Thailand Plans New Train Lines Where ‘Death Railway’ Stood

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Thailand Plans New Train Lines Where ‘Death Railway’ Stood

By JAMES HOOKWAY

HELLFIRE PASS, Thailand—Seventy years after the end of World War II, plans are again being laid to build a railway through the thick jungle separating Thailand from what was then Burma.

More than 100,000 laborers and Allied prisoners of war died building the original line from Bangkok to Yangon to supply Japan’s imperial army.

It became known as the Death Railway. Descendants of those who died still make their way to visit the graves of prisoners who succumbed to starvation, beatings and disease at sites such as Hellfire Pass near the border with modern-day Myanmar. Only remnants of the line exist after it fell into disuse after the war.

This time, Thailand is trying to entice China and Japan to compete to build a railroad on a different route to Myanmar’s coast, in one of the most vivid examples yet of how Asia’s mania for railroads could open up the continent, much as trains transformed the economy and landscape of North America in the 19th century.

“It would save a lot of time in moving goods across Southeast Asia,” Thailand’s economic planning chief, Somkid Jatusripitak, said from his office in Bangkok.

Full story: http://www.wsj.com/articles/thailand-plans-new-train-lines-where-death-railway-stood-1453431093

-- Wall Street Journal

[trogers]

And we will use farang labour to build it to re-enact history...

[DrTuner]

And we will use farang labour to build it to re-enact history...

And Japanese foremen.

[canuckamuck]

Will they be required to whistle while they work?

[khun custard]

“It would save a lot of time in moving goods across Southeast Asia,” Thailand’s economic planning chief, Somkid Jatusripitak, said from his office in Bangkok

From where to where and what??

Yesterday it was the TAT chief shootin' the breeze with a tourist entry visa/tax

Must be annual performance review time & 2016/17 budget submissions requiring a dissertation in 20 words or less - Innovations most likely to piss-off Falangs on TV!!

[Artisi]

Think we should tone down the jokes relating to the thousands of Aussie, Brits and other nations along with many thousands of labourer's who perished under horrendous, brutal and inhumane contains building the Thai-Burma railway.

[gandalf12]

And we will use farang labour to build it to re-enact history...

And Japanese foremen.

Dont forget Korean

[taony]

How about they just start by fixing what they already have? I cross five tracks each day on my bicycle in bkk and its a wonder there isn't a derailment each and every day.

[lvr181]

How about they just start by fixing what they already have? I cross five tracks each day on my bicycle in bkk and its a wonder there isn't a derailment each and every day.

NO NO cannot fix, not know how. We just build new only

[Artisi]

And we will use farang labour to build it to re-enact history...

And Japanese foremen.

Dont forget Korean

And Indian

[jalansanitwong]

Will they be required to whistle while they work?

I cant stand that tune... Bridge on the river Kwai movie?

[Artisi]

Will they be required to whistle while they work?

I cant stand that tune... Bridge on the river Kwai movie?

I wouldn't worry too much about it, the movie was a lot of crap anyway - so far removed from reality it was out of sight ......

The tune is "Colonel Bogey March"

Edited January 23, 2016 by Artisi

[noitom]

A preposterous notion to have the Japanese build this preposterous railway. The Japanese, the Thai allies against the US, UK, and Australia, noted for their brutality and savagery in their treatment of captured allied prisoners of war, It would be fitting to see their name on the construction site marquees for this bridge project. A horrible notion.

[oldsailor35]

Thailand cannot maintain the railway lines it has now. Last year i did the return trip by rail from Suratthani to Malaysia. Coming back i noticed how comfortable the Malaysian segment of the journey was, in fact to quote another public carrier "Smooth as Silk" And then suddenly the ride became "clatter clatter bang , rock and roll clatter bang"

Guess what, we had just crossed the border into Thailand, same train carriages, same railway lines, but the excellent ' in condition concrete sleepers' of the Malaysian railways became rotten old timber or out of date concrete ones in use by Thai Railways. Too far from Bangkok to properly maintain.

[Artisi]

Will they be required to whistle while they work?

