Many romusha were utilized all along the Singapore to BanPong rail link as servants to the Japanese. This is in addition to those who labored and died on the Kra Isthmus and Thai-Burma Railway and the Mergui Road project.
By 1945, the tide of the combat in Burma was turning against the IJA. Some of the Allied POWs were moved from the camps at Kanchanaburi to other parts of Thailand. They were most often involved in the construction of airstrips that would be used by fighter planes to cover the planned withdrawal of troops.
Meanwhile the TBR and the original rail line to Singapore were coming under increasing frequent air attacks. The IJA HQ decided that they would need another route — a backdoor exit. It was determined that they would build a road (not a railway) from the town of Mergui across the Kra Isthmus to Prachuap KiriKan in Thailand, a distance of some 200 kilometers. In addition to sending dozens of POWs from Kanchanaburi, the IJA imported perhaps an addition 100,000 romusha, mainly Tamils from Malaya.
Overall, conditions on this project were not too severe. The work only took a few weeks and supplies were carried by rail to Prachuap KiriKan so the effects of the prolonged labor and malnutrition seen on the TBR did not manifest themselves. A major problem, however, was malaria. Most of the POW-TBR survivors who died there died from that infection. Generally speaking, they had spent enough time at the ThaMaKam camps to have recovered from the most debilitating effects of the their TBR time. We can only speculate as to why AFL-TBR survivors were not sent south; we have no indication that they were. Perhaps this was due to the lingering effects of their time on the TBR that an entirely new group of workers were used.
It is thought that once this evacuation route was completed, the AFL survivors were relocated to the ChoomPhon area to the south.
The Bones/ Skeletal remains from here relates the what was found at the Governors parking lot. Probably 500 over, most of them were cremated. There a 106R Lot that was kept at the JEATH War Museum. With the museum closing end April 2025. MIB is taking the lead, with Mr Alex to give them a proper cremation and burial on the 18th of January 2025. This will be done in the morning with proper prayers at Wat Tai . I am honored with my wife to represent all the families who passed probably in 1944 to 1947. Contact me if you would like to play a role.