Kanchanaburi and the Thai-: disputed narratives in the interpretation of War Lennon, John

Published in: International Journal of Tourism Cities

DOI: 10.1108/IJTC-06-2017-0033

Publication date: 2018

Document Version Author accepted manuscript

Link to publication in ResearchOnline

Citation for published version (Harvard): Lennon, J 2018, ' and the Thai-Burma Railway: disputed narratives in the interpretation of War', International Journal of Tourism Cities , vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 140-155. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJTC-06-2017-0033

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Download date: 25. Sep. 2021 Page 1 of 63 International Journal of Tourism Cities

1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 4 5 6 Kanchanaburi and the Thai-Burma Railway: disputed narratives in the interpretation of War 7 8 9 10 11 12 Abstract 13 14 15 This paper considers the history and dark tourism attractions associated with a case study of the 16 17 Thai-Burma Railway in the city of Kanchanaburi, . The paper considers how history has been 18 19 abridged and distorted at a number of attraction sites in order to exploit the dark tourism 20 21 commercial potential. The role of film media is considered as a critical element of the site narrative 22 23 and the reality of the tragic past of this place is discussed within the context of Thailand’s role in 24 25 World War Two. This is the first time the heritage of this city has been considered in the context of 26 27 28 dark tourism and the role of Thailand in World War Two. It incorporates an analysis of all of the 29 30 relevant attractions in the city and provides through the fieldwork conducted an original 31 32 contribution to the tourism literature in this field. Kanchanaburi, through the urban attractions that 33 34 constitute the primary motivations for visitation, distorts and exploits its dark history for commercial 35 36 and ideological purposes. Where accurate World War Two interpretation was identified, it was 37 38 maintained by balancing the requirements of national governments and institutions with acceptable 39 40 41 levels of ambiguity and non-controversial perspectives on this urban location’s dark past. 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 1

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 Introduction and Context 4 5 6 The city of Kanchanaburi, located in the province of the same name in north east Thailand on the 7 8 border with is not a first stop destination for inbound tourists to Thailand. Indeed, 9 10 Thailand offers the international visitor many alternative attractions, activities and contrasting 11 12 experiences. Thailand welcomed more than29.9 million international visitors in 2015 and achieving 13 14 an enviable 6th place in the world in terms of tourism expenditure. Performance of the nation 15 16 17 across the years 2012-15 is detailed below. 18 19 20 2012 2013 2014 2015 21 22 International Visitor 22,308 26,547 24,810 29,881 23 24 Arrivals (m) 25 26 % Growth 18.8% -6.5% 20.4% 27 28 29 30 31 Table 1.0 : International Arrivals Thailand 2012-2015 (Source: UNWTO, 2016) 32 33 34 The primary pull factor remains the capital; , with 21.9 m overnight visitors. This is followed 35 36 by the beach locations of Phuket and Pattay City achieving 9.3m and 8.1 m visitors respectively in 37 38 39 2015 (TAT, 2016). In contrast, Kanchanaburi, capital of , with a population of 40 41 31,327, remains much less visited. The province is in the west of Thailand, 129 km from Bangkok, 42 43 and covers a total area of approximately 19,483 km² and is the country's third largest province. 44 45 46 In recent years, Kanchanaburi has seen some growth in short break tourism, predominantly by Thai 47 48 nationals, travelling north from the urban sprawl of Bangkok, to the closest significant natural 49 50 heritage destination. Kanchanaburi benefits from proximity to two major national parks in this part 51 52 of Thailand: 53 54 55 - (with its celebrated seven cascading waterfalls) 56 57 - (bordering Myanmar) 58 59 60 2

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 4 5 However, for the majority of international tourists the primary attraction to this destination relates 6 7 to the Thai-Burma Railway history and its representation in the city. The location has become 8 9 synonymous with the railway and the ‘bridge’ over the River’ Kwai’ and a period of Second World 10 11 War history made famous by filmic entertainment rather than historical narrative. It is now seen as 12 13 a destination associated with dark tourism wherein key attractions and sites have become a primary 14 15 16 motivation for visitation. 17 18 19 20 21 22 Dark Tourism and destinations associated with a tragic past 23 24 25 26 27 Dark tourism (sometimes referred to as thanatourism) has become established since 1996 as a 28 29 specialist area of tourism study. Death, suffering, visitation, and tourism have been interrelated for 30 31 32 many centuries, but the phenomena was identified as such and categorized by Lennon and Foley in 33 34 1996 and was later the subject of the defining source text: Dark Tourism: The Attraction of Death 35 36 and Disaster (Lennon and Foley, 2000). 37 38 39 40 The phenomenon exists across a range of destinations and demonstrates commonality and unifying 41 42 elements in a variety of locations and political regimes. These dark tourism sites act as the meeting 43 44 45 place for history and visitation where questions of authenticity and fact are sometimes juxtaposed 46 47 with the operation of tourism facilities. What is celebrated, interpreted, and developed is often 48 49 selective, and dilemmas of commemoration are reflected in the condition, nature, and content of 50 51 these sites. The tourist attractions at such sites become key physical elements of heritage either 52 53 authentic or created that combines in whole or part: commemoration, history, and record. 54 55 Dark tourism attractions demonstrate demand from consumers for this type of experience. 56 57 58 However, they also constitute commemoration, historical reference, narrative legacies, and can 59 60 3

