Thanbyuzayat - Mon State
Thanbyuzayat - or tin shelter is 30 kms south
of Mawlamyine. It was the western terminus of the
infamous Burma-Siam Railway, dubbed the death
railway by the thousands of Allied prisoners of war
(and Asians who were forced by the Japanese military
to build it.
A kilometer west of the clock tower in the
direction of Kyaikkami lies the Thanbyuzayat War
Cemetery, which contains 3,771 graves of Allied
prisoners of war who died building the railway.
Most of those buried were British, but there are
also markers for American, Dutch, and Australian
soldiers.
Other places that record the historic events at
this town are Japanese-built temples and a small
museum with a locomotive, which marks the beginning
of the "death railway." Two miles outside the town
is the ancient city of Waguru (13th century).
The walls are still plainly visible and the view
from the hilltop is wonderful.
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