Visit Hellfire Pass (Kanchanaburi)

Hellfire Pass is a 4 km stretch of the Death Railway, the railway that should link Thailand to Burma. The work was done by prisoners of Japanese soldiers who cut a long trench in a huge rock mass to allow the train to pass through. The pass is 500 meters long and 26 meters high. It was nicknamed Hellfire Pass by the prisoners because of the torches that lit the place at night to allow the continuation of the work. Australian, British, Dutch and other prisoners were forced by the Japanese to work 18 hours per day. However, the majority of deaths occurred among workers mostly Malay, Chinese, Tamil, the Japanese have attract to come to work here with false jobs offers. 100,000 forced laborers and 16,000 prisoners of war have lost their lives in the construction of the Hellfire Pass. Today, this part of the railway is no longer in service. The Death Railway is now only in service between Bangkok and Nam Tok

Apart from this famous pass of wich the film The Railway Man tells part of the story, you can also visit the Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum which traces the history of the place. This museum is run by Australians, under the auspices of the Australian War Graves Office.

Each year, on November 11 (Armistice) there is a memorial service held in the Hellfire Pass. A ceremony is also held every April 25, on ANZAC Day (national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that celebrates all their dead compatriots in all wars).