Hellfire Pass

Hellfire Pass
ช่องเขาขาด
Abandoned railway lines in a deep rocky cutting adorned with memorial flowers
A portion of Hellfire Pass in 2023
Hellfire Pass is located in Thailand
Hellfire Pass
Hellfire Pass in Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand
Established24 April 1996
LocationKanchanaburi Province, Thailand
Coordinates14°21′19″N 98°57′09″E / 14.35528°N 98.95250°E / 14.35528; 98.95250
TypeWar memorial, nature trail & abandoned railway line
CuratorOffice of Australian War Graves/Royal Thai Armed Forces
Public transit accessNam Tok Sai Yok Noi railway station (18 km (11 mi) away)
"Black marble slab inscribed with the legend 'Burma-Thailand Railway 1942-1945. In remembrance of all who suffered and all who died.'"
The Australian memorial in the cutting

Hellfire Pass (Thai: ช่องเขาขาด, known by the Japanese as Konyu Cutting) is the name of a railway cutting on the former Burma Railway ("Death Railway") in Thailand, which was built with forced labour during the Second World War. More than 250,000 Southeast Asian civilians and 12,000 Allied soldiers built the railway line, including Hellfire Pass. The pass is noted for the harsh conditions and heavy loss of life suffered by its labourers during construction. It was called Hellfire Pass because the sight of emaciated prisoners labouring by burning torchlight resembled a scene from Hell.[1]

  1. ^ China Williams; Aaron Anderson; Brett Atkinson; Becca Blond; Tim Bewer (2007). Thailand. Lonely Planet. p. 219. ISBN 978-1-74104-307-5.