WORLD WAR 2 THE JAPANESE DEATH RAILWAY THAILAND 

Peter, thank you for that fantastic and extremely moving video. I cannot imagine the hell that those prisoners endured. I still feel quite emotional as I write this. I hope that once you're back in Thailand that you produce more informative videos of this quality.

Back in 1993 visited the River Kwai Area. Just happened to come across the Chungkai War Cemetery about 5 K south of the bridge on the river. Beautiful spot, very few tourists make it to this cemetery. Reading the epitaphs on the bronze plagues brought tears to my eyes. Will never forget what an emotional experience that was. Such a horrible place years ago, now such a beautiful, moving place. Thanks for taking us along on your trip back into history. Yes, a whole lot more to Thailand than Nana Plaza.

Great video Peter. I visited in 2018 with friends, we rode our Motorbikes from Pattaya. That Cemetry at the beginning we signed the book of condolences at the main gate and walked around. I had tears in my eyes, the majority of the soldiers were in their 20's so sad. We didn't do the museums but the train ride was quite good.

Peter I walked where you walked on Hellfire pass it made me cry. Did you know over 100,000 men died building the line that is only 415km long,. Any one who wants war, has something wrong with them. Hellfire pass and the Death Railway is a symbol for me, Why we should not have war. Lest we forget the prisoners from all countries that where POW's at Hellfire pass

The general Thai population know very little about what happened in WWII, or dare I say, history in general! After we moved back to the UK, I remember coming home from work one day to find my missus in tears watching the History Channel and learning for the first time what really happened at Kanchanaburi, and throughout Thailand, at the hands of the Japanese. Of course, they're never taught Japan invaded Thailand, and that the Thai army surrendered within a day! Like yourself, I am interested in WWII history, as my grandfather saw action in a number of key events, from Africa to D-Day (Sword Beach/Arrowmanches). We returned to Thailand for the first time in 2003, and visited the River Kwai memorials, where she spent a good 20 minutes or more talking to one of the museum curators, who looked more than a little surprised at her knowledge and interest.

Hellfire pass is an Australian sacred site along with Gallipoli, Kokoda, Long Tan, Villers-Bretonneux, Benghazi and some places in Borneo.

Excellent video mate. Well done,and thankyou for making it. My grandfather worked on the hellfire pass,and lived through it .

Thank you for showing this Peter. When I was in Bangkok, I wanted to go to the bridge but my ex missus now, didn’t want to do the car journey. Wish I went now, looks really interesting. Been to S21 and Killing fields, somber place. I had a chuckle at the German marked helicopter as I had a green one exactly the same for my Action Man in the 70’s.

My grandfather told me when I was young ,”the Japanese were ruthless and cruel “ At the end of the war,he remembers that they didn’t tell the prisoners,they just woke up one morning and the guards were gone,the prisoners thought it was some kind of trap,and stayed in the prison. It was later when the Americans came ,that they found out the war was over.

Thank you Peter for a fantastic video, I was there in 2015 and walked over the bridge and visited the museum and paid my respects to the thousands of soldiers who perished building the railway from Burma to Thailand The reason I went there was that my father served in Burma during WW2 the story has it he became lost in the jungle and presumed dead he was found by the Japanese suffering from malaria and taken captive and forced to build the railway he survived and returned to Britain after the war ended, my father never talked about his time there but only one member of his family knew the whole truth which she took to her grave. My father passed away in 1996 and I was so proud to have stood on that bridge in 2015 with tears running down my face thinking of my father who I am sure was looking down on me. The conflict in Burma was named the forgotten war for a reason. Thanks again Peter for sharing this video and I admit I had tears in my eyes viewing it.

Thank you Peter…I have always wanted to visit “Hellfire Pass” this video was very interesting and well presented. Well Done!

A worthwhile video, I haven't yet been to Hellfire Pass, but have been for three visits to kanchanaburi . Yes, it is very commercialised, even with children performing music, to raise funds for their education! My opinion is that maybe because of the commercialisation, part of the railway, the bridge and the Wampo viaduct are still in use,and this perhaps is a fitting tribute to all those who suffered there Lest we forget !

