World War II 'Death Railway' station found in Thailand

Where tourists pose today, people once died: The infamous "Death Railway" between Thailand and Myanmar was built during World War II. The construction of the 415-kilometer (260-mile) line cost the lives of tens of thousands of prisoners of war and forced laborers, earning the route its nickname. Parts of the line, such as Thamkra Sae Station, seen here, are still in operation..

Not so with Nithe Station, which was once part of the railroad line: When the Vajiralongkorn Dam was built in the 1980s, the station disappeared beneath the water in the resulting reservoir for 40 years. But the reservoir was drained for maintenance and the remains of Nithe Station emerged. Parts of the tracks, embankments and other structures of the former station are still visible.

The unexpected discovery of the train station has attracted researchers from several countries, who are now surveying and documenting this once-important hub of the "Death Railway" for the first time. Using old aerial photographs, historical maps and metal detectors, they are trying to gather as much information as possible about the station and the surrounding forced-labor camps.

Starting in 1942, Japanese forces compelled around 60,000 Allied prisoners of war and hundreds of thousands of Asian laborers to build a railway linking Siam (now Thailand) to Burma (now Myanmar) to secure military supply routes. The events later inspired the film "The Bridge on the River Kwai," which made the railway and its history world-famous.

A tourist poses on the tracks of the Bridge over the River Kwai, which, like the rest of the railway line, was built under extreme conditions. Hunger, abuse, hard physical labor, disease and virtually no medical care were part of daily life for the forced laborers. Historians estimate that more than 12,500 prisoners of war and about 75,000 Asian laborers lost their lives.

The railroad became a powerful symbol of wartime atrocities in Southeast Asia. Researchers Andrew Snow (left) and Martyn Fryer, who document its history, have personal ties to it: Snow’s father and Fryer’s grandfather were prisoners of war forced to work on its construction, where Fryer’s grandfather ultimately lost his life.

Researchers and visitors can still view the remains of the Nithe Station at the Vajiralongkorn Dam. But it’s a race against time: Once maintenance work on the dam is complete and the rainy season begins, the water level in the reservoir is expected to rise again. Then the station will once again disappear beneath the water.