Pathos and History: Walking Across the Bridge On the River Kwai

My visit to the Kanchanburi province and town in Thailand, some 120 km west of Bangkok, this past weekend (5-6 March), was memorable. Among other things most touching was a visit to the Bridge on the River Kwai, made famous by the award winning movie of the same name starring Alec Guinness, and walking through the Death Railway.

I was facilitating a two-week long Workshop at the Redemptorist Spirituality Centre at Minburi, located on the campus of the Ruamrudeee International School. The weekends being free I and the participants had the opportunity for some sightseeing.

While the participants went to Ratchaburi for a River Cruise (an experience I had earlier), I chose to visit Kanchanaburi as a friend had volunteered to make all the arrangements and accompany me as well.

Amphawa Floating Market

Our first stop en route was the famous Floating Market at Amphawa. Although I had visited a number of Floating Markets on my previous visits to Thailand, this most famous one I had missed, and I was very happy that the opportunity came my way. Unfortunately we were rather early, as the markets on the water open only by 10 am and all the excitement is toward evening.

We proceeded to Kanchanaburi after a nice breakfast at the Market and having made some useful purchases.

War Memorial Cemetery

At Kanchanburi we first stopped at the War Memorial Cemetery, celebrating the life and death of thousands of allied soldiers of the commonwealth countries who gave their lives to stop the onward march of the Japanese through Asia during the 2^nd World War. The Cemetery was very similar to the one at Kohima (North East India) that I had visited a few years ago. 

At the entrance to the Cemetery there is a special memorial plaque for the Indian soldiers who died but whose bodies could not be retrieved.

Death Railway

Across the road from the Cemetery is the Death Railway Museum.

The Death Railway (The Burma-Thailand Railway) has a horrendous story to tell.

The Japanese in pursuit of their aggressive plans to conquer Asia wanted a quick land route to Burma and India through Thailand. They pressed into service around 60 thousand prisoners of war from the Commonwealth Countries and over two hundred thousand peasants as labourers to work day and night, cutting through dense jungle and rock to build a railroad connecting Thailand and Burma.

“Their experiences covered the range of human ordeal and endurance, from illness and starvation to slave labour. Up to 90,000 Asian labourers and approximately 12,000 Allied Prisoners of War who worked on the railway died. They died from disease, starvation or brutality…” (from the Commemorative Plaque).

Bridge Over the River Kwai

“The Bridge Over the River Kwai” starring Alec Guinness celebrates one incident during the construction of the infamous railroad.

The original bridge, made of wood and bamboos, has been replaced by a solid iron Bridge and trains are still operating over it. It was a moving experience to walk on the Bridge.

Somehow as I approached the Bridge I felt a sad tranquility coming over me – a certain sense of pathos at a deep unconscious level, feeling the pain and suffering perpetrated by a brutal war machine.

Hellfire Pass

Further up into the hills I was able to walk through the actual railroad, although much of the rail has disappeared, and a gravel path has been prepared over where the rail stood. Occasionally one comes across bits of the rail and the ruined sleepers and some the implements and objects used by the workers on the railroad.

The most infamous section on the railroad is known as “Hellfire Pass” where the rocks had to be cut through 12 to 15 meters using hand-held drills and hammers. At some point the Japanese brought forward the completion date and introduced “Speedo” – round the clock work, fire brands supplying light at night. Hellfire Pass was a fitting name for the hellish ordeal of the famished and tired workers and the fire brands lighting up the night.

One of the commemorative slabs at Hellfire Pass has these deeply touching words which reflect also a deeply held personal conviction of mine – that ultimately it is our loving relationships that really matter:

“It [time spent helping the sick during the construction of the railway] gave me a great understanding of men. And a great appreciation of the ordinary things of life…. And the value of human relations. You know, when it comes to the end, the only thing that really matters are the people whom you love and who love you.” Dr. Kevin Fagan who served in 1943 as a doctor on the Burma-Thailand Railway, as a prisoner of war of the Japanese.