I cant stand that tune... Bridge on the river Kwai movie?

I wouldn't worry too much about it, the movie was a lot of crap anyway - so far removed from reality it was out of sight ......

The tune is "Colonel Bogey March"

If you sing the WWII parody it might help:

Hitler has only got one ball,

Göring has two but very small,

Himmler has something sim'lar,

But poor old Goebbels has no balls at all.

Edited January 23, 2016 by Artisi

[Tom Cahill]

Thailand cannot maintain the railway lines it has now. Last year i did the return trip by rail from Suratthani to Malaysia. Coming back i noticed how comfortable the Malaysian segment of the journey was, in fact to quote another public carrier "Smooth as Silk" And then suddenly the ride became "clatter clatter bang , rock and roll clatter bang"

Guess what, we had just crossed the border into Thailand, same train carriages, same railway lines, but the excellent ' in condition concrete sleepers' of the Malaysian railways became rotten old timber or out of date concrete ones in use by Thai Railways. Too far from Bangkok to properly maintain.

A bit more to that story. I worked on it and the Malaysians have fallen very short from getting a better deal when you find out what they've got for their money---which was criminally installed by Balfour Beatty Ansaldo Systems. Fortunately the Thais have managed to put a stop on the robbery in their territory and you got a slightly less comfortable ride. By the way, the important parts of the system weren't put in by Malaysians, but British contractors, getting £400 per day + hotels, flights, food allowance and all that money's gone back to the UK so it's not gone into the Malaysian economy for the most part. I've put a lot online about it, and there's ongoing police investigations in the Malaysia and the UK, and people will eventually go to prison over it.

There's nothing wrong with a bumpy ride if it costs the country a fraction of the cost to maintain and you get to travel the length of the country for less than a tenth what you'd pay in the UK; but get better food, sleeping carriages, and non-artificail air, if you want.

[Artisi]

"Fortunately the Thais have managed to put a stop on the robbery in their territory ...."

I think you meant that the Thai's couldn't screw enough out of line their own pockets , therefore it wasn't even a consideration....

[soc]

What about using Japanese & Korean workers with UK, Aussie & US Foremen.

Hard timetable & no media scrutiny.

[bangon04]

"in one of the most vivid examples yet of how Asia’s mania for railroads could open up the continent, much as trains transformed the economy and landscape of North America in the 19th century.

“It would save a lot of time in moving goods across Southeast Asia,” Thailand’s economic planning chief, Somkid Jatusripitak, said from his office in Bangkok."

Did they mean to imply that Thailand is mulling the possibility of following the example of a foreign country and catching up with the developed world? Sounds a bit like it...

Look forward to the Thai-Nippon Friendship Railway Version 2.0

[jesimps]

Will they be required to whistle while they work?

I cant stand that tune... Bridge on the river Kwai movie?

Greatest protest tune ever. The only way the prisoners could get back at the Japs and Koreans without losing their heads.

[lvr181]

Will they be required to whistle while they work?

I cant stand that tune... Bridge on the river Kwai movie?

I wouldn't worry too much about it, the movie was a lot of crap anyway - so far removed from reality it was out of sight ......

The tune is "Colonel Bogey March"

If you sing the WWII parody it might help:

Hitler has only got one ball,

Göring has two but very small,

Himmler has something sim'lar,

But poor old Goebbels has no balls at all.

As an ex-serviceman that is one "ditty" (or dite in French) I have never forgotten

[Ricardo]

I never realised that the potential-market, for freight from Cambodia to Burma, was so large as to be able to justify a twin-track railway project ?

[khun custard]

I never realised that the potential-market, for freight from Cambodia to Burma, was so large as to be able to justify a twin-track railway project ?

Drugs, illegal teak, human trafficking coming in and vast qualities of beer and basic consumables going out would be most peoples first thought!!

For the Thai's, shipping to Burma is cost and time prohibitive and the existing roads on the Burma side are treacherous for trucks.

I wonder if they know that the other difficult sections of the old Burma Railway route are now underwater in large dams constructed by the Thais?