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 constitute populist visitor experiences. These tourism sites in some cases become one of the few 4 5 remaining commemorative elements of victims and their testimonies. In such cases the content and 6 7 its narrative interpretation take on critically important values in understanding a shared dark past. 8 9 10 11 For many years, humans have been attracted to sites and events that are associated with death, 12 13 14 disaster, suffering, violence, and killing. From ancient Rome and gladiatorial combat to attendance at 15 16 public executions in London and other major cities of the world, death has held an appeal. Sites 17 18 associated with death and disaster seem to exert a dark fascination for visitors and are frequently 19 20 linked to crime locations and the perpetration of both lawful and unlawful acts (Lennon, 2010). The 21 22 sheer diversity of forms of dark tourism sites is significant and has been the subject of research (see, 23 24 e.g., Lennon & Foley, 1996, 2000; Seaton, 1996; Seaton &,Lennon, 2004; Dann & Seaton, 2001; 25 26 27 Ashworth, 1996; Sharpley &,Stone 2009). 28 29 Further useful contributions to the area include issues of interpretation and selective 30 31 commemoration (White & Frew, 2012), cross-disciplinary studies in the field of the sociology of 32 33 death and death studies (Mitchell, 2007), literature and writing (Skinner, 2012), problematic heritage 34 35 (Ashworth, 1996, Tunbridge & Ashworth, 1995), the area of criminology/crime sites (Botterill & 36 37 Jones, 2010), the architectural legacy of dark sites (Philpott, 2016) and in development of scales of 38 39 40 dark heritage (Sharpley and Stone 2009). 41 42 Tourism and death enjoy a curious relationship. Death and acts of mass killing are a major 43 44 deterrent for the development of certain destinations, and yet such acts can become the primary 45 46 purpose of visitation in others. In the literature that has emerged since identification and analysis of 47 48 the phenomenon dark tourism sites have been identified as destination ‘pull’ factors, and the 49 50 relationship between crime and its attraction to visitors has been explored ( Dalton 2015). The 51 52 53 consideration to date has included: 54 55 - Visits to death sites and disaster scenes (whether real or created) 56 57 - Visits to sites of mass or individual death 58 59 60 4

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 - Visits to sites of incarceration 4 5 - Visits to representations or simulations associated with death 6 7 8 - Visits to re-enactments and human interpretations of death 9 10 11 12 Murder, execution, and sites of lawful and unlawful deaths have served to attract the attention of 13 14 visitors and residents from ancient times to the current day. The city of Kanchanaburi offers further 15 16 17 evidence of the phenomenon. In this context and in other cases education and the nature of the 18 19 learning experience are frequently used to justify and explain motivation for development and 20 21 visitation in the modern world. Indeed, the idea of travel as an educational experience of new and 22 23 previously unvisited destinations is frequently used as a rational argument associated with 24 25 discussions of modernity. More recently, it is the significance of film, television and communications 26 27 technology, reporting, and real-time communication that serves to heighten awareness of dark 28 29 destinations that may be visited. Once again the Thai-Burma Railway and its association with iconic 30 31 32 filmic representation has clear relevance in this context which is explored further below. 33 34 35 36

37 38 39

40 41 42

43 44 45 Methodology 46 47 48 The paper draws on literature, historical documents and tourism publications related to World War 49 50 51 Two and the incarceration and associated with the Thai-Burma Railway and the city of 52 53 Kanchanaburi . Fieldwork incorporating tourist attraction and commemorative site visitation was 54 55 undertaken in Norther Thailand in January 2017. Curators, managers, operators and tourist 56 57 authorities were contacted in advance of the fieldwork by email to request interviews. The sites 58 59 60 5

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 identified were the primary sites visited by tourists and no related World War Two site in the area 4 5 was excluded . In just less than half of the cases of requests, subjects were unwilling to participate. 6 7 For those interviewed in relation to the subject area, a standard questionnaire based on a rolling 8 9 data base, relevant to particular sites was utilised. Where permitted interviews were taped and 10 11 transcribed. It should be noted that the subject area was seen as sufficiently sensitive by the 12 13 14 majority of those contacted that audio recording was deemed unacceptable. The data below has 15 16 been assembled to provide a perspective on what is both a historically problematic and ideologically 17 18 conflicted use of the narrative of the part of the Second World War and its problematic exploitation. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Understanding the historical context 31 32 33 34 35 36 This area of Thailand was an important part of the narrative of the Second World War and Japan’s 37 38 struggle for dominance in this part of Asia. The outbreak of hostilities in December 1941 with the 39 40 simultaneous attacks on Pearl Harbour and British colonies saw the Japanese invasion of the 41 42 Malayan peninsula with the goal of capturing . In February, 1942, the fall of Singapore saw 43 44 the surrender and capture of an enormous number of allied prisoners. In total some; 28,500 British, 45 46 47 18,000 Australians, 67,000 Indians and 14,000 local volunteers surrendered to the Japanese. This 48 49 significant volume of manpower was later to be deployed in the construction of the Thai – Burma 50 51 railway sometimes referred to as the ‘Death Railway’. Burma was an important invasion target for 52 53 the Japanese since it provided a critical allied supply chain to their adversary China. However, Burma 54 55 also offered access to raw materials for the Japanese war machine hence, some form of rail link 56 57 between Thailand and Burma was considered a necessity. 58 59 60 6

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 It is important to note that during the Second World War, Thailand signed a co-operation agreement 4 5 with the Japanese government in January 1942, declaring war on both America and Britain only days 6 7 later. However, as the conflict in WW2 progressed, the co-operation agreement assumed many of 8 9 the characteristics of an occupation (Thompson, 2002). At a national level there is significant 10 11 sensitivity about this period of Thai history and as Beaumont (2012, 26) noted: 12 13 14 “…there has been something of a national amnesia about the Thai’s bystander role as war crimes 15 16 17 were committed on their territory.” 18 19 20 This selective attention to the history of conflict and state actions is not unique to Thailand and 21 22 characterises the way many governments and nations re-represent their past. For further discussion 23 24 see Lowenthal (1997) and for a comparable example in the case of Lithuania, during the Second 25 26 World War, see Lennon and Wight (2008). In the case of Thailand, the events of late 1942 were 27 28 critical in understanding the extent of this process of re-representation of history. Japan ordered 29 30 the development of a Thai- Burma railway in 1942-3, given Allied pressure on sea based supply 31 32 33 chains. Japan had conquered much of South East Asia within six months of the Pearl Harbour attack 34 35 on December 1941 (Beattie, 2015). However, the defeat of the Japanese Navy at the Battle of 36 37 Midway in 1942 resulted in major supply chain problems for Japanese troops located in Burma and 38 39 the importance of a potential rail link became highly significant. The railway construction of such a 40 41 route was not feasible with heavy construction plant and machinery which was impossible to 42 43 transport to the site given the terrain and climate (Thompson, 2002). Accordingly, the 415 km 44 45 46 railway from Bampong (Thailand) to Thanbyuzayay ( Burma) was to be constructed by Asian 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 7

