Kanchanaburi War Cemetery (DonRak)
Kanchanaburi War Cemetery (Don Rak Cemetery or United Nations Cemetery). It is located on Saeng Chuto Road, Mueang District, Kanchanaburi Province. This cemetery was the tomb of Confederate prisoners of war who died during the construction of the Death Railway. It is a large cemetery on an area of ​​27,200 sqaure meter, contains 6,982 graves of British, Australian and Dutch prisoners of war, of whom 6,858 have been identified. The cemetery grounds are beautiful, lush with well-planted grass and it is reminiscent of the events of the battle and its consequences.
In December 1941, after Japan entered World War II, the Japanese army quickly occupied most of the territory of Southeast Asia. Later in the year In 1942, Japan decided to use prisoners of war and civilian labor to build a one-way railway at Ban Pong in the east which connects to the train station at Tanbusayat on the west side to shorten the travel distance and protect the transport routes between Thailand and Myanmar railway line (In other name, “Death railway”) construction About 15,000 prisoners of war and 100,000 civilians were killed due to various ailments, malnutrition, exhaustion and abuse. After World War II came to an end in 1945, the victorious Allies built several memorials to the deceased in Asia, which is an important battlefield. There are monuments in many countries: 2 in Thailand, 3 in Myanmar, 6 in India, 5 in Bangladesh, 2 in Pakistan and in Sri Lanka. For Thailand, the Thai government and the Allies agreed on 24 August 1954 to build two cemeteries, the Don Rak Allied War Cemetery (Don Rak Cemetery) and Khao Pun Allied War Cemetery (Or Chong Kai Cemetery) in Kanchanaburi. In addition, in Kanchanaburi, there is also a monument built by Japanese soldiers to pay tribute to the souls who died during the war, the Thaiyanusorn Monument. As for many other Asian laborers who died unrecorded, there is also a monument to the workers and the unknown soldiers built at Yuan Temple cemetery and some of their skeletons are on display at the World War II Museum.
Reference: thailandtourismdirectory.go.th
Kanchanaburi War Cemetery Location
Located on Saeng Chuto Road in the Northwest of Kanchanaburi, the cemetery is easily accessible by Private car, Taxi, Motorcycle, Bicycle and Walk. There are open everyday 08.00 Am – 06.00 Pm. No admission fee.
Sangchuto Rd, Ban Tai, Mueang Kanchanaburi District, Kanchanaburi 71000