Really interesting video Peter, went there in 2015 and was impressed with how well the cemeteries are looked after. The war museum in Saigon is well worth a visit if you get a chance to go as well.

Great video once again Peter, you got lucky with the train pass on the Bridge. I see that nature is reclaiming the Hellfire pass with trees in the middle of what would have been the Railroad tracks. Pretty solemn place to visit and probably a bit eerie as well.

I went to kanchanaburi in 21st the death railway museum was imosional to me then went to the bridge didn't go death valley or the other museum ,will do next time ,had a good time ,cheers Peter for showing ,Jimmy England

Great video Peter. Coverage of this sort of history of Thailand 🇹🇭 shows that there was a time when we would have ran the other way if someone asked you to go to Thailand. Lest we forget.

Another great vlog, Peter! Definitely on the list! 🙏

One place ive always wanted to visit but not been yet. It was very respectfully & tastefully documented by you Peter. Thank you.

great video Peter, I intend to go there for Australia ANZAC day April 25, its a day of celebration of all those affected by war, I could not get there in my 3 weeks in January this year due to covid, I hope restrictions ease by next month. ANZAC day is a huge day in Australia and New Zealand , starting with the dawn service usually around 4:45am, then get on the drink with service men/women and tell all the war stories from now and in the past from your mum or dads families, its the biggest day in Australia without a doubt

Great video Peter. Just to say don’t be upset by those that don’t watch. And take pride for entertaining those of us that did watch. Much like your Grafton Underwood video. Again, always great content Peter.

History can be uncomfortable even gut wrenching, but I think it's important to remember these events in time. If not they might be repeated in the future. Solemn video but fascinating. Thank you Peter.

Hi Peter, really enjoying your video, I am from Melbourne Australia, and the River Kwai means a lot to me and to all Australians, I have been there a number of times, and have traveled a

Great video, RIP to all of those brave men. Many thanks Peter

My school teacher in art at my secondary school was a prisoner of the Japanese in Singapore. He was called Stanley Warren. He painted on the caves they were held in. And in the 70s he went back to finish them . He walked bent over at the waist. I guess from where he had to carry heavy things. Lovely man he was. I think there's a show about him on RU-vid I visited the bridge in 1990, as far as I can remember they never had the museum then. I must go again one day. Very moving video I enjoyed it

Nice one Peter, thanks for spending the time filming this

Really interesting video.. thanks to you both.. it’s all very interesting.. both of my parents were stationed in England..Mom was a flight nurse and flew many missions over channel in C 47‘s.. stationed at spanhoe..Parents were married in London ..Their storiesof the blitz were amazing..Anyway that’s a little off the point but thanks for the great video

My paternal grandfather, who served in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II, hated the Japanese until the day he died in 1995. Grandpa would never own a Japanese car, nor camera. He wasn't captured, but the soldiers knew what the Japanese had done in every place of conquest.

Well documented Peter. These things should never be forgotten

Love Kanchanaburi. One of my favourite spots to come and relax watching the sun go down on the bridge with a beer

I love this Peter. The fact that the site of the bridge is no longer as things were 70 years ago is less important than the simple fact that the events of this place are being remembered. I am about your age give or take a couple of years and we grew up not living through WWII but hearing stories from our parents directly and in a time when there was still so much programming and films about the war. My father was an American airmen flying in B24s out of Italy and eventually found himself jumping out of a burning plane over Papa Hungary. He was first put in a POW camp for airmen called Stalag Luft IV and then later moved to one of the more notorious camps called Stalag XI-B housing mostly British and Russian prisoners with one reason being he was born in Europe and spoke fluent French his mother tongue. He was liberated by British forces on April 18, 1945. When people of our generation pass… I fear a big loss being that the next generation may have no more connection to WWII than most of us have over battles fought in the middle ages. And so any remembrance is gold. I walked the cemeteries of Normandy with my dad in 1970 and believe me… I’ll never forget it. By the way… there is a beautiful cemetery and memorial to British forces who perished in Burma (Myanmar) during the war just outside Rangoon (Yangon). A huge inscription in stone says, “They liveth evermore”. Very touching!

