River Kwai Bridge

River Kwai Bridge

The Japanese Empire occupied Thailand in World War II in 1942. The Thai government cooperated with the Japanese occupiers and entered the war on the Japanese side. In preparation for the attack on British India, the Japanese generals ordered the construction of a railway from Thailand to Burma. During the 17-month construction period, from June 1942 to October 1943, a total of about 180,000 Asian forced laborers and about 60,000 prisoners of war were used to build the bridge.