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A DAY-TRIP TO KANCHANABURI

คำนำ แบบฝึกหัดการอ่านและการเขียน ภาษาอังกฤษโดยใช้ข้อมูลเกี่ยวกับท้องถิ่นใน จังหวัดกาญจนบุรี จัดทำขึ้นเพื่อใช้เป็นสื่อเสริม การเรียนการสอน เพื่อให้สอดคล้องกับหลักสูตร จัดการศึกษาขั้นพื้นฐานพุทธศักราช 2544 ที่ ต้องการให้โรงเรียนนำแหล่งการเรียนรู้ที่สำคัญ ในท้องถิ่นมาใช้ในการจัดกิจกรรมการเรียนการ สอน เพื่อให้เกิดความ มีจิตสำนึกรักท้องถิ่นของ ตน จัดกระบวนการเรียนรู้เพื่อให้เกิดทักษะ การ ฟัง การพูด การอ่านและการเขียน นอกจากนั้น การจัด ปฏิบัติจริงทั้งในห้องเรียน และนอก ห้องเรียนเพื่อให้นักเรียนมีความสามรถในทักษะ การสื่อสารได้จริงด้วย

The History and geography of Kanchanaburi

1. PRASAT MUANG SINGH RUIN 2. NAMTOK RAILWAY STATION 3. LAVA CAVE 4. SAI YOK WATERFALL 5. HINDARD HOT SPRING 6. KHAO LAEM DAM 7. THREE PAGODAS PASS 8. ERAWAN WATERFALL 9. SRI NAKHARIN DAM

The History and geography of Kanchanaburi The Burmar Railway, also known also as the Death Railway, the Thailand Burma Railway and similar names, is a 415 km(258 miles) railway between Bangkok, Thailand and Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar), built by the Empire of Japan during World War II, to support its forces in the Burma campaign.

A DAY-TRIP TO KANCHANABURI Guide : Before we arrive in Kanchanaburi, I’d like to give you brief information on its geography and related historical events.

A DAY-TRIP TO KANCHANABURI Kanchanaburi is 129 kilometers west of Bangkok. It is a mountainous province and the source of two rivers, the Kwae Noi River and the Kwae Yai River, which meet and form the Mae Klong River at Pak Praek district. Kanchanaburi is famous for its lush green jungles, rivers, caves, waterfalls, gem fields and archaeological sites. During the Old Stone Age, the Middle Stone Age and the New Stone Age Kanchanaburi was home of pre-historic settlement, about 4,000 years ago.

A DAY-TRIP TO KANCHANABURI The Neolithic burial ground was discovered by a Dutch prisoner-of-war while working on the Death Railway. Bones and artifacts of the prehistoric people are on the Death Railway. Bones and artifacts of the prehistoric people are on display at Ban Kao Neolithic Museum on the bank of the Kwae Noi River. Kanchanaburi is also best known for the Bridge over the River Kwae, which was filmed famous by the movie of the same name, which was filmed here on location

Cemeteries and memorials

Cemeteries and memorials The graves of the people who died a brutal death were transferred from camp burial grounds and solitary sites along the railway to three war cemeteries after the war, except for Americans, who repatriated. The main POWs cemetery is in the city of Kanchanaburi, where 6,982 POWs are buried, mostly British, Australian, Dutch and Canadians. A smaller cemetery a bit farther outside city is Chung Kai with 1,750 graves.

Cemeteries and memorials At Thanbyuzayat in Myanmar there are some 3,800 burials of POWs who died on the Northern part of the line, to Niece. The three cemeteries are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Cemeteries and memorials There are several museums dedicated to those who lost their lives constructing the railway, the largest of which is at Hellfire Pass (north of the current terminus at Nam Tok), a cutting where the greatest number of lives were lost. There is also an Australian memorial at Hellfire Pass. Two other museums are in Kanchanaburi, the Thailand-Burma Railway Museum ( opened in March 2003 ), and the JEATH War Museum.

