The Bridge on the River Kwai became famous thanks to the seven Oscar-winning movie based on the novel of the same name. The River Kwai Bridge crosses the river at Tha Makham Subdistrict of Kanchanaburi town in Thailand.
However this is not the same bridge as depicted in The Bridge over the River Kwai film, the original bridge was built of wood around 100 meters upriver from the current bridge. Despite no remnant parts of the wooden bridge used on the movie remain intact, The Bridge on the River Kwai or The Death Railway Bridge is the major tourist attraction in Kanchanaburi.
During the World War II in 1942-43 Allied war prisoners building the Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, constructed The River Kwai Bridge. Is estimated that 16,000 Allied POWs working on the Burma Railway died as a direct result of the project from disease and accidents. Hence the name “Death Railway”. In Kanchanaburi, there is a memorial and two museums to commemorate the dead, as well as the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery and Chongkai War Cemetery.
On the banks of The River Kwai, and very close to this bridge you can visit Kuang-Im Chapel, a beautiful Chinese Buddhist temple.
-Thailand News (TN)
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