The Siam-Burma Railway
The British had long planned to construct a railway line connecting India with Siam (now Thailand) and China and British companies had surveyed the possibility of building a railway from Rangoon to the Yunan province to link up with a second line from Bangkok to the Yunan province but were unable to find financial backing for the project. When the Japanese conquered Thailand and Burma, they decided to build a railway connecting their South East Asian territories with Burma, partly to facilitate the movement of troops and supplies for the planned invasion of India. Since the Yunan was in the hands of the Chinese under Chang Kai-shek, they looked for a southern route to Burma from Thailand and settled on a line from Ban Pong to Thanbyuzayat across the mountains that separate the two countries. Since Thanbyuzayat was on the Moulmein - Ye railway line, and Ban Pong connected to Bangkok via Kanchanaburi, the line would provide a direct connection (with a ferry ride from Moulmein to Martaban) between Bangkok and Rangoon. The Japanese built the lines partly using allied POWs and it is estimated that 15,000 allied prisoners of war and 150,000 others lost their lives during the construction of the 245 mile railroad (at about 675 deaths per mile). The construction is partly memorialized in the film The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Read more about this topic: History Of Rail Transport In Burma
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—Angela Carter (1940–1992)