Approximately 180;000 Asian civilian slave labourers and 60;000 Allied POWs were held at Thanbyuzayat by the Japanese and forced to build the 415 km (258 mi) Burma Railway (nicknamed by inmates the 'Death Railway') between Bangkok; Thailand; and Rangoon; Burma.

Of these; around 90;000 Asian civilian laborers and 12;399 Allied POWs died as a result of starvation; exhaustion; executions and disease. Pictures From History K Higgins