Fay Youngberg - Thailand

~ The Bridge of River Kwae, Thailand ~

Received May 2010

Thanks for Fay Youngberg!!

The History

The largely fictitious film plot is loosely based on the building in 1943 of one of the railway bridges over the Mae Klong—renamed Khwae Yai in the 1960s—at a place called Tha Ma Kham, five kilometres from the Thai town of Kanchanaburi.

According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission:

"The notorious Burma-Siam railway, built by Commonwealth, Dutch and American prisoners of war, was a Japanese project driven by the need for improved communications to support the large Japanese army in Burma. During its construction, approximately 13,000 prisoners of war died and were buried along the railway. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 civilians also died in the course of the project, chiefly forced labour brought from Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, or conscripted in Siam (Thailand) and Burma (Myanmar). Two labour forces, one based in Siam and the other in Burma worked from opposite ends of the line towards the centre."

A movie related: The Bridge on the River Kwai

 

Travelling Bangkok - ThailanD

1st - Art Card, Parfumed & Embossed stamp ~ Rose 2009

Sent 14-02-2009 (Valentine Day), Cancellation on 15-02-2009

2nd - The Grand Palace Bangkok, Wooden Thai Doll stamps

Sent 16-09-2009, Cancellation on 17-09-2009

~ Phi Takhon Mask (Peetakhon Dansai) Stamps & MS

Sent 21-08-2009, Cancellation on 21-08-2009

1st ~ Floating Market  Thailand, Amazing Thailand stamps (from Phahonyothin Post Office)

2nd ~ Wat Mahathat Sukhothai, Candle Processions Festival stamps 2009 (from Jatujak Post Office)

Sent 26-09-2009 Same Date