The Lost Treasure Of The Imperial Japanese Army

[ThailandMysteries]

Hi. I'm trying to set up a blog or website that will detail unusual facts about Thailand. Maybe you have ideas to contribute. I'm looking for:

1. unsolved historical puzzles and/or legends or myths

2. bizarre legends regarding lesser known archaeological sites.

Here's a start.

The lost treasure of the Imperial Japanese Army

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Fortune Hunters Seek Japanese War Gold Along The River Kwai

The SeattleTimes, Sunday, January 31, 1999

KANCHANABURI, Thailand - Legend has it that in the dying days of World War II, Imperial Japanese Army trains loaded with booty steamed into the jungle down the infamous "Death Railway," never to be seen again.

In the past two decades, the tale of lost Japanese gold has sparked at least six major treasure hunts in the dense bush along the Thai-Myanmar border where the line once ran. Each failure only added glitter to the tale.

Now, another search is being proposed - by a former government deputy minister, Chaovarin Latthasaksiri, who says finding the treasure would be a boon for Thailand's shattered economy.

"It could pay off the country's massive debt," says Latthasaksiri, who also led an unsuccessful search three years ago.

Latthasaksiri believes Japanese soldiers retreating in 1945 buried 5,000 tons of gold in a cave.

A Japanese veteran who periodically visits the notorious "Bridge on the River Kwai," which was part of the Death Railway and inspired a Hollywood film about the torture, disease and death inflicted on the Allied prisoners of war who built it, insists the tales are true.

Full story: http://community.sea...31&slug=2941680

[bkkjames]

Naga, oops that is Laos but you can see it from Thailand depending on how much you drink.

[ThailandMysteries]

Naga, oops that is Laos but you can see it from Thailand depending on how much you drink.

From the Guardian, April 2001

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/apr/17/thailand

[johna]

It was not lost it was buried/hidden, it did not belong to the Japanese army, it was stolen/looted by them,

aren't treasure hunters also searching for this in the Philippines.

[philw]

Just WHERE did all this gold or other so-called treasure come from, if it was ever there?

The Japanese army didn't bring it from Japan, did they?

They didn't steal it in Bangkok and move it back west (towards the advancing Allies), because they were busy retreating to the south east!

So if there is anything of value hidden at all (apart from the odd steam loco, ammo, guns and uniforms for the day they would make a 'glorious return'!!), reason says it must have come from Burma, yes?

So what did Burma have in 1945 that was worth all that effort to steal?

SOME gold from their coffers and/or temples, maybe, but at what point did the Japanese generals start to plan to load it all up, prior to their retreat? And if they'd used slave labour as we'd expect, we should have heard something about it long ago, huh?

And as Japan has since given generous financial aid to every country they trashed in WW2, why nothing to Burma?

And why didn't the Burmese government (pre the junta or post) not demand their booty back?

The only valuables the Japanese MAY have picked up in a hurry as they rushed away might have been rubies. But surely not enough value to get excited about these days?

I think there's no treasure there now because, very simply, there was none in the first place.

Can anyone say I'm wrong - and even better - justify their optimisim?

[Payboy]

I heard its in the same cave as Jimmy Hoffas body.

[Semper]

The wife of a very known politician left the country in a rush a couple of years ago, with a record breaking amount of suitcases. You never know......

[Gary A]

A Japanese general named Yamashita supposedly buried a vast treasure in the Philippines. That treasure was allegedly excavated and stolen by Ferdinand Marcos.

I suppose one legend is as good as another. The Thailand gold was allegedly dug up after the war by the former Japanese soldiers who helped bury it.

[lional6]

Also in Vietnam. Accordingly, Tran Van Tiep, a resident of Ho Chi Minh City who has spent 20 years searching for the treasure, can continue pursuing his "gold" dream until October 10, 2012.

http://tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuoitrenews/society/old-man-given-more-time-to-find-japanese-treasure-1.77708

[thequietman]

Just recently by a thai scholar in Chiangmai............... City of Atlantis.

Doesnt get any bigger than that unless its not true of course. He was very insistent though........

[JusMe]

Try searching for truth in Thailand. About as much chance of finding that as there is of finding a gold hoard in the jungle.