Great place, I have a relative buried in the Kanchanaburi war cemetery, died on Burma railway.

Great video Peter. I went there a couple of years ago and was taken back by the War cemeteries and just how well maintained by the local Thais ,wonderful. I took a train ride from "The Bridge" , which I thought was just a touristy thing a to go across the river Kwai and then come back....2 hours later we were still heading towards Burma......great scenery from the train and more memorials further up the track. I would recommend any traveller to Thailand take the time and go have a look. Very well presented....

i had the absolute privilege to visit the bridge and the pass in december 2019. this video has brought tears to my eyes and brought the memories all back to me. thankyou peter

Thanks Peter. This was excellent!. I didn't know anything about the place or the history. Now I am enlightened. Keep it up!

A very good blog lads, glad the team is back together again, even if only for that Vlog ATM. I have been meaning to go there for the last 12 years but got stuck staying in Pattaya or other places, so now I will make the start of my next trip to incorporate visiting there first. Very respectfully done and being former forces and having a grandparent held within a POW camp I appreciate the work you have done to show us all before it becomes forgotten completely. Thanks again

great video.i did the same in 2017 and walked away with tears rolling down my cheaks, may they forever be remebered

Great video visited the bridge, Cemetery and Hellfire Pass in 2017 to pay respect to my Grandfather who died on the Railway. I will show this video to family members, Thank you

By far this is the best content you have done. Thanks Peter for the info

What an amazing emotional moving video of the Bridge Over the River Kwai and Hell Fire Pass! One of the best ones you made! I've been going to Thailand for over 20 years and always wanted to go there. I'm going back to Thailand in March and will definitely go there.

Thank you for your efforts making this video.very very interesting.but also very sad.your visit was timed perfectly as only you and Simon there.wouldn’t feel the same if loads of people there.tip top stuff 👍🏼

Like you I am a WWII history buff so this video was absolutely riveting for me, just like the one on the US air force base in England. It's hard to comprehend the sacrifices that others have made and makes me realize how fortunate I am to be living at this time in history. I really hope that you can get together with Simon for a livestream down the road.

Wow! Great video Peter. Thank you for the history of this part of the world. I love museums and enjoyed ChuChi Tunnels in Vietnam. This will be on my lists of sites to see when l get to Thailand. Fortunately you and Simon had it to yourselves. I will never understand why people ask “Why?”… Life is meant to explore and experience all we can while we can. Mahalo!

I'm an American retired in the Philippines. I live very near the Bataan Death March and drove it many times. Been to the POW camp Cabanatuan. Everywhere around here is WW2 even a tree where they hung or whipped prisoners.

Very good video. I share your interest in military history. Have also visited the Thai-Burma Railway, Colditz etc. All fascinating.

Thank you Peter for sharing this interesting and informative video. My childhood friend Tom who now lives in Pattaya, visited the bridge and shared his photos, but I was not as familiar with the Hellfire Pass area. Thank you. I also enjoyed the video you did in England when you went exploring through the WW2 abandoned airfield and barracks.

The current bridge is really just symbolic. A very good book is The Colonel of Tamarkan.

Hottest province in Thailand. Amazing place. Cemeteries tended to everyday. Museums very good. British track and Trains. Lovely place to visit hits home what happened there. Prisoners in the river have fish clean their sores. Very cruel barbaric. If you go on the train take care. Health and safety dont exist. Great video mukka

Thanks for this excellent video. Been to Kanchanaburi before but didn’t make it up to Hellfire Pass. You covered it very sensitively. More of these videos visiting different places in Thailand in future will be really great.

Great job Peter!👍 I was there years ago and was very humbled. I had read that the bridge was actually in Thailand, and they wanted to film the movie at the site, but it was too overrun by jungle to get all the equipment through, that they just did the filming in Burma.