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 labourers and Allied prisoners of war. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48

49 50 51 Diagram 1.0: Map of Route of Thai-Burma Railway 1942-43 (Source: Australian-Thailand Chamber of 52 53 Commerce 2006) 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 8

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 The large number of allied POWs and the indigenous populations of some of the Japanese occupied 10 11 Asian nations provided the forced labour supply. The railway was to cross a range of rivers, coastal 12 13 plains, foothills and inaccessible mountainous border regions. The latter terrain often required deep 14 15 cuttings into solid rock, large embankments and numerous wooden trestle bridges (Kinvig, 1992). 16 17 Much of this difficult construction work was undertaken by hand by POWs and Asian forced labour, 18 19 20 using tap drills and explosives. Forest was cleared and earth was moved manually at significant 21 22 human cost (Hardie, 1983). The use of prisoners of war in such dangerous tasks, assisting their 23 24 captor’s in the war effort, was directly in contravention with the Geneva Convention. However, as a 25 26 non-signatory Japan choose to deploy large numbers of allied prisoners in this task. The prison 27 28 workforce was extended significantly by the use of Asian labourers (predominantly Malays, Tamils 29 30 and Burmese). In total across the duration of the construction the workforce consisted of circa 31 32 33 330,000 including some 61,000 Prisoners of War (Australian –Thai Chamber of Commerce, 2007) as 34 35 detailed below. 36 37 38 Nationality Employed on Thai – Burma Railway Deaths 39 40 People of Malayan 75,000 42,000 41 42 Origin (including 43 44 Malays, Tamils and 45 46 Chinese) 47 48 49 Burmese Initial Japanese draft circa 175,000 40,000 (does not include 50 51 Following desertion deaths of those who 52 53 90,000 deserted) 54 55 British 30,131 6,648 56 57 58 59 60 9

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 Javanese 7,500 2,900 4 5 Australian 13,004 2,710 6 7 Dutch 17,990 2,737 8 9 Chinese (Singapore) 5,200 500 10 11 12 America 686 132 13 14 Aminese 200 25 15 16 TOTAL 239,711 97,652 17 18 19 20 21 Table 2.0 : Employment and Fatalities on the Thai-Burma Railway (Source : Beattie, 2015; 22 23 Kratoska, 2005) 24 25 26 27 28 29 This workforce laboured in monsoon conditions without; adequate accommodation, food, clothing, 30 31 32 medicine or footwear (Kinvig, 1992). Indeed, in the absence of appropriate medicines and medical 33 34 care, diseases such as; , beri-beri, tropical ulcers, , cholera, general toxaemia and 35 36 pellagra, along with the cruelty and violence administered by the Japanese and Korean guards all 37 38 contributed to high fatality rates that characterised the construction phase (Kinvig, 1992). The 39 40 imprecise nature of figures for Asian labourers (sometimes referred to as ‘Romusha’), are 41 42 complicated by the fact that the Japanese captors whilst recording fatalities of allied prisoners failed 43 44 to do so in the case of the Asian labourers. Furthermore, in the case of the recruitment and forced 45 46 47 conscription of Burmese nationals, the levels of desertion were considerable and a significant 48 49 unknown number are thought to have perished in the harsh environment of the Thai-Burma border. 50 51 This tragic summary of the cost of this construction constitutes a major reason for visiting 52 53 Kanchanaburi. However, the interpretation and content of this tragic history receives mixed 54 55 treatment at a variety of sites across the city. 56 57 58 59 60 10

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 4 5 6 Kanchanaburi and its World War Two Heritage Attractions 7 8 9 10 11 12 The city comprises a number of attractions associated with this period of its history and these 13 14 provide one of the primary reasons for visitation. All of the sites associated with this period of the 15 16 destinations ’ tragic hIstory were visited and operators contacted to request interviews as part of 17 18 the fieldwork (see full listing below). 19 20 21 Title of Attraction Operator Paid / Non Paid Location 22 23 Admission 24 25 26 Thailand-Burma Railway TBRC Co Ltd Paid Admission City 27 28 Centre 29 30 The JEATH War Museum Wat Chaichumpol Paid Admission City 31 32 Temple, Kanchanaburi 33 34 Arts Gallery and War Paid Admission City 35 36 Museum Private Company 37 38 39 Kancahanaburi War Commonwealth War Free Admission City 40 41 Cemetery Graves Commission 42 43 Chungkai War Cemetery Commonwealth War Free Admission 5 Km West of City 44 45 Graves Commission 46 47 Memorial Australian War Graves Free Admission 70 Km North West 48 49 50 Burma-Thailand railway Commission of the City 51 52 53 54 55 Table 3.0 : Kanchaburi Visitor Attractions and Sites associated with the Second World War and 56 57 considered as part of the fieldwork associated with this paper. 58 59 60 11

