Bridge on the River Kwai

I finally made it. Ever since I made my 1st trip to Thailand I wanted to see this place. It is located about a 2hr drive west of Bangkok in the Kanchanaburi Province. See the map on the left for the location of the city of Kanchanaburi.

The arches you see are of the original bridge.

The middle section (straight lined supports) were provided by Japan as part of war reparations.

Here is the stamp on the bridge. Note: "B.E." stands for the Buddhist Era - Buddhist Year. Buddhism marks year 1 at the year of The Buddha death. That was 544 B.C.E. Therefore this section of bridge was completed in 1947 C.E.




We were in the province already having lunch when the host asked 'Would you like to see the Bridge over the River Qua" (that's how it is pronounced in Thai. My heart stopped. "Really?". So after lunch we went to The Bridge. To the right is a view looking down the track heading west into Burma (Myanmar). This bridge was just part of the long railway that the Japanese wished to build between the southern part of Thailand all the way to northern Burma.



And here are the associates + one friend, who made this visit possible.





There were actually two bridges built. One, all wood, was built to transport the steel for the other. The wooden bridge was destroyed by the Japanese. The steel bridge was bombed and partly destroyed. What remains to day is a combination of original and restored pieces. Walking across the bridge is easy if you can stay between the tracks. But when someone is coming from the other direction, you have to step aside onto old wooden planks. And unlike in the USA where there would be tourist Hand-Rails, not here in Thailand. Your on your own.





The rail line is still operational. It was scary, but fun to stand on one of the out-crops that are along the way and let the train pass by. I could actually touch the train as it moved past me. The entire bridge was vibrating.

It was fun to wave, almost shake hands with those on the train. See the beautiful Thai smile on the lady making the V sign. I don't know why the V sign is so popular today in Thailand. Everyone seems compelled to make it when having their picture taken.

Back into the town is the cemetery which is the resting place for over 6,000 of those who died building this railway.

There were 16,000 allied prisoners of war (Mainly British, Australian, Dutch - no Americans) and over 100,000 conscripted civilians who died building this railroad. For every grave marker there is a family. I challenge myself to consider that fact. I challenge you as well.

I can not thank my associates enough for making this one goal of mine a reality.



And to make it even more special, today was D-Day. I know that is a special day for the European Theater, but still it connects with WWII. I'm beginning there is something to this "cosmic connection", "Karma" etc. There have been too many events lately that are just so coincidental that they can't be just coincidence.