25 years ago there were many missing Planks with a sheer drop to the river ! Much safer now ! Sad now how it is surrounded by junk souvenir shops.

I spent a day at the cemetery and bridge. Just like you, grew up with stories from that time and the film. It was a very emotional experience and all visitors to Thailand should make the pilgrimage. Easy to arrange a driver up to there.

Great vlog Peter done all the above myself about 8 years ago thanks for the memories will deffo do it again , Kanchanaburi is a great place to stay for 2/3 nights great little strip with some good bars Earawan waterfalls is a must do as well ...

Thank you for this video, well done. I was last there in 1971. Artifacts laying about, no tourist center, for the most part American visitors very respectful.

I was there 2019 . I was really moved by it. On the trip we had an old man from US. He was a sport reporter in his Youth. He told us how he rember Hitler speak . And when we was walking in the cemetery , he asked me if I had someone there. I told him no, but my grandmother was from Norway...He responded---Brave people... It was a real experience , even took train 🙂

A very respectful video Peter, educational and very thoughtfully done.

I did this along with the museum and I walked the railway , it was one of the most moving experiences I have ever done ,

The bridge was never over the river Kwai it is over the Mae Klong, the river was renamed because the Thais' could not fathom were this bridge over the river Kwai was due to the film and every tourist wanting to know where it was. The river is now called Kwai Yai . The confusion is because the author Pierre Boulle had never been to Thailand but knew the railway was being built alongside the river Kwai and assumed it had crossed the river at this point. Yes the two structures were bombed and that is why you have 2 flat top spans in the middle.

Thank you for an excellent video Peter...I found it fascinating. 🙏

Visited the war cemetery and that Bridge in July 2019, but never heard about Hellfire Pass. Hope to see Kanchanaburi very soon and definitely have a plan to travel to Hellfire Pass. I was also disappointed with all this tourist atmosphere around the Bridge.

Thank you, I felt like I was there with you. I never knew this was a true story, I remember the movie as a kid.

Excellent video Peter - very informative and well worth watching. Thanks, Archie

Thanks Peter. My father was a POW and worked on the Burmah railway. He never spoke of the horrors as he was in Chiangie Prison for two and a half years….

Visited kanchanaburi 4 times now,one of my favourite places, love the history and the general vibe of the place,I hope to visit again once all this covid bs is over. I also visited the killing fields and s21 prison,not ashamed to say it brought tears to my eyes. Very moving and humbling video Thank you.

One of the best videos I enjoy watching histrionic stuff like this

Fantastic stuff, we’ll done mate!!

Fascinating stuff, Peter. A real interesting documentary. I've been to Killing Fields and also the harrowing Son Mai village (Mi Lai) in Vietnam. It's dreadful to think what war can do to people.

Fantastic video!!! Thank-you so much for sharing with us your journey.

Hellfire Pass is very moving place to visit and a credit to the Australian people. Visit highly recommended. Good video, respectfully done.

Handled respectfully. Well done. I've been there and I thank you for your decency.

Well done Peter I watched "The True Story of the Bridge on the River Kwai" first and saw your comment there I hope to visit one day

Thanks mate. Iv'e been there quite a few times, but never on ANZAC day. It make me emotional walking around the area. Thanks again mate.

Your are lucky to be able to walk through the pass! I went about 2 years ago and it was closed! Though it was NOT rainy season the sign said 'Closed due to danger of falling rocks'. What a bummer travel all that way to see it 'roped off'. No rain, no fallen rocks or debris and no access! I doubt if the curators had assessed the possibility of a 'rockfall' for months! Lazy and irresponsible!

Hi Peter. Visited hellfire pass in 2019 very moving place. When you walk towards the monument. I felt like I was being watched,sounds silly I know . But I recommend everyone to Visit this place .also take plenty of water with you.

Another great video Peter thank you.

Great video, cheers. I came to Kanchanaburi in June 2014, but I didn't visit all of the museums, got sunburnt on the river though!

