The Kra Isthmus railway was a rail line constructed for Imperial Japan during World War II linking Chumphon to Kra Buri in Thailand. [1] The railroad connected the Bangkok-Singapore Line westward to the west coast of the Kra Isthmus near Victoria Point (Kawthaung). [1] [2] Sir Andrew Gilchrist wrote a harrowing account of worker conditions. Malay and Tamil slave laborers were used and material moved from Kelantan. Allied bombing in 1945 ended the 11-month operation of the railroad and the Japanese switched their focus to the Thai-Burma Railway, also referred to as the Death Railway, for the large numbers of prisoners and effectively enslaved workers who died there. They moved equipment, track and personnel from the Kra Isthmus Railway to the Thai-Burma line. [2]
The 90 km line connected with the Southern Line at Chumphon. Work began on the line in June 1943 and was completed in November. Equipment and personnel from Kelantan were used. The line was in operation for 11 months until U.S. bombing ceased operation. The line was then abandoned and scrapped for use on the Thai-Burma Railway. The line connected to Ban Khao Fa Chi on the La-Un River where boats could continue transport to Ranong and on to Victoria Point (Kawthaung). [2]
The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a 415 km (258 mi) railway between Ban Pong, Thailand, and Thanbyuzayat, Burma. It was built from 1940 to 1943 by civilian laborers impressed or recruited by the Japanese and prisoners of war taken by the Japanese, to supply troops and weapons in the Burma campaign of World War II. It completed the rail link between Bangkok, Thailand, and Rangoon, Burma. The name used by the Japanese Government was Tai–Men Rensetsu Tetsudō (泰緬連接鉄道), which means Thailand-Burma-Link-Railway.
Chumphon is a southern Province (changwat) of Thailand on the Gulf of Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are Prachuap Khiri Khan, Surat Thani, and Ranong. To the west it borders the Burmese province of Tanintharyi.
Ranong is one of Thailand's southern provinces (changwat), on the west coast along the Andaman Sea. It has the fewest inhabitants of all Thai provinces. provinces neighboring Ranong are (clockwise) Chumphon, Surat Thani, and Phang Nga. To the west, it borders Kawthaung, Tanintharyi, Myanmar.
The Panama Canal Railway is a railway line linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in Central America. The route stretches 47.6 miles (76.6 km) across the Isthmus of Panama from Colón (Atlantic) to Balboa. Because of the difficult physical conditions of the route and state of technology, the construction was renowned as an international engineering achievement, one that cost US$8 million and the lives of an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 workers. Opened in 1855, the railway preceded the Panama Canal by half a century; the railway was vital in assisting the construction of the canal in the early 1900s. With the opening of the canal, the railroad's route was changed as a result of the creation of Gatun Lake, which flooded part of the original route. Following World War II, the railroad's importance declined and much of it fell into a state of neglect until 1998, when a project to rebuild the railroad to haul intermodal traffic began; the new railroad opened in 2001.
The Kra Isthmus in Thailand is the narrowest part of the Malay Peninsula. The western part of the isthmus belongs to Ranong Province and the eastern part to Chumphon Province, both in Southern Thailand. The isthmus is bordered to the west by the Andaman Sea and to the east by the Gulf of Thailand.
Chumphon is a town in southern Thailand, capital of the Chumphon Province and Mueang Chumphon District. The city is about 463 kilometers from Bangkok. As of 2005 it had a population of 33,522. The town covers the commune (tambon) Tha Taphao completely and parts of tambons Bang Mak, Wang Phai, Na Thung, Tak Daet, and Khun Krathing. Its main economic activity is agriculture.
Southern Thailand, Southern Siam or Tambralinga is a southernmost cultural region of Thailand, separated from Central Thailand region by the Kra Isthmus.
Operation Dracula was a World War II-airborne and amphibious attack on Rangoon by British and Anglo-Indian forces during the Burma Campaign.
The Japanese invasion of Thailand occurred on 8 December 1941. It was briefly fought between the Kingdom of Thailand and the Empire of Japan. Despite fierce fighting in Southern Thailand, the fighting lasted only five hours before ending in a ceasefire. Thailand and Japan then formed an alliance making Thailand part of the Axis alliance until the end of World War II.
Kra Buri is the northernmost district (amphoe) of Ranong province, southern Thailand.
The Kraburi River, also Kra or Pak Chan River is the boundary river between Thailand and Myanmar at the Kra Isthmus of the Malay Peninsula. The river has its source in the Tenasserim Hills and flows into the Andaman Sea near the Thai town of Ranong and Kawthaung, Myanmar.
The Thai Canal, also known as Kra Canal or Kra Isthmus Canal, refers to proposals for a canal that would connect the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea across the Kra Isthmus in southern Thailand. Such a canal would significantly reduce travel times through heavily-navigated trade routes.
Tanintharyi Region is an administrative region of Myanmar, covering the long narrow southern part of the country on the upper Malay peninsula, reaching to the Kra Isthmus. It borders the Andaman Sea to the west and the Tenasserim Hills, beyond which lie Thailand, to the east. To the north is the Mon State. There are many islands off the coast, the large Mergui Archipelago in the southern and central coastal areas and the smaller Moscos Islands off the northern shores. The capital of the division is Dawei (Tavoy). Other important cities include Myeik (Mergui) and Kawthaung. The division covers an area of 43,344.9 square kilometres (16,735.6 sq mi), and had a population of 1,406,434 at the 2014 Census.
Ko Kra is a group of small rocky islets in the southern area of the Gulf of Thailand. It is under the administration of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province of Thailand.
Chakulia Airport is an airport in India. It is located southwest of Chakulia, a town and a notified area in Purbi Singhbhum district in the state of Jharkhand.
The Tenasserim Hills or Tenasserim Range is the geographical name of a roughly 1,700 km long mountain chain, part of the Indo-Malayan mountain system in Southeast Asia.
Burmese Malays, primarily live in Tanintharyi Region in the southern part of Myanmar. There are some dispersed Malay from the northernmost states of Malaysia and from southern Thailand. They are believed to be of Kedahan Malay descent. Some of the Moken people in the Mergui Archipelago speak a dialect of Malay.
Southern Line is a metre-gauge railway line in Thailand, operated by State Railway of Thailand (SRT), which runs through most of the provinces in the Central, Western, and Southern regions of Thailand. At 1,144.29 kilometres in length, it is Thailand's longest railway line.
The Muarakalaban–Muaro–Pekanbaru railway is an inactive railway section in Sumatra, Indonesia. It was a railway project of two parties in two different times, Staatsspoorwegen ter Sumatra's Westkust in the Dutch East Indies era and Rikuyu Sokyuku of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second World War.
Mergui Road was a transit route in the area of the Singkhon Pass between Burma and Thailand, built and used during World War II by Imperial Japan. The road connected Prachuap Khiri Khan to Mergui via Tenasserim on the Burmese south coast. It was hastily constructed under supervision of the Japanese army as a means of retreat in 1945, as British and American forces advanced and rail lines were severed by bombing.