River Kwai

The River Kwai, more correctly Kwae Noi (Thai ???????, English small tributary), is a river in western Thailand, near the border with Myanmar. At Kanchanaburi it merges the Mae Klong river, which empties into the Gulf of Thailand in Samut Songkhram.

Related Topics:
Thai - River - Thailand - Myanmar - Kanchanaburi - Mae Klong - Gulf of Thailand - Samut Songkhram

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The river is chiefly known for the Pierre Boulle novel and David Lean film The Bridge on the River Kwai, in which Australian, Dutch and British prisoners of war were forced by the Japanese to construct two parallel bridges spanning the river to complete the Burma Railway, notorious as the Death Railway. One bridge was wooden and temporary, the other was concrete and steel and still exists today. However the bridges actually spanned the Mae Klong, but as the railway subsequently follows the Kwae Noi valley the bridges became famous under a wrong name. In the 1960s the upper part of the Mae Klong was renamed to Kwae Yai (big tributary).

Related Topics:
Pierre Boulle - Novel - David Lean - Film - The Bridge on the River Kwai - Australian - Dutch - British - Prisoners of war - Japan - Burma Railway - Death Railway

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The Khao Laem Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the river.

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