I have been to many ANZAC day dawn service at Hellfire Pass . Very moving as the sun rises to fill the pass with a new day. Les We Forget. Thank Peter cheers 🍻

Very good video Peter I was there 3 years ago for remembrance Day and there was a very good turnout of people I just wanted to go to pay my respects. Thank you.

Hi Peter great vlog mate I’m in kanchanaburi at this moment staying near Erawan falls but will be going up to the bridge the day after tomorrow, hope you’ve fully recovered from your bout of covid, I remember when I got it, it took a while to actually fully recover

Respectful, very interesting video Peter.

Really enjoyed this video Peter,next trip to Thailand will definitely be going there. Been to Kranji War Memorial in Singapore A very Sad Place,its kept immaculate ( my Mother first Husband is buried there)

I visited the bridge and museum on my first every trip to Thailand in 1989, inside the museum itself was a donations box presumably for the upkeep of the place as I walked towards it a Thai man that had been strangely loitering around moved closer and started pointing towards the box obviously wanting me to make a donation something I had no problem with doing. As I folded up 3x100 baht notes to slip into the box he started to insist that HE placed the money through the slot and was very persistent about it, straight away I suspected he was going sneak the cash into his pocket and pretend to post my donation into the slot so I refused his offer made the donation while staring him down much to his annoyance, but the bigger question has to be asked why do the Thai authority's allow such low life behaviour in a place of respect, also the same could be asked of the con artist that hang around the entrance gates of the kings palace are we tourist just seen as fair game regardless of morals.

Thanks. Awesome video and content. Wishing the best.

Great video, Peter. I've been and learned new things each time I visited the museums. EG. I didn't know Thailand declared war on the UK, and the USA, 80 years ago or that the RAF accidentally bombed POW camps located next to the bridge. There's always some good that comes out of the most horrific stories. In the museum, pictures show that some of the released POW's found love with the local women.

I was really surprised Peter but very happy that you visited Kanchanaburi. ( Tamarkan ) and also Hellfire pass sharing with your subscribers a part of Thailand that should never be forgotten it's a very poignant place to visit. There are some expats living in Kanchanaburi if you ever go back I can put you in touch whom have a vast knowledge of the history behind the death railway, there is a lot of misinformation and distortion of the facts behind the construction of the bridge's and the death railway's history. The Jeath museum is a very interesting place, but not all that you see in there is relevant and factual. The construction of Kanchanaburi Tamarkan bridge's was just the start of horrors that was awaiting the pow as the railway moved further into the inhospitable terrain ware supply's were to become virtually non excistant the suffering the pow were to endure was barbaric. There was two bridges that were constructed over the River Kwai Yai (Khwae Mae Khlong) there wasn't any bridges constructed over the River Kwai Noi of which most of the railway followed? At the beginning of October 1942 Major J Roberts 80th anti tank regt with 200 men was the first to arrive at Kanchanaburi at the area (village) by the river named Tamarkan. the prisoners where to construct there own accommodation but firstly they had to construct accommodation for the Japanese engineers who were to have there camp, huts located on the opposite side of the river from the POW "Tamarkan camp" Two weeks after Major Roberts arrival on the 20th October, Captain David Boyle of the Argyll and Sutherland highlanders with110 men arrived and on the 27th October Lt Col Phillip Toosey arrived with 1300 men from different regiment's ( In the film the Bridge on the river Kwai Lt Col Tossey was portrayed by the missguided Col Nicholson his portrayal of Lt Col Toosey couldn't get any further from the truth of the integrity of Lt Col Toosey and his ability as the commanding officer in charge of the construction of the camps and bridge's ) some huts had already been completed on the arrival of Lt Col Toosey who upon his arrival become the commanding officer Tamarkan camp. Work started simultaneously on the bridges at the end of October 1942 the wooden bridge was just about completed by mid December when a storm partially damaged it it was Feb 1943 when finally completed and up and running. The steel bridge was imported from Java it's construction was completed by the end of April 1943. 9 people died during the bridge construction. Once the work on the bridges was completed Tamarkan camp from May 1943 was to become a hospital camp. in mid December 1943 the camp was handed over to the Australians.. just a little bit of fact on the construction of camp and Bridge's at Tamarkan there was also another 2 camps one opposite the cemetery and one by which is now Kanchanaburi bus station, a camp and aerodrome, also there was a hospital camp at Chungkai on the Banks of the River Kwai noi. Chungkai hospital camp was adjacent to the now CWGC site if you had crossed the bridge Peter and walked about a mile and half you would have come to this emaculate cemetery. Hope you find this interesting Kanchanaburi is a beautiful part of Thailand a wonderful place to visit..

