Floating on the River Kwai

By WINNIE GRAHAM

Pilgrimages have become big business as more and more people head for places of spiritual significance.

Though it seems odd to link these trips with conventional tourist jaunts, it can be more spiritually satisfying than an ordinary holiday.

This is what I found on a recent visit to Thailand when we visited the bridge over the River Kwai - made famous by a film of that name.

The journey started as an exercise in curiosity, but soon evolved into something of a pilgrimage as we learned of the suffering endured by the Allied prisoners of war, mostly Australian and British, during World War 2.

We stopped first at a war cemetery near Kanchanaburi, a small town which earned eternal notoriety during that war as the prison of some 60 000 POWs. They had been brought there to work on the notorious Hellfire Pass and the railway line the Japanese army wanted built between Thailand and Burma.

Thousands of young soldiers are buried there, and their epitaphs reveal that most were not much older than 19 or 20.

Some 20 per cent of the POWs and indentured labourers from Thailand, China and beyond, died during the construction of the pass and railway.

The reason for this appalling death toll is simple: during the "speedo" period in particular, the men were chased to work 16 hours a day in a bid to finish the project, and survived on totally inadequate rations and medical facilities.

Many died of cholera, malaria, tropical ulcers and exhaustion. Some were beaten to death by brutal guards for "slacking" on the job.

Physical punishment, in fact, was a feature of Japanese military discipline.

But if the soldiers were treated badly, the Asian labourers or "roomette" as they were known, fared worse. Unlike the prisoners, they had no army doctors to give them basic medical attention.

So, we approached the camp with certain trepidation. The bamboo and palm thatch huts still stand, poignant reminders of the grim conditions under which the men lived. There are no beds as such indoors - only a raised reed structure which stretched the full length of the hut. Here the men slept crowded together, each allocated less than half a metre of space.

One hut serves as a museum, and the walls are decorated with letters and extracts from diaries written by the men during their confinement. There are photographs of skeletal men and harrowing stories of suffering.

But our pilgrimage was not over. We then went to visit the Hellfire Pass

Today there are cement steps down the hillside, but the prisoners who once carried rocks through the tangle of jungle had no such luxury.

We walked, finally, to the magnificent Hellfire Pass memorial, built and maintained by the people of Australia. At war end survivors were repatriated, and with food and proper medical attention many recovered apart from mental scars.

Now children and other surviving family still come to Kanchanaburi to pay respects to a loved one who died there. The Japanese come too: to see the railway line they built to carry supplies to their army.

The Hellfire Pass is an essential experience for any intelligent tourist, especially if it's followed by an overnight stay on the River Kwai. Here it is possible to forget the past and enjoy the pleasures of the magnificent countryside.

We spent an enchanted evening on the River Kwae Floatel (downstream from the famous bridge) and voted it quite the highlight of our visit to Thailand. (It is both a huge river raft and a jungle hotel, secured to the banks of the river by ropes.)

The first view of the structure took our breath away. We had left our vehicle upstream and approached by motorboat. The setting was superb. Mountains swept down to the water's edge. The jungle encroached onto the river banks and, as we strained to see the birds and creatures there, we didn't realise we were approaching habitation.

Then, in the late afternoon, round a bend in the river, the floatel suddenly came into view, the thatched roof swathed in mist from the mountains.

As we moved closer, we could see guests sunbathing on the terrace, some even trying to swim in the swiftly flowing river.

The floatel - comprising 102 twin rooms each equipped with a shower and toilet facilities - rocked gently in the water. A long passage led to the restaurant raft and bar.

But what was tucked away in the jungle? Curiosity got the better of us and, having looked round the floatel, we headed for the shore.

Here lives the Mon tribe, a Burmese people who, long homeless, are regarded as the gypsies of Thailand. They have been given a home by the Thai government but it was a Frenchman, J Bes, who conceived the floatel in 1976 as a means of providing the people with a livelihood.

The Mon village is open to visitors. Superb crafts and cloth are on sale - including rope hammocks quickly bought up by members of our group

But it was the elephants people wanted to ride in the jungle. These magnificent creatures are as devoted to their keepers as they are to their charges. Soon, we were moving through the jungle, perched high above the ground. Occasionally an elephant would stop to strip leaves off a tree or move into deeper bush. No one spoke. The soft padding of the elephants and the song of birds were the only sounds

At sunset we moved to the open-air restaurant. A tropical breeze cooled the atmosphere as the Mon waiters served the evening meal. A curved moon hung upside down in the sky, the dark mountains silhouetted against a navy blue sky.

We were invited to a small theatre at the end of the raft to be given a superb performance of Mon national dancing.

Nearby, too, is the Legacy River Kwai, a health resort and seminar centre where the accommodation comprises log cottages in a huge estate. It offers guests everything from detoxification and reflexology to acupuncture, massage and macrobiotic foods.

- INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS (SOUTH AFRICA)