[cdnvic]

Removed copyrighted content and shortened first post to fair use guidelines.

[Pseudolus]

Over 60 years, isn't it just a little bit more likely that the Japanese came back and took the gold away with them?

[StreetCowboy]

There's an entertaining Korean film "The Good, the Bad, and the Wierd" set in 1930s Manchuria, on a similar topic.

SC

[ThailandMysteries]

It was not lost it was buried/hidden, it did not belong to the Japanese army, it was stolen/looted by them,

aren't treasure hunters also searching for this in the Philippines.

Yes, I've heard many stories which suggest the gold was taken to the PI.

People here in Thailand, however, believe that the gold was stashed somewhere near the Death Railway.

[ThailandMysteries]

A Japanese general named Yamashita supposedly buried a vast treasure in the Philippines. That treasure was allegedly excavated and stolen by Ferdinand Marcos.

I suppose one legend is as good as another. The Thailand gold was allegedly dug up after the war by the former Japanese soldiers who helped bury it.

This is a link to an ABC news article, http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=81240&page=1#.UDj4E8HibMM

It talks about how former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawattra took the legend seriously and believed (back in 2001) that the treasure had finally been found.

Thaksin flew to Kanchanabburi and used his satellites in an attempt to pinpoint the entrance to the cave.

Thaksin actually met the King in order to present his "evidence".

[ThailandMysteries]

Just recently by a thai scholar in Chiangmai............... City of Atlantis.

Doesnt get any bigger than that unless its not true of course. He was very insistent though........

Ha. I read that. But the guy was just promoting a video game.

Atlantis is merely a metaphor created by Plato.

[ThailandMysteries]

There's an entertaining Korean film "The Good, the Bad, and the Wierd" set in 1930s Manchuria, on a similar topic.

SC

From IMDB, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0901487/

[bendejo]

Cryptonomicon, a novel by Neal Stephenson (nerd fiction) deals with this topic (among many others).

Who knows, there may be some truth to these legends.

But makes me think of the Gene Hackman character in The Unforgiven saying "There is no whore's gold!"

[bendejo]

Just recently by a thai scholar in Chiangmai............... City of Atlantis.

Doesnt get any bigger than that unless its not true of course. He was very insistent though........

I just read something about this. Supposedly everything we've heard about Atlantis goes back to something some whacko in the US wrote in the 19th century. Before that it was mentioned in two of Plato's dialogues, all else this guy pulled out of his arse.

Sorry, Donovan.

[thaifkrlim]

treasure hunters are likely to find tonnes of war victim's human bones than treasure gold hidden along the death railway

[theblether]

Hmmmm.............posting style similar to MediumPaceBowler, that genius that couldn't remember his sign in password and rejoined as OxfordHistorian......the same guy that had a habit of targeting theblether.

Tonight we have this guy targeting theblether again......methinks we have a bounce back banned member in our ranks. I wonder when he'll mention his exotic girlfriend? What a sad life some people live.......

[StreetCowboy]

Hmmmm.............posting style similar to MediumPaceBowler, that genius that couldn't remember his sign in password and rejoined as OxfordHistorian......the same guy that had a habit of targeting theblether.

Tonight we have this guy targeting theblether again......methinks we have a bounce back banned member in our ranks. I wonder when he'll mention his exotic girlfriend? What a sad life some people live.......

Helpmaboab Blether, your paranoia's run away with you again!Or maybe you posted on the wrong thread?Or maybe you ARE the Imperial Japanese Treasure...As Ray French would say, there's no point speculating..."No, Ray, none at all"SC

[bendejo]

The wife of a very known politician left the country in a rush a couple of years ago, with a record breaking amount of suitcases. You never know......

That wasn't a suitcase, that was a wallet.

[David006]

55555 got all the treasure I need....two legs and a heart of gold..

.but hey ,..whenever I am digging holes around the farm I live in hope....found a rusty nail once...just hope I never come across a Big Bertha/Tom.......yes ! know I watch too many movies.....

[theblether]

Hmmmm.............posting style similar to MediumPaceBowler, that genius that couldn't remember his sign in password and rejoined as OxfordHistorian......the same guy that had a habit of targeting theblether.

