Postcard from the Kwai River
Mr. G in High School had us watch "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and I really was fascinated with the movie. I even made a model bridge out of popsicle sticks. Well I've finally gone and seen the bridge and all it represents. Turns out that the movie isn't very accurate to what happened with the bridge but does portray the suffering of the soldiers.
One of the oddest things about the bridge (and you won't find this information in Thailand) is that the bridge doesn't actually cross the River Kwai. The railroad follows the river kwai for 300 km but never crosses until it joins the Mae Klong river. The author of the book just assumed it was the kwai river since that is what the railroad follows. When the book was written and the movie made, people started showing up looking for the bridge on the river kwai but the Thai's had no idea. Once the figured it out, in a very thai decision, they renamed the upper branch to Kwai Yai or the little Kwai. The main Kwai is now called Kwai Noi or the big Kwai.
This is all that is left of the original wooden bridge. Actually, if you look on the right side of the picture, you can see the original. The left side is a recreation. The Thai government asked the Japanese to remove the wooden one in 1944 because it was obstructing river traffic.
In its place was built a steel bridge that was actually dismantled and transported from Java to Thailand by the Japanese during WWII.
The steel bridge was also set up by prisoners of war and in 1945, it was bombed repeatedly by American bombers. The middle three spans were knocked out and rebuilt after the war by the Thai Railway. You can see the two spans that look different in the photo and there are still some pockmarks on some of the pylons near the end.
See, we really were there.
There was also a very touching memorial and gravesight for the POWs killed building the railroad.
One of the oddest things about the bridge (and you won't find this information in Thailand) is that the bridge doesn't actually cross the River Kwai. The railroad follows the river kwai for 300 km but never crosses until it joins the Mae Klong river. The author of the book just assumed it was the kwai river since that is what the railroad follows. When the book was written and the movie made, people started showing up looking for the bridge on the river kwai but the Thai's had no idea. Once the figured it out, in a very thai decision, they renamed the upper branch to Kwai Yai or the little Kwai. The main Kwai is now called Kwai Noi or the big Kwai.
This is all that is left of the original wooden bridge. Actually, if you look on the right side of the picture, you can see the original. The left side is a recreation. The Thai government asked the Japanese to remove the wooden one in 1944 because it was obstructing river traffic.
In its place was built a steel bridge that was actually dismantled and transported from Java to Thailand by the Japanese during WWII.
The steel bridge was also set up by prisoners of war and in 1945, it was bombed repeatedly by American bombers. The middle three spans were knocked out and rebuilt after the war by the Thai Railway. You can see the two spans that look different in the photo and there are still some pockmarks on some of the pylons near the end.
See, we really were there.
There was also a very touching memorial and gravesight for the POWs killed building the railroad.
posted by Randall Knutson at
10:19 AM
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