Research & Article

This article focuses on the atrocity heritage tourism site known as the “Death Railway” in Kanchanaburi Province of Thailand. It is one of the most prominent of such sites in Southeast Asia, attracting around one million overseas visitors and three million Thai visitors every year.

The multiple  dissonances  surrounding  this  site  are  especially  complex. Although the site is located in Thailand, its meaning as heritage is most valued in other  countries,  especially Australia. The  historical  episode  behind  this  heritage is something that Thailand has seemed intent on forgetting, in part because of the close economic relationship developed with Japan, the perpetrator. As an added complication, Chinese visitors, who have no direct relationship to the site’s history, have  become  an  increasing  proportion  of  tourists  to  the  site,  with  unexpected consequences. The “Death Railway” is thus an example of how heritage tourism with a strong economic interest and a lack of understanding of the site’s significance can harm the heritage.