The pass is the most infamous in a series of cuttings along the Death Railway's course, and was so named because of the gaunt shadows cast by torch light as the workers dug through the night. Hellfire Pass took just 12 weeks to complete, the tools available were staggeringly basic; one reason why 70% of the cuttings workforce were dead by the time the job was done. Walking between the solid walls was strangely eerie.

A drill head sticking out of the rock was a vivid reminder that this wasn't an ancient ruin but one horrifically young. Back in Kanchanaburi relaxing by the riverbanks, you can pass your time swimming in the river - the bridge upstream a vivid reminder of its past - but soaking up the stunning beauty of the region. For those who stay longer than the half hour it takes to walk the River Kwai Bridges tracks, a peace and tranquility so far removed from the horrors that have made this small town infamous await discovery in Thailand.

The War Museum is one of two war museums about the Death Railway built in 1942 / 1943. It is located only 300 metres from the Bridge on the River Kwai in Kanchanaburi. The Museum is located in the grounds of a temple at the junction of the Kwai Yai and Kwai Noi Rivers. The Burma Railway, also know as the Death Railway, the Thailand - Burma Railway and similar names, is a 415 km railway between Bangkok, Thailand and Rangoon, Burma, built by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, to support its forces in the Burma campaign.

Forced labour was used in its construction. About 200,000 Asian labourers and 60,000 Allied prisoners of war worked on the railway. Of these, around 100,000 Asian labourers and 16,000 Allied POW's died as a direct result of the project. The railway connection between Thailand and Burma had been surveyed at the beginning of the 20th century by the British Government of Burma, but the route - through hilly jungle terrain divided by many rivers, was considered too difficult to complete.