Tonight we have this guy targeting theblether again......methinks we have a bounce back banned member in our ranks. I wonder when he'll mention his exotic girlfriend? What a sad life some people live.......

Helpmaboab Blether, your paranoia's run away with you again!Or maybe you posted on the wrong thread?Or maybe you ARE the Imperial Japanese Treasure...As Ray French would say, there's no point speculating..."No, Ray, none at all"SC

No really......this guy was crossing threads trolling last night, when you look at his content and OP style it's exactly the same as MPB......as is his obsession with trying to noise me up. He even started a girlfriend thread.....we know MPB's pedigree when it comes to his "girlfriend".

Anyway, I'm only flagging it up as a possibility......23 posts and the majority are attacks against members, definite troll country.

[ThailandMysteries]

Hmmmm.............posting style similar to MediumPaceBowler, that genius that couldn't remember his sign in password and rejoined as OxfordHistorian......the same guy that had a habit of targeting theblether.

Tonight we have this guy targeting theblether again......methinks we have a bounce back banned member in our ranks. I wonder when he'll mention his exotic girlfriend? What a sad life some people live.......

You appear to have a slight persecution complex.

Try to remember that it's poor form to make statements such as "Britain wanted to colonize Thailand after WWII" without providing a wide body of evidence in support of your claim. Remember too that all such evidence should be double-checked or triple-checked.

Evidence in the form of "I read it on a forum" or "where is Kerry when I need him" will inevitably hinder rather than advance your argument.

You should also exercise your own judgement when citing references. For example, at the end of WWII Britain was in an economic mess and was forced to introduce food rationing. I'm sure you will agree that it would be foolhardy (unthinkable, even) for a country to embark on a new era of colonization when the country in question can barely feed its own people.

As for the two forum members you refer to, after a quick search I concluded that their knowledge of Southeast Asian ethnology and/or anthropology is not on a par with their knowledge of regional history.

The girl which OxfordHistorian describes as being of Portuguese descent is simply a Kristang (a term classified by the Malaysian government as "Portuguese Eurasian"). Yes, these Portuguese descendants can be found in Thailand, but there are better known settlements in Malacca and Penang. The people in the Mu River in Myanmar are also well known Portuguese descendants.

On your behalf I did some googling in order to re-acquaint myself with the Kristangs in Malacca. I found the following article from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.c...?pagewanted=all

In paragraph 6 the author describes Kristangs as having "exotic Iberian features". This ties in with your quote "exotic girlfriend". But none of this warrants debate since the term "exotic" is merely subjective.

You are obviously interested in history. Would you like to start a thread about another "Thailand mystery"?

The thread could be called: Jurassic Park exists here in Thailand.

Google "Thailand's Jurassic Park, Uthai Thani Province". Do your research. Provide links. Double check everything, and I'm sure you'll get lots of interesting responses.

[roamer]

A Japanese general named Yamashita supposedly buried a vast treasure in the Philippines. That treasure was allegedly excavated and stolen by Ferdinand Marcos.

I suppose one legend is as good as another. The Thailand gold was allegedly dug up after the war by the former Japanese soldiers who helped bury it.

This is a link to an ABC news article, http://abcnews.go.co...=1#.UDj4E8HibMM

It talks about how former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawattra took the legend seriously and believed (back in 2001) that the treasure had finally been found.

Thaksin flew to Kanchanabburi and used his satellites in an attempt to pinpoint the entrance to the cave.

Thaksin actually met the King in order to present his "evidence".

Exactly how you would pinpoint an entrance to a jungle cave using a satellite, even one with the best , and probably still classified, IR imagining in the world is even more of a mystery than this topic. That aside, Shin Corps satellite is a broadband communications satellite, can you tell me how that works

[Bagwan]

The Seattle Times was in error in claiming the 'The Bridge over the River Kwai' was a Hollywood epic. It was all Brit except for William Holden presumably cast to help sell the movie in the US. The film although fictional is of historical interest and considered of such artistic merit that a copy has been preserved in United States Library of Congress National Film Registry.

[Ijustwannateach]

I somehow imagine that if the treasure were discovered, the main part of it would somehow NOT go towards solving Thailand's public financial worries.