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 4 5 6 The key sites include: the ‘Bridge over the River Kwai’, a non-paid admission, metal railway bridge to 7 8 the north west of the centre of town which is still operational and serves as a major attraction for 9 10 international tourists. Its fame is linked primarily to filmic heritage and specifically a Hollywood 11 12 narrative from; ‘the Bridge on the River Kwai’ directed in 1957 by David Lean. This film achieved no 13 14 less than seven academy awards, despite its limited historical and geographical legitimacy. It 15 16 17 catalysed the ‘Bridge on the River Kwai’ mythology which as its narrative grew became more 18 19 acceptable and simpler to access than historical record. The current bridge, located in Kanchanaburi 20 21 constitutes a re-representation of heritage. The Thai-Burma Railway was composed of many bridges, 22 23 developed by forced labour (Allied prisoners and Asian Labourers) across the length of the route 24 25 from Bang Pong (Thailand) to (Burma). The Thai-Burma railway traversed some 416 26 27 kms across rugged relief that required frequent bridges and cuttings. The bridge which so many 28 29 30 tourists and visitors flock to, in the city of Kanchanaburi, is neither authentic nor historically pivotal. 31 32 Like the river its identity has been changed to provide a past that can be more easily commodified 33 34 and exploited. As Beattie (2015, 7) pointedly summarised: 35 36 37 “There was no bridge over the River Kwai. In fact there was no River Kwai.” 38 39 40 The Thai authorities to satisfy visitor demand, changed the name of the river from Maeklaung to 41 42 Kwai and the Thai-Burma railway never crossed the Khwae Noi tributary, that later achieved 43 44 erroneous attention as the River Kwai. In reality, much farther north, near the Thai-Burma border 45 46 the same railway crossed a tributary of the Khwae Noi; the Song Khalia River. It was in the British 47 48 POW camp at the Song Khalia crossing that some of the worst excesses of the forced construction 49 50 51 period occurred. It is probable, that this site inspired the initial 1954 book by Pierre Boule, that in 52 53 turn catalysed the film (see Boulle, 1954). However , this camp was but one of approximately 55 54 55 that are recoded on the length of the route (Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce, 2011). This 56 57 route comprised numerous bridges and many POW camps. However, the filmic record has 58 59 60 12

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 undoubtedly influenced the appeal of the destination, the development of its attractions and 4 5 activities, constructing and re-representing destinations and sites (McCannell, 1976). Beeton (2016) 6 7 in her appraisal of Film-induced tourism (2016) cites case after case, where impacts of 8 9 representation in all forms of filmic and televisual media are shown to positively impact on visitation 10 11 and destination awareness. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 Diagram 2.0 : Location of POW and Forced Labour Camps on Thai-Burma Railway 1942-43 (Source: 57 58 Australian- Thailand Chamber of Commerce, 2011) 59 60 13

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 4 5 6 The bridge at Kanchanaburi whilst originally built by the Asian labourers and Allied prisoners of war, 7 8 traversed the River Maeklaung (renamed Kwai) and constitutes a further misrepresentation of the 9 10 ‘past’. The bridge is of steel construction rather than the wooden trestle bridge featured in the 11 12 Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) film. Such wooden trestle bridges were the dominant construction 13 14 type utilised on the Thai-Burma railway although as Beaumont (2009) noted many were demolished 15 16 17 or lost following the cessation of World War Two hostilities. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 Photograph 1.0 : Tourists visiting ‘Bridge on the River Kwai’, Kanchanaburi, Thailand (Source J J 46 47 48 Lennon ). 49 50 51 52 53 54 The impact of this augmented historical reality was catalysed by the filmic narrative of the Bridge of 55 56 the River Kwai . This clearly has parallels in other destinations with a dark history. In 1981, a 57 58 generation were reintroduced to the genocide of the Khmer Rouge, through the Roland Jaffe film; 59 60 14

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 the Killing Fields. This filmic narrative provided a link to a true story and an abridged consideration of 4 5 the complex cause of this barbaric regime’s rise to power. The Killing Fields film, has an eponymously 6 7 titled tourist attraction in the Cambodian capital; Phnom Penh. Whilst this constitutes a significant 8 9 and well visited site, (second only in visitor numbers to the Khmer temple complex of Angkor Wat), it 10 11 fails to effectively or accurately educate visitors about the scale of this genocide. For example, the 12 13 14 single Killing Field attraction in Phnom Penh fails to highlight that almost 350 such sites existed 15 16 across Cambodia during the murderous period of Khmer Rouge control in Cambodia (1975-9). 17 18 Furthermore, the later loss of such heritage and historical evidence since 1979 is a further omission, 19 20 appropriately tragic in its own context. Despite these facts visitation continues to grow as Riley et al 21 22 noted: 23 24 25 “…locations need not be beautiful nor the storylines positive in order to attract visitors” (Op cit, 26 27 932). 28 29 30 Indeed, the pursuit of historical accuracy has rarely been the motivation of visitors. As Seaton and 31 32 33 Hay (1989) recorded in their analysis of the impact of the impact of the film Braveheart on Scottish 34 35 Tourism. Visitors were motivated to visit Scotland to experience and visit locations featured in the 36 37 film, even though much of it had been filmed in Ireland, because of a more accommodating national 38 39 tax regime. Interestingly, the same tourists would often then continue on to or revisit Ireland, to 40 41 experience the ‘faux’ heritage sites which were the in fact ‘authentic’ film locations. 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 In the case of Kanchanaburi, the bridge is now a major attraction in the heart of the city where 51 52 tourists of all nationalities visit and cross, in a seemingly endless stream of guided and independent 53 54 tours. According to Beaumont (2012), this particular site offers for some: 55 56 57 58 59 60 15

