JEATH War Museum

Name sign at the front of the museum

File:JEATH Museum 1.JPG

Section of the museum narrating the construction of the Death Railway

A military exhibit at the museum

The JEATH War Museum (Thai: พิพิธภัณฑ์อักษะเชลยศึก) is one of two war museums in Thailand about the Death Railway built from 1942 to 1943 by Allied POWs under the direction of the Japanese, a part of the famous Thai-Burma railways.

Founding

The museum was founded in 1977 by the chief abbot of Wat Chaichumpol Venerable Phra Theppanyasuthee. It is located on the grounds of a temple at the junction of the Khwae Yai and Khwae Noi rivers in Kanchanaburi and it is a part of the famous Bridge over the River Kwai saga.

JEATH

The acronym JEATH stands for the primary nationalities involved in the construction of the railway: Japanese, English, Australian, American, Thai and Holland, whereas the Thai name is Phíphítháphan Songkhram Wát Tâi (Wat Tai War Museum).

The museum

The museum is divided into two sections, one depicting the construction of the Death Railway which is meant to recreate the quarters used by Allied POWs, and the other consisting of reconstructed bamboo huts containing such items as paintings, drawings and photos of and by former prisoners, weapons, tools, and maps.

Tourist photos are not permitted in Section I of the museum.

According to Wikivoyage, the JEATH Museum is considered an insult to those who suffered atrocities, noting the museum's inferiority to the Thailand–Burma Railway Museum in another part of the town.

External links

• Kanchanaburi travel guide from Wikivoyage