5The Death Railway, Thailand
Also known as the Burma Railway, and the Thai-Burma Railway, the Death Railway has a total distance of 415 kilometers and runs between Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now known as Myanmar), and Ban Pong in Thailand. It was built in 1943 by the emperor of Japan. Its main purpose was to support the military forces in the infamous Burma campaign of World War II.
In fact, forced labor was used to build this railway. Online sources report that somewhere between 180,000 and 250,000 Asian civilians and more than 60,000 Allied P.O.W.s (prisoners of war) were forced to finish this route. Approximately 90,000 civilians and over 12,000 Allied prisoners died during the construction.
It was shut down in 1947. Roughly a decade later, one portion between Nong Pla Duk and Nam Tok was reopened. The section still used today is only 130 kilometers long. While the Thailand-based company has considered rebuilding the entire line since sometime in the 1990s, as of 2021 no work has begun.
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