Kanchanaburi was under Japanese control in 1942. All prisoners including British POWs were to work for railway bridge construction over the River Kwai which will help to connect Bangkok and Rangoon. Almost half of the prisoners working on this project were died from disease, mistreatment and accidents. There are museums and memorial to honor the dead at Kanchanaburi. The Thailand – Burma Railway Centre opened the war museum called “JEATH War Museum”, where JEATH stands for Japanese-English-American-Australian-Thai-Holland.