Excellent video Peter but so heart breaking, I've shed a tear watching this 😢

Peter thanks for this. I have been there a number of times and shown my respect for the troops (Australian and Otherwise) who lost their lives there under appalling conditions.

Visited twice myself. Fascinating. Both times on the train from Thonburi. A nice journey and you alight at the bridge. Can highly recommend reading THE RAILWAY MAN by Eric Lomax. A POW. Absolutely Incredible story of strength, courage & bravery. Better than the movie.

Yes Peter, Kanchanaburi became famous for the history. I have visited a few times, loved the restaurants on the river facing the bridge. Really solemn feeling once you see all the historical sites too

Great video. Learned a lot. Thank you Peter.

What a somber place. I felt drained just wandering around pattaya with all of the comfort and convenience you could ask for and then some. Could you imagine doing backbreaking labor, being beaten, abused and watching those around you be executed or drop dead? If they were lucky they probably got fed miniscule amounts of food and im sure the water was filthy and disease ridden and the living conditions were made of nightmares. Just a small piece of the horrors of WW2 and even smaller if you consider all of the war and atrocity that was committed since the beginning of human civilization. Thank you so much for this video Peter.

I'll be there next year for ANZAC Day 2023. Any Aussies or Kiwis watching this need to add this to your bucket list. The dawn service down in the cutting is a very emotional and moving experience. Lest We Forget.

Peter your video is not for me about bars and girls The viewers love it but not for me but this video was great I enjoy it never be to hellfire pass I will be going there very sad looking at this . My Uncle was loucky he was in Singapore in 1938 and came home for leave war broke out send him to Malta 1940 he told me everything about it locky man yes Peter great video thinks for this

Peter that was a very good documentary you covered the essence of that place brilliantly with a true feel of the horrors that took place there

Visited there a couple of times a few years back in december and both times it was on the australians anzac day, massive firework displays and reinactment shows by the bridge, very emotional feelings when i visited the war graves to,. beutifull area to visit, thanks for taking me back peter,.

I went to Hell Fire Pass in 2002, the museum there is amazing. It was very moving to say the least being that so many Australians and others died there. My wife said the Australian curator there spoke better Thai than most Thais, so that motivated me to learn more Thai. :)

Great video: Movie reference The railway men 👌

Thank you Peter for taking us through this piece of history I thoroughly enjoyed it

The Bridge on the River Kwai was a work of fiction. However, the bridge in the video really was built by the Japanese using POW’s as part of the Thai-Burma railway and the Thais renamed that section of the river “River Kwai”.

Awesome video Peter👍

I barely recognise the Kanchanaburi you're filming there. I last visited in 1990. In one of the museums, a recreation of prisoners bunks, the walls were adorned with original sketches by a talented artist, he was supplied paper by the camp doctor and would hide his sketches rolled up and inserted inside bamboo poles. Many of the pictures are graphic and horrific, one I remember was of a prisoners hands bound together and placed on a block of wood while a guard smashes them with a mallet, just one of many sickening acts. The doctor and the artist were from Australia and England but I don't remember which one was which, at that time in 1990 they were both still alive and I believe met up annually in Kanchanaburi. I'm returning to Thailand in late March and your video has inspired me to revisit Kanchanaburi. Thanks Peter. Btw, I didn't know back then that some of the original wooden bridge still existed.