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 “… displaced significance- that is a site that lacks heritage authenticity being invested with an 4 5 emotional power at the level of individual memory or popular culture…”(Op cit 23) 6 7 8 However, this bridge is distant from historical fact and geographical location. Indeed, like some of 9 10 the related attractions in the city, historical accuracy has been lost as war time heritage is exploited 11 12 and loosely interpreted or ignored. This leads at best to dilution and at worst to inaccuracy. The 13 14 represented history of the Thai-Burma railway has also been at least partially oriented towards a 15 16 17 narrative of Allied loss. Indeed, in the majority of the attractions in Kanchanaburi, the Asian loss is 18 19 minimised and the ‘appropriation’ of the narrative is evident. In the case of the JEATH museum ( the 20 21 name is an abbreviation of; Japan, England, America, Australia, Thailand and Holland), the 22 23 orientation towards an Allied narrative is apparent. The museum structure is a replica POW hut and 24 25 the interpretation though amateurish is focussed around the conditions, work regime, diet, disease 26 27 and sickness the allied prisoners experienced. The much larger Asian sacrifice remains 28 29 30 undocumented at this location. Interestingly, this museum was established in 1977 by the chief 31 32 abbot of the Wat Chaichumpol, in Muang, near Kanchanaburi. The content and interpretation of the 33 34 museum is interestingly selective. For example, the introductory orientation makes claims which are 35 36 hard to substantiate and difficult to comprehend (see below). 37 38 39 “The word JEATH also replaces the word Death because it sounds too horrific. The JEATH museum is 40 41 a very important part of the history of Death Railway which will complete your visit to the River 42 43 Kwae Bridge (sic).” (JEATH War Museum, 2016, 5) 44 45 46 Such content is confused and partial, abbreviated and problematic. 47 48 49 The Art Gallery and War Museum in Kanchanaburi, presents an even more problematic approach to 50 51 this period. Herein , the ‘Bridge on the River Kwai’ narrative and a disjointed look at key historical 52 53 54 figures of World War Two is combined with; a fashion museum, an ore and jewellery 55 56 set of displays along with a range of defunct and rusting helicopters and small passenger aircraft. 57 58 59 60 16

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 The museum is constructed in the style of a Chinese temple and contains a large variety of 4 5 unconnected artefacts, covered in dust and obscured behind glass in dimly lit rooms. It comprises 6 7 some authentic World War Two artefacts which include decaying photos and sketches, poorly 8 9 constructed life size tableaux of prisoners of war, and a range of almost comedic truisms such as the; 10 11 ‘interpretive’ notice illustrated below: 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Photograph 2.0 : Typical Interpretation; Arts Gallery and War Museum, Kanchanaburi (Source: J J 40 41 Lennon) 42 43 44 45 46 47 This is a private museum that venerates the original Chinese developer and his family in a shrine like 48 49 space on the upper level. The largely erroneous historical narrative of the ‘Bridge on the River Kwai’, 50 51 incorrect casualty figures and hyperbolic narrative characterise this site. In the worst excess, the 52 53 museum also displays, in a glass case, the remains of a number of prisoners of war with the following 54 55 interpretation; 56 57 58 59 60 17

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 “In this glass monument, the remains of 104 of the prisoners who worked as labourers during World 4 5 War Two are kept on the second level and the remains of another two are kept on the third level, 6 7 making a total of 106” (see below) 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Photograph 3.0 : Display of Human Remains: Arts Gallery and War Museum, Kanchanaburi (Source 33 34 : J J Lennon) 35 36 37 38 39 40 This gratuitous display is accompanied by minimal interpretation or context and provides little more 41 42 than shock value. The quality of conservation in this museum is limited and evidence of vermin 43 44 infestation and loss of artefacts are apparent throughout. Beaumont (2012) suggested that these are 45 46 Romusha remains but the museum data is far from precise. The only certainty is that this is a facility 47 48 49 which profits from artefacts of conflict and human loss. 50 51 52 In contrast, two related attractions do seek to relate a more authentic and historically defensible 53 54 approach to the Thai-Burma railway. They are; the Hellfire Pass Memorial, Burma-Thai Railway 55 56 http://hellfire-pass.commemoration.gov.au/ and the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre 57 58 59 60 18

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 https://www.tbrconline.com/ . The latter opened in 2003, and is a visitor, research and 4 5 documentation centre. It is located within Kanchanaburi, and its development is very much the life 6 7 work of one individual; Ron Beattie, an ex-Australian army, civil engineer who has passionately 8 9 researched the Burma-Thai Railway since the early 1990s. He has spent many years researching the 10 11 location and construction of the railway, and has lobbied for conservation and quality interpretation 12 13 14 over the same period. Following assistance from the Netherlands government, the Thailand-Burma 15 16 Railway Centre is now the major repository for artefacts and documentary evidence of the 17 18 development and human cost of the railway. It provides a research and information service for those 19 20 interested in tracing former prisoners of war and those involved in the construction. The 21 22 interpretive content is deliberately non-partisan and based on donated and collected evidence, and 23 24 a balanced narrative which provides clarification of the full extent of the cost of construction in 25 26 27 terms of Allied and Asian lives. This site also highlights the positive role of some Thai nationals in 28 29 relation to the Prisoners during the Second World War. The exhibition highlights the interventions 30 31 of; Mr K Gardiner (Siam Architects Imports Co), Mr E Heath (Borneo Co), Mr R Hempson (Anglo-Siam 32 33 Corporation), Nai Boonpong Sirivejjabhandu and Nai Lee Soon, who were all associated with the ‘V’ 34 35 corporation; who were a network of those opposed to the excesses of the Japanese ‘occupation’ of 36 37 Thailand They were responsible for passing money and medicines to POWs. Whilst undoubtedly 38 39 40 heroic and important, it is a small part of the narrative that perhaps serves a wider more politically 41 42 pragmatic purpose and portrays a degree of resistance to the Japanese which of course is a more 43 44 attractive perspective on this period of Thai history. 45 46 47 Hellfire Pass Memorial, Burma-Thai Railway is the other notable heritage site that deals with the 48 49 tragic past of this place in a non-exploitative and sensitive manner. However, its construction was 50 51 not without controversy and the contested nature of the multiple narratives of this place and how 52 53 they changed since the initial consideration of the site in the 1980s have been documented at length 54 55 56 by Beaumont (2012). This analysis probes how the range of nationalities were represented and 57 58 charts the range of agendas and interest groups involved in the complex interplay of remembrance 59 60 19

