Thread: Hellfire Pass in Kanchanaburi, Thailand

Hellfire Pass (Thai: ช่องเขาขาด, known by the Japanese as Konyu Cutting) is the name of a railway cutting on the former "Death Railway" in Thailand which was built with forced labour during the Second World War, in part by Allied prisoners of war. The pass is noted for the harsh conditions and heavy loss of life suffered by its labourers during construction. Hellfire Pass is so called because the sight of emaciated prisoners labouring at night by torchlight was said to resemble a scene from Hell.^[1]

Hellfire Pass in the Tenasserim Hills was a particularly difficult section of the line to build. It was the largest rock cutting on the railway, coupled with its general remoteness and the lack of proper construction tools during building. A tunnel would have been possible to build instead of a cutting, but this could only be constructed at the two ends at any one time, whereas the cutting could be constructed at all points simultaneously despite the excess effort required by the POWs. The Australian, British, Dutch and other allied Prisoners of War were required by the Japanese to work 18 hours a day to complete the cutting. Sixty nine men were beaten to death by Japanese guards in the six weeks it took to build the cutting, and many more died from cholera, dysentery, starvation, and exhaustion (Wigmore 568).^[2] However, the majority of deaths occurred amongst labourers whom the Japanese enticed to come to help build the line with promises of good jobs. These labourers, mostly Malayans (Chinese, Malays and Tamils from Malaya), suffered mostly the same as the POWs at the hands of the Japanese. The Japanese kept no records of these deaths.

The railway was never built to a level of lasting permanence and was frequently bombed by the Royal Air Force during the Burma Campaign. After the war, all but the present section was closed and the line is now only in service between Bangkok and Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi.

Hellfire Pass - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We were there in May 2012. Here are some images.

I went to Hellfire Pass last month. Took this video on the train from Nam Tok back to Kanchanaburi...



Click through to youtube and check out my other videos. Lots from around Thailand, with more being added every month. I aim to travel to at least one place outside Bangkok every month. I'll write up about some of the places I've been.

---Update---

Kanchanaburi wasn't hot at all when I went last month. In fact I was surprised how cool it was. It does get hot some of the time, but it's certainly cool some of the year.

Thanks for all your replies.

Nice one Stamp.
It's incredibly moving there, especially seeing the little holes made by the POWs driving in metal rods to put explosives down and blow off bits of rock to open up the cutting.

Originally Posted by davejones

It does get hot some of the time

You're telling me. As WB says, overall it's the hottest region in Thailand. When I was there just before Songkran a few years ago the heat had to be experienced to be believed. Picture yourself wearing just a loincloth on a handful of broken rice a day as part of a 'tap' squad opening up that cutting by hand for 12 or more hours a day during the 'Speedo' period. It beggars belief.

Yep, was there myself last month. A beautiful but very sobering place... The work that must have gone into those cuttings and the conditions at those camps is beyond belief.

Was anybody able to do the whole trail? (when I was there the 2nd half of it had been closed by the Thai army)

I went to Hellfire Pass last month. Took this video on the train from Nam Tok back to Kanchanaburi...



Click through to youtube and check out my other videos. Lots from around Thailand, with more being added every month. I aim to travel to at least one place outside Bangkok every month. I'll write up about some of the places I've been.