Mae Nam Khwae Yai
Mae Nam Khwae Yai, Khwae Yai, River Kwai |
||
Data | ||
location | Thailand near the border with Myanmar | |
River system | Mae Klong | |
Drain over | Mae Klong → Gulf of Thailand | |
source | in the Tenasserim Mountains near the city of Umphang ( Tak Province ) 16 ° 7 ′ 37 ″ N , 98 ° 41 ′ 23 ″ E |
|
muzzle | Confluence with the Khwae Noi to the Mae Klong near Kanchanaburi Coordinates: 14 ° 1 ′ 5 ″ N , 99 ° 31 ′ 40 ″ E 14 ° 1 ′ 5 ″ N , 99 ° 31 ′ 40 ″ E
|
|
length | 380 km | |
Reservoirs flowed through | Si Nakharin Dam |
The Mae Nam Khwae Yai ( Thai : แม่น้ำ แคว ใหญ่ , pronunciation: [mɛ̂ː náːm kʰwɛː jàj] , "Great Tributary"; or just Khwae Yai , internationally known as the River Kwai ) is a river in the western part of central Thailand near the border with Myanmar ( formerly Burma). At Kanchanaburi it unites with the Khwae Noi and is called Mae Klong from then on . The Mae Klong flows into the Gulf of Thailand in the Samut Songkhram province .
The river became world-famous through the novel " The Bridge on the Kwai " by Pierre Boulle and its film adaptation by David Lean . Here prisoners of war were forced by the Japanese in 1942/1943 to build two parallel bridges over the river. The bridges belonged to the Thailand-Burma Railway , also called Death Railway ("Railway of Death"), a continuous railway line from Ban Pong Station on the Thai Southern Railway to Thanbyuzayat on the Burmese Southern Railway. This was part of preparations for a Japanese attack on British India during World War II . One bridge was constructed from wood, the other from concrete and steel. The latter still serves rail traffic today.
The name of the bridge was actually based on a misunderstanding: It led over the Mae Klong River, while the railway line mostly ran along the Khwae Noi (in English "Kwai"), from which the bridge's literary name was derived. In the 1960s, the upper reaches of the Mae Klong above Kanchanaburis was renamed Khwae Yai , so that the bridge now really crosses a river called the Khwae (or "Kwai").
The Si-Nakharin Dam dams the river to the Si-Nakharin Reservoir, which is located in the Chaloem Rattanakosin National Park .
Attractions
- The Erawan waterfall is widely regarded as Thailand's most beautiful waterfall. It flows impressively over the rocks in seven cascades near the Erawan National Park .
Typical floating house on the Khwae Yai
Part of the " Death Railway "
Movies
- Die Brücke am Kwai (The Bridge on the River Kwai) , USA / GBR 1957, directed by David Lean
- To End All Wars (To End All Wars) , USA / GBR / THL 2001, directed by David L. Cunningham