The main Allied war cemetery, opposite the Kanchanaburi railway station on Thanon Saeng Chuto, is maintained in immaculate condition by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It holds the remains of 6,982 Allied prisoners of war — British, Australian, Dutch and other nationalities — who died during construction of the Death Railway. Rows of low headstones under mango trees make for a quiet, deeply affecting place. An estimated 16,000 Allied POWs and 49,000 Asian labourers died in total during the railway's construction; this cemetery represents only a fraction of those lost.
Kanchanaburi War Cemetery
Commonwealth cemetery holding 6,982 Death Railway POWs
A story
The cemetery holds 6,982 Allied POWs — British, Australian, Dutch and others. But this represents only a fraction of the total death toll. An estimated 16,000 Allied prisoners died building the railway; the remaining dead are in smaller cemeteries along the former rail route through Thailand and Myanmar. An estimated 49,000 Asian labourers also perished, and most have no marked graves at all.