Conversation in context 2 Guide : We’ve arrived in Kanchanaburi. The first stop we’ll make is Kanchanaburi War Cemetery. Tourist : How many prisoners-of-war are buried here ? About Kanchanaburi War Cemetery

Guide : This cemetery contains the remains of 6,982 war prisoners who lost their lives while building the Death Railway at the peak of World War II. These war prisoners were British, Dutch, Australian and American. Tourist : Is this the only war cemetery located on the bank of the Kwae Yai River, called Khao Poon Cemetery. That one is smaller as it contains the remains of 1,750 war prisoners. And it could be reached only by boat in the past and now by road, too.

Exercise 1

Vocabulary. Match a line in ‘A’ with a line in ‘B’ to define the underlined words.

History about the Death Railway

History about the Death Railway A railway route between Thailand and Burma had been surveyed at the beginning of the 20 th century, by British government of Burma, but the proposed course of the line through hilly jungle terrain divided by many rivers was considered too difficult to complete.

History about the Death Railway In 1942, Japanese forces, supplies and equipment transported from East and North Asia to Burma by sea, through the Strait of Malacca, were vulnerable to attack by Allied submarines, and an alternative means of transport was needed.

History about the Death Railway The Japanese started the project in June 1942, after the Battle of Midway where they lost four aircraft carriers (Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu) intending to connect Ban Pong with Thanbyuzayat,in Burma,through the Three Pagodas Pass. Construction started at the Thai and on 22 June 1942 and in Burma at roughly the same time. Most railway materials, including track and sleepers, were carted from dismantled of Federated States of Malaya Railways network and Dutch East Indies

History about the Death Railway On 17 October 1943, the two lines met about 18 km. south of the Three Pagodas Pass at Konkuita (Kaeng Khoi Tha), Sangkhla Buri district (Kanchanaburi Province). While most of the POWs were then transferred to Japan, Those left to maintain the line still suffered from the appalling living conditions as well as Allied air raids.

Conversation in context 3 Guide : If you are a film buff, you must have seen the film “the Bridge Over the River Kwae”. The bridge, crossing the Kwae Yai River, is part of the Death Railway, Which was built by the Allied prisoners-of-war at the peak of World War II. At the Bridge over the River Kwae

Tourist : Why was the railway built? Guide : The Japanese Army wanted a route to transport troops and supplies between Burma and Thailand. The railway was constructed from the Southern Railway of Thailand, passing through Kanchanaburi, crossing the Kwae Yai River, stretching along the Kwae Noi River, into the Burmese territory and ending at Thanbyzayat Station in Burma.

Tourist : How long was the railway in total? Guide : The total distance of the railway was 415 kilometers, 304 kilometers in Thailand, 111 kilometers in Burma

Tourist : How many years did it take to build this railway? Guide : Would you believe it? It took only one year to complete the construction. The construction began in October 1942 and was completed a year later. You can imagine how many labors were needed to build this notorious railway.

Tourist : How many People were involved in the construction? Guide : More than 100,000 oppressed laborers and Allied prisoners of war were forced to work on the project. After the Japanese invasion of Thailand, they brought British, Dutch, Australian and American prisoners to Thailand by the Southern route to complete the rush construction of the railroad. Thousands of prisoners of war died of hunger, diseases and hard labor during the construction. That’s why the name ‘Death Railway’ was given to it.

Tourist : I saw in the film that the bridge was bombed. Guide : That’s right. Shortly before the end of the war three spans of the bridge were destroyed and it was bombed several times when the war ended in And it was rebuilt again after the war ended in And it was rebuilt again after the war. After the war the British army demolished 4 kilometers of the railroad from the Burmese Thai border. The remaining 300 kilometers were sold to the State Railway of Thailand in 1947 at a price of 50 million bath or 1.25 million U.S. dollars. However, now only 130 kilometers are being used.