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 of captivity and conflict. This site is located 80km north west of Kanchanaburi on land owned by the 4 5 National Security Command (the Thai Army). This location is historically since it saw some of the 6 7 worst excesses of the Japanese captors. However, this is also an important relationship between 8 9 tenant and land owner, and constitutes an ‘enclave’ of quality heritage interpretation that remains 10 11 dependent upon the Thai government’s understanding and respect. As the site leaflet introduction 12 13 14 to the memorial intimates: 15 16 17 “The Memorial provides an important educational function for the people of Thailand and visitors 18 19 from Australia and other countries. The memorial stands as an enduring symbol of the close 20 21 relationship between Thailand, Australia and those nations whose citizens worked on the Burma- 22 23 Thailand railway.” (Australian Government, 2016, 4) 24 25 26 The site is synonymous with the section of the rail route between Konyu and Hintok, which saw a 27 28 major concentration of work on the railway construction between 1942-43 involving approximately 29 30 2,000 Australian and British prisoners (Australian Government, 2016). At this site, the excavation of 31 32 33 soil and rock was infamously carried out with limited machinery and predominantly by hand. 34 35 Prisoners mainly used; hammers, drills, picks and shovels to remove rock. As production timescales 36 37 became critical to Japanese engineers and productivity was increased at great human cost ( Hearder, 38 39 2009). Shifts were extended from 12 to 18 hours, with the workplace lit by wood fires and oil pot 40 41 lamps. This gave the impression of fires in a hell like location hence the application of the title 42 43 ‘Hellfire Pass’ by the Prisoners (Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce, 2011). In 1995, the 44 45 46 Australian Government provided A$ 1.6 million (Austrian Dollars) for the development of a 47 48 substantial memorial centre and related visitor infrastructure at this location to commemorate the 49 50 events of the Railway construction and the human cost. The interpretation of this site makes strong 51 52 use of the audio testimony of Prisoners of War in a self-guided tour. The visitor centre element 53 54 incorporated illustrated and narrative based panels within the Memorial. It is deliberately not built 55 56 57 58 59 60 20

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 around artefacts and has a clear focus on remembrance and learning, that provides due weighting to 4 5 the extent of Asian as well as Allied losses. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Memory, memorial and re-representation; Hell fire Pass and beyond 15 16 17 18 19 20 Memory remains contested and selective in many aspects of the World War Two heritage displayed 21 22 in the city and environs of Kanchanaburi. The context of incarceration, forced labour, atrocity is 23 24 overlaid with competing memories of differing national groups. However, this city offers a range of 25 26 contrasting narratives for visitors and tourists, who may have limited understanding of the 27 28 competing sensitivities and agendas present. This workforce laboured mercilessly in monsoon 29 30 31 conditions without adequate accommodation, food, clothing, medicine, clothing or footwear (Kinvig, 32 33 1992).In the absence of appropriate medicines and medical care, diseases such as; malaria, beri-beri, 34 35 tropical ulcers, dysentery, cholera, general toxaemia and pellagra took their toll. This along with the 36 37 cruelty and violence administered by the Japanese and Korean guards all contributed to the high 38 39 fatality rates that characterised the construction phase (Kinvig, 1992). Beaumont (2012) asserts that 40 41 the site of Hellfire Pass is: 42 43 44 “…vulnerable to charges of selective and nationalistic representation and is inherently dissonant 45 46 47 with local memories and cultural practices. Hence the sustainability of such heritage is fragile, 48 49 dependent upon diplomatic negotiation and a continuing perception on the part of the host country 50 51 that the heritage development is to its economic and political benefit.” (op cit, 21) 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 21

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 The potential for the controversy in relation to content and interpretation within this site was 4 5 considerable. Indeed, the potential impact on diplomatic and economic relations between Thailand 6 7 and Japan was a concern during the site evolution still and remains contentious as the Australian 8 9 government wishes to make further investment in the site form 2017 onwards (Lennon 2017). The 10 11 site and content also risks drawing attention to the Thai co-operation with the Japanese during 12 13 14 World War Two; a period that receives limited coverage in other Thai museums. The co-operation 15 16 agreement of 1942 between Japan and Thailand and the reality of Japanese occupation sits 17 18 uncomfortably with narratives of nationalism and self-reliance (Blackburn, 2010). The distant Thai 19 20 past of empire and conquest, presents a more acceptable history for the purpose of nationhood. 21 22 However, this selective interpretation of the past has also to be seen against a fairly mercenary 23 24 approach to commercialising elements of the past. In the case of Kanchanaburi, this is illustrated 25 26 27 each year with a son et lumiere performance that relates the ‘history’ of the ‘Bridge on the River 28 29 Kwai’. This visitor entertainment focuses on the allied bombing of the ‘bridge’ in 1944-45, and the 30 31 civilian loss recorded. This lights and firework show attracts thousands to the event generating 32 33 significant economic impact at a local level. This spectacle plus the commercial exploitation of the 34 35 ‘River Kwai’ narrative from T-shirt and souvenirs to resorts utilising the River Kwai as a destination 36 37 marker, evidence how rapidly an acceptable and increasingly distant, interpretation of the past can 38 39 40 be capitalised upon. 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 22

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Photograph 4.0: River Kwai Bridge T-Shirt Merchandise and Resort Names, Kanchanaburi (Source: 27 28 J J Lennon) 29 30 31 32 33 34 Kanchanaburi is defined by misinformation, diluted history and the selective appraisal of the past. Its 35 36 primary attractions are located within a context of heritage that is neither neutral nor accurate. It is 37 38 contingent on the political and cultural context of the location; Thailand. Heritage, in this respect is 39 40 constructed, represented and re-represented to assert the primacy of national and political identity. 41 42 43 The tragic narrative is at one level appropriated by some of those with access to tangible heritage, 44 45 memories and artefacts. In the most poignant of all of the sites of Kanchanaburi; the main World 46 47 War Two graveyards, the visitor is overawed by the scale of the loss. Yet, this belies the unmarked 48 49 and unrecorded loss of the so-called Romusha. The table below records burials and estimated 50 51 deaths at Chungkai and Kanchanaburi cemeteries in Thailand and Thanbyuzayat in Myanamar. 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 23

