Tamarkan (also: ''Tha Makhan'') was a Japanese prisoner of war work camp during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The camp was initially used for the construction of the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

over the Khwae Yai or Mae Klong River and not the River Kwai. The camp was located about five kilometres from the city of Kanchanaburi. In November 1943, Tamarkan was turned into a convalescent camp and hospital. By 1945, the camp was gone. The bridge was made famous by the 1957 film, ''

The Bridge on the River Kwai ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the novel ''The Bridge over the River Kwai'', written by Pierre Boulle. Boulle's novel and the film's screenplay are almost entirely fictional but u ...

'', which was a fictitious and inaccurate account. Inaccuracies include the identification of the wrong river, construction was not in the jungle, but near a city, two bridges had been built, which were destroyed at the end of World War II, and commander Philip Toosey did not collaborate with the Japanese.

History

In 1939, plans had been developed by the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

to construct a rail road connecting

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

with

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. Construction of the Burma Railway started on 16 September 1942. On 26 October 1942, British prisoners of war arrived at Tamarkan, 56 kilometres from the start of the railway, to construct a bridge over the

Khwae Yai River The Khwae Yai River (, , ), also known as the Si Sawat ( ), is a river in western Thailand. It has its source in the Tenasserim Hills and flows for about through Sangkhla Buri, Si Sawat, and Mueang Districts of Kanchanaburi Province, where ...

. The wooden bridge was meant as a temporary bridge, and would be replaced by a concrete and steel bridge. Even though the railway makes an apparent detour by crossing at Tamarkan instead of Kanchanaburi, the ground was more stable and there was less chance of flooding. The prisoners were commanded by Colonel Philip Toosey. The camp consisted of five attap huts surrounding by a perimeter fence. In February 1943, 1,000 Dutch prisoners of war commanded by Captain Hendrik Anthonie Tillema arrived, and five more huts were added. The Dutch were placed under the command of Toosey increasing the total number of troops to about 2,000. In January 1943, there was a

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

outbreak in the nearby Malayan conscript labour camp. In March 1943, the wooden bridge was finished, and the first train crossed the bridge. A bridge in

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

had been dismantled, and the spans were transported to Tamarkan to construct a concrete and steel bridge. In May 1943, the concrete and steel bridge was finished, and the wooden bridge was redesignated for pedestrians and cars. Most of the prisoners were moved to work camps further up the line. In November 1943, Tamarkan was turned into a convalescent camp and hospital. Toosey was ordered to oversee the conversion. He was transferred to Camp Nong Pladuk in December 1943. Tamarkan was not a proper hospital and the medical supplies were limited. The camp was home to about 1,500 men. On 29 November 1943, the camp was hit by allied bombs killing 18 prisoners and wounding 68. Between December 1944 to June 1945, the bridges were attacked multiple times, and in February 1944, a span of the steel bridge was destroyed. By October 1945, the camp was gone, and only the Thayanusorn monument remained. The monument was revealed on 21 March 1944, and made by POWs in honour of their fallen comerades. After the war, the bridge was rebuilt. The condition of the prisoners in the camp were described as horrendous with emaciated and diseased prisoners dressed in rags, There was a large graveyard near the camp. After the war, the bodies were re-buried at the Chungkai and the Kanchanaburi War Cemeteries except for the Americans who were repatriated back to the United States.

References

Bibliography

* {{commons category, position=left Japanese prisoner of war and internment camps Military history of Thailand during World War II Buildings and structures in Kanchanaburi province World War II prisoner-of-war camps Burma Railway Kanchanaburi