in Sri Lanka and the bridge was a wooden bridge. The historic bridge over the River Kwai was made of black steel from Java and concrete crossing over Mae Khlong river at Tha Makham or Makham Pier, approximately 5 km from Kanchanaburi downtown. Mae Khlong river was renamed to Kwai Yai River in 1960 (Kwai means River in Thai, Yai means Big).
The Bridge over River Kwai Yai was planned by Japanese during World War II as part of the Death Railway link from Bangkok to Rangoon (now known as Yangoon) in order to occupy Burma (Myanmar) and India. There was a wooden bridge built adjacent to the steel bridge. It was completed in Feb 1943 and served as transportation to supply material for the Death Railway link and food to prisoner camps. However, it was not sufficient for its future load and a steel bridge was constructed and completed in April 1943. Both bridges were built by Japanese, leveraging the blood and sweats of several thousands prisoner of war and recruited Asian laborer.
These two bridges were used for a couple of years, until they were destroyed by Allied aerial bombing. Three out of eleven spans of the steel bridge were destroyed in 1945. After war, two squarish span were made in Japan and donated to Thailand to fix the damaged bridge. The steel bridge and its railway link are still in use today.
The image of the Bridge over River Kwai is rather schmaltzy partly owing to the history of how the bridge was built. The sky was bright when I was there but my heart was a bit gloomy holding the thought that several thousands people suffered and died as a result of it. May all of them rest in peace!
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Thailand Kanchanaburi: The Bridge over River Kwai
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