Ban Pong, Thailand

Ban Pong, Thailand

This was the extent of Thailand’s railway  in 1942.

POWs travelled crammed into trains from Singapore to this last stop in Thailand before they began marching north.  This is where POWs ended their gruelling 5 day train journey to start work on the Railway.  Japanese aimed at completing the railway in 14 months, or at least by the end of l943.

The Japanese were to construct the southern end of the Thai-Burma Railway from Ban Pong 415 km north to Thanbyuzayat, Burma using slave labour and Allied POWs from US, Britain, Dutch East India, Australia and Singapore/Malaya.

Two forces, one based in Thailand and one in Burma, worked from opposite ends’ of the line towards the centre.When the first of the prisoners arrived their initial task was the construction of camps at Kanchanaburi and Ban Pong in Thailand and Thanbyuzayat in Burma.