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 Nationality POW / Chungkai Kancahanaburi Thanbyuzayat TOTAL Deaths 4 5 Labourers Cemetery Cemetery 6 7 British 30,000+ 1,384 3,568 1,588 6,540 8 9 Dutch 18,000+ 313 1,896 622 2,831 10 11 12 Australian 13,000+ - 1.362 1,348 2,710 13 14 Malaysian N/A 37 104 79 220 15 16 Indian N/A 6 12 15 33 17 18 Unknown - - 35 114 149 19 20 American 700+ Remains Remains 133 21 22 23 Repatriated Repatriated 24 25 Subtotal 61,000 1,740 6,977 3,766 12,616+ 26 27 Asian 200,000+ 80,000+ 28 29 Labourers 30 31 Japanese 15,000 1,000 32 33 34 TOTAL 275,000 94,000+ 35 36 37 38 39 Table 4.0 : Burials, Recorded and Estimated Deaths on the Burma-Thai Railway (Source: Australian- 40 41 Thai Chamber of Commerce, 2011) 42 43 44 During World War Two the Japanese Forces recorded the deaths of allied prisoners and allowed 45 46 burial and marking of graves. This record keeping and level of understanding was not extended to 47 48 the Asian labourers. Whilst it is understandable that these are fundamentally Allied War Graves, this 49 50 reaffirms that the remembrance of war is political and the celebration and development of heritage 51 52 53 shapes and sustains narratives of political legitimacy and identities (Gegner and Ziino, 2012). The 54 55 physical manifestation of war memorialization in areas such as cemeteries, uses distinct semiotic 56 57 and aesthetic strategies to represent a sanctioned and acceptable interpretation of war. However, 58 59 60 24

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 these are not simply the narratives of elite groups (cf Hall, 1992) but rather absorbing a multiplicity 4 5 of war narratives. The narrative of the Asian Labourers whilst represented in Hellfire Pass and 6 7 Thailand-Burma Railway Centre is not the dominant interpretation context from cemeteries to 8 9 Hollywood. This is an interpretation of Allied loss, Allied struggle and ultimately an Allied victory. 10 11 Heritage is contingent on the agencies that realise the narrative. This takes place in visitor centres 12 13 14 and attractions and sustained with funding by governments or commercial endeavour. As Eyal 15 16 (2004) concurs, memory is neither immutable or given, heritage is selectively interpreted, 17 18 constructed and reconstructed, represented and re-represented to assert national, religious, 19 20 personal and cultural identities. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 Photograph 5.0: Visitor Orientation, Kanchanaburi, Thailand (Source: J J Lennon) 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 25

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 Conclusions 4 5 6 The city of Kanchanaburi is defined by a heritage that has changed over time. Many factors imbue 7 8 the meanings and content of place. This is a function of a plethora of competing Influences and 9 10 agendas; political, economic, cultural, demographic and historical. Ye this destination is defined by 11 12 the Dark history of World War Two which is associated with this place. The critical mass of 13 14 attractions focussed on the ‘Bridge of the River Kwai’ and the history of the construction of the Thai 15 16 17 – Burma Railway provide the primary destination awareness and have been clearly harnessed in 18 19 urban marketing and individual tourism product marketing whether accommodation, retail, 20 21 attractions or events. The narrative of these products and this place remains problematic at a time 22 23 when transparency of meaning and place has never been more apparent. The operators of visitor 24 25 attractions, accommodation and other products that constitute for many visitors, the major learning 26 27 experience (cf Lennon and Foley, 2000) have to be aware that there actions are about more than 28 29 30 conservation and (mis) representation. The inaccuracy and exploitation of this tragic and dark 31 32 narrative is easily exposed. Theses operators have potential to influence the historical, social and 33 34 cultural meanings represented (Smith, 2006). The selection, interpretation and conservation of 35 36 elements of the past of this place are critical in understanding what is considered and how it is 37 38 represented (Ashworth, 2008). 39 40 41 The visitor attraction sites considered in Kanchanaburi provide multiple narratives around World 42 43 War Two events. They offer a range of content driven by influences as diverse as simple commercial 44 45 46 gain to the complex interaction of political, economic and ideological agendas (cf Gegner, 2012). In 47 48 each case the interpretation is used to articulate heritage through objects, artefacts, audio 49 50 recording, place or imagery. These elements exist in environment(s) of their creation; the World War 51 52 Two heritage of Kanchanaburi is developed in a nation that has only a partial and selective 53 54 acceptance of its role in this conflict. The visitor attractions examined in this research and their 55 56 content have all reconstructed and re-represented the past. Historical memorialization remains 57 58 59 60 26

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 embedded in interests that are global, commercial, ideological but rarely neutral. The interpretation 4 5 of the Thai- Burma Railway and the narrative of the many victims associated with the construction 6 7 merit respect, commemoration and consideration that is value free and not distorted by ideology or 8 9 commercial imperatives. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 27

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 4 5 6 References 7 8 Ashworth G (2008) The memorialisation of Violence and Tragedy: Fuman trauma as Heritage in 9 Graham B and Howard P (2008) (Eds) The Ashgate Research Companion to Heritage and Identity, 10 (231-244) Ashgate, Farnham 11 12 Ashworth, G. (1996). Holocaust tourism and Jewish culture: The lessons of Krakow- Kazimierz. In M. 13 Robinson, N. Evans, and P. Callaghan (Eds.). (1996). Tourism and culture— Towards the 21st century. 14 Athenaeum Press, London 15 16 17 18 Australian Government (2015) Hellfire Pass Memorial Burma-Thailand Railway, Department of 19 Veterans’ Affairs , Office of Australian War Graves 20 21 Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce (2011) HellFire Pass Memorial Thailand-Burma Railway, 22 Australian Thai Chamber of Commerce 23 24 Beattie R (2015) The Death Railway,TBRC Co, Kanchanaburi, Thailand 25 26 Beaumont J (2012) Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum , Thai-Burma Railway Museum, (pp19-41) in 27 28 Beaumont J (2009) Contested Transnational Heritage: the demolition of in 29 International Journal of Heritage Studies 15(4) (294-316) 30 31 Beaumont J (2005) Prisoners of War in Australian National Memory (184-194) in Moore B and

