Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum & Walking Trail

Hellfire Pass is a 500 metres long and 26 metres deep section of rock that was dug out by Prisoners of War intended to allow the ‘Death Railway’ to continue its route from Bangkok to Rangoon. Soldiers were forced to remove the rock using no more than picks, hammers and their bare hands. Of the 1,000 Australian and British soldiers who took 12 weeks to clear the stretch of mountain, 700 died.

The Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum is dedicated to those Australians and other Allied Prisoners of War and Asian labourers who suffered and died at Hellfire Pass and elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region during WW2.

During the Second World War, thousands of forced local labourers and Allied Prisoners of War suffered and died constructing and maintaining the Burma-Thailand railway. The Australian Government constructed the interpretative memorial in cooperation with the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand. The memorial, dedicated in 1998, was designed and constructed by Hewitt Pender Associates Pty Ltd, Australia and Woods Baggot Limited, Thailand.

The museum explains to visitors the story of why and how the railway was built and attempts to convey the hardships and suffering endured by so many who were forced to work in extremely harsh conditions. Four hundred Australian prisoners began work at Hellfire Pass on Anzac Day in 1943 and the site plays and important part in annual Anzac events in Thailand. The Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum symbolises the importance of this site to the Australian people. After visiting the memorial museum and contemplation deck, visitors are encouraged to proceed to the walking trail.

Details: The museum is open daily from 9 - 4 and there is no admission fee (donations are suggested).

How to get there: The museum is only minutes away from Hintok River Camp@Hellfire Pass.