5+ years ago, the Burmese had a plan to build a major sea terminal hub south of Yangon and a train link to BKK which was to effectively cut 3 days off the sea passage for ships coming to/from Suez and eliminate the need to stop in Singapore.

Perhaps this is one and the same but it is now a Thai innovation?

Edited January 23, 2016 by khun custard

[JAG]

I never realised that the potential-market, for freight from Cambodia to Burma, was so large as to be able to justify a twin-track railway project ?

Drugs, illegal teak, human trafficking coming in and vast qualities of beer and basic consumables going out would be most peoples first thought!!

For the Thai's, shipping to Burma is cost and time prohibitive and the existing roads on the Burma side are treacherous for trucks.

I wonder if they know that the other difficult sections of the old Burma Railway route are now underwater in large dams constructed by the Thais?

5+ years ago, the Burmese had a plan to build a major sea terminal hub south of Yangon and a train link to BKK which was to effectively cut 3 days off the sea passage for ships coming to/from Suez and eliminate the need to stop in Singapore.

Perhaps this is one and the same but it is now a Thai innovation?

Ah a Hub, that explains the idea!

[Living in a cartoon]

Hellfire Pass is hallowed ground.

The absolute misery that those brave Australian POW soldiers endured and succumbed to there is unspeakable. The treatment of those men by the JIA makes me ashamed to be part of the same species as the J*ps.

The Thais, as is their wont, took the coward way out. The USA should have acceded to the British demands at the end of the war to punish the Thais for their Quisling behavior. For crying out loud, Thailand became military allies of the J*ps!

Build your god-damned rail somewhere else. Whats next, pave over that Aussie burial site in Kanchanaburi for a parking lot?

What the hell is wrong with these people.

There, I vented. But still don't feel better.

[BSJ]

"Time heals all wounds".......apparently not!

[harrry]

Hellfire Pass is hallowed ground.

The absolute misery that those brave Australian POW soldiers endured and succumbed to there is unspeakable. The treatment of those men by the JIA makes me ashamed to be part of the same species as the J*ps.

The Thais, as is their wont, took the coward way out. The USA should have acceded to the British demands at the end of the war to punish the Thais for their Quisling behavior. For crying out loud, Thailand became military allies of the J*ps!

Build your god-damned rail somewhere else. Whats next, pave over that Aussie burial site in Kanchanaburi for a parking lot?

What the hell is wrong with these people.

There, I vented. But still don't feel better.

I agree with the first part and think less of the US for it however that was then. It may be best to have the railway and as people ride on it they may think of those who built its foundations with their lives.

[EyesWideOpen]

Hellfire Pass is hallowed ground.

The absolute misery that those brave Australian POW soldiers endured and succumbed to there is unspeakable. The treatment of those men by the JIA makes me ashamed to be part of the same species as the J*ps.

The Thais, as is their wont, took the coward way out. The USA should have acceded to the British demands at the end of the war to punish the Thais for their Quisling behavior. For crying out loud, Thailand became military allies of the J*ps!

Build your god-damned rail somewhere else. Whats next, pave over that Aussie burial site in Kanchanaburi for a parking lot?

What the hell is wrong with these people.

There, I vented. But still don't feel better.

The British demands post world war 2 went a bit beyond

punishment. In essence they wanted Thailand to be

awarded to Britain as punishment for Thailand's

heinous behavior during the war. Too bad it did not

happen, because if it did there would be rule of law

like other British colonies, instead of the governmental

mess they have now.

Japan did not want to send front line troops to work

on the railroad. So the foremen who were so fond

of beating the workers with bamboo poles were in

fact Korean. A fact I suppose that has not been lost

upon anyone who worked on the railroad. And yes

this is indeed hallowed ground. Sigh, but I suppose

nothing is hallowed to Thailand who seem to have a

poor grasp and memory of history........

[MaiChai]

I can't imagine it would follow the exact route of the original railway. Railways make sense. Hauling stuff via truck is so inefficient and costly. Think of those trains hauling wagon after wagon of fuel. How many trucks and drivers would you need to do that!

[mikebell]

It will become Death Railway Mark 2 if the Thais build it!