The line today runs up to Nam Tok, about half its original route up to the Three Pagodas Pass and into Myanmar. Photo: Approaching the Wampo Viaduct from Nam Tok. The train comes to a crawl as it prepares to creak over the pack of cards wooden bridge, or Wampo Viaduct. From Nong Pladuk it weaves slowly northwestwards through dust bowl suburbian planes to Kanchanaburi – home to the infamous Bridge Over the River Kwai After the train crosses the river and legendary bridge the scenery becomes steadily more spectacular with jungle, mountains, and the winding river to the left hand side. The Death Railway itself starts in Nong Pladuk, about 50km west of Bangkok, where the line meets the Bangkok – Singapore express route. When I arrived in Thailand a week ago the history/railway geek in me knew that I had to go and see it.

I’d heard about the history of the Death Railway at school, but it wasn’t until watching The Railway Man which stars Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman (a watch I recommend) on a flight last year that I learnt some about it. The “ Death Railway ” was built during World War Two between 19 with the aim of linking Thailand to Myanmar (Burma) by rail so that Japanese forces, who had invaded Thailand at the time, could move weapons, soldiers and equipment into Myanmar and push the allied forces further back into India and beyond.ĭuring less than two years of building this railway, over 100,000 people died.

Looking out at the way the river meets the jungle that meets the mountains in a perfect crescendo of nature, I’d never have guessed that this natural beauty was once witness to something near hell.

To helfire and back