Title: Explore Thailand 2017
Story: Chung Kai War Cemetery
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane

Just outside of Kanchanaburi you’ll find Chung Kai. Now this is a really special place, a significant part of World War II. Today it’s a peaceful cemetery and a really beautiful place to come and learn about War history.

• The significance of this camp is enormous in the context of World War II. It was a base camp for construction workers being sent along the length of the railway line. The conditions were treacherous with Kwai River alongside of the camp. Malaria and other waterborne diseases were common and as the war dragged on and the line was continuing to be built casualties started mounting.

• The cemetery here was started by prisoners themselves, walking on the pathways and reading the names and messages is a real eye opener. Most of the men here were in their early 20’s, with the exception of the Dutch, who in many cases were in their 50’s, even 60’s.

• Trev speaks with Michael Newbatt, Country Manager Thailand for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, who actually lives on-site to discuss the enormous sense of history you gain from a visit to this cemetery.

• This is a unique cemetery as it is actually where the prisoner war camp was so the vast majority of the POW’s here today actually died on this site. 313 Dutch, 1426 Commonwealth are actually at rest and honoured here.

• Predominantly until relatively recent times the only access to the cemetery was by river, the only one in the world that you can access by river which makes the visit a very unique experience travelling via barge or long-tail boat.

• If you want to reflect to think about what happened here 70+ years ago, this is definitely the place to come.

For more information about this story or any other stories featured in this episode of Guru TV, visit Tourism Authority of Thailand, at www.au.tourismthailand.org.

The Explore TV flew to Thailand on Thai Airways. For more information about flights, visit Thai Airways, at www.thaiairways.com