32 nd 33 Beeton S (2016) Film-induced Tourism (2 Edition), Channel View Publications, Bristol 34 Botterill, D., and Jones, T. (2010). Tourism and crime. Oxford, UK: Goodfellow Publishing. 35 36 37 38 Dann, G., & Seaton, A. (Eds.) Slavery contested heritage and thanatourism. Binghamton, NY: 39 Haworth Hospitality Press. 40 41 42 Eyal G (2004) Identity and Trauma: Two forms of the will to memory in History and Memory, 16 (1) 43 (5-36) 44 45 Hately Broad B (2005) (Eds) Prisoners of War; Prisoners of Peace Captivity, Homecoming and 46 Memory in World War Two, Berg, Oxford 47 48 Blackburn K (2010) War Memory and Nation Building in South East Asia in South East Asia Research, 49 18 (1), (5-31) 50 51 Boulle P (2007) The Bridge over the River Kwai, Presidio Press Random House, New York 52 Gegner M and Ziino B (Eds) (2012) The Heritage of War, Routledge, London 53 54 Beeton S (Ed) (2016) Film-induced Tourism, Channel View Publications, Bristol 55 56 57 58 59 60 28

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 Gegner M (2012) War monuments in East and West Berlin: Cold War symbols or different forms of 4 memorial in Gegner M and Ziino B (2012) The Heritage of War, ( 64-87) Routledge, London 5 6 7 Gegner M and Ziino B (2012) The Heritage of War, Routledge, London 8 9 10 Hall S (1992) Encoding, Decoding in S Hall, D Hobson A Lowe and P Willis (Eds) Culture, Media, 11 Language, (128-138) London, Routledge 12 13 14 15 Hardie R (1983) The Burma-Siam Railway, , London 16 17 JEATH War Museum (2016) The JEATH War Museum, Kanchanaburi, Thailand, Kanchanaburi, 18 Thailand 19 20 21 22 Kinvig C (1992) River Kwai Railway, Bressey’s, London 23 24 Kratoska W (2005) Labour in the Malay Peninsula and Singapore under Japanese occupation in Kratoska 25 P H (Ed) (2005) Asian Labour in the Wartime Japanese Empire; Unknown Histories, New York, East Gate 26 Books 27 28 Lennon J. J. (2010). Dark tourism and sites of crime. In D. Botterill & T. Jones (Eds.), Tourism and crime. 29 Oxford, UK: Goodfellow Publishers. 30 31 Lennon J (2009) Tragedy and Heritage in Peril : The Case of Cambodia in Tourism Recreational 32 Research (Vol 3 No 2 pp 116-123) 33 34 Lennon, J.J. and Foley, M. (2000) Dark Tourism – the Attraction of Death and Disaster, Continuum. (now 35 in 4th International Edition) 36 37 38 Lennon, J.J and Foley, M (1996) ‘Editorial: Heart of Darkness’ in the International Journal of Heritage 39 Studies 2 (1) 195-197. 40 41 42 43 Lennon J, and Smith H (2004) A Tale of Two Camps: Contrasting Approaches to Interpretation and 44 Commemoration in the Sites at Terezin and Lety, Czech Republic in Tourism Recreation Research Vol.29 45 46 No.1 pp 15-25 47 48 Lennon J and Wight C (2007) Selective Interpretation and Eclectic Human Heritage in Lithuania in 49 Tourism Management Vol 28 00519-529 50 51 52 Lowenthal D (1997) The Heritage Crusade and the Spoils of History, Cambridge University Press, 53 Cambridge 54 55 McCannell D (1978) The Tourist: A new theory of the Leisure Class, Shocken Books, New York 56 57 58 59 60 29

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 Mitchell, M. (Ed.). (2007). Remember me constructing immortality—Beliefs on immortality, life and 4 death. New York: Routledge. 5 6 Philpott, C. (2016.) Relics of the Reich. York, UK: Trinners. 7 8 Riley R Baker D and Van Doren C (1998) Movie induced tourism in Annals of Tourism Research 25(4) 9 (919-935) 10 11 Seaton, A. V. (1996). Guided by the dark; from thanatopsis to thanatourism. International Journal of 12 Heritage Studies 2(4): 234–244. 13 14 Seaton, A. V., and Lennon, J. J. (2004). Moral panics, ulterior motives and ulterior desires: Thanatourism 15 in the 21st century. In T. Singh (Ed.), New horizons in tourism: Strange experiences and stranger 16 practices (pp. 63–82). Wallingford, UK: CABI Publishing. 17

18 19 Seaton A V and Hay B (1998) The marketing of Scotland as a tourism destination in MacLelland R and 20 Smith R (1998) Tourism in Scotland, (209-239), International Thompson Press, London 21 22 Sharpley, R., and Stone, P. (Eds.). (2009). The darker side of travel. London: Routledge. 23 24 25 Skinner, J. (2012). Writing the dark side of travel. London: Berghahn Books 26 27 Smith L (2006) Uses of Heritage. Routledge, London 28 29 Thompson J (2002) The Imperial War Museum Book of the War in Burma 1942-1945, Macmillan, 30 London 31 32 Tourism Authority Thailand (2016) Thailand reaps top global awards for three most popular tourist 33 destinations in 2015 http://www.tatnews.org/thailand-reaps-top-global-awards-for-three-most- 34 popular-tourist-destinations-in-2015/ 35 36 37 Tunbridge, J. E., and Ashworth, G. J. (1995). Dissonant heritage: The management of the past as a 38 39 resource in conflict. Chichester, UK: John Wiley 40 UNWTO (2016) Tourism Highlights 2016 Edition 41 42 White, L., and Frew, E. (2012). Dark tourism and place identity: Managing and interpreting dark 43 places. Oxford, UK: Routledge. 44

45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 30

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 Case Study: Kanchanaburi and the Thai-Burma Railway - disputed narratives in the interpretation 4 5 of War 6 7 8 9 10 11 Abstract 12 13 14 This paper considers the history and dark tourism attractions associated with a qualitative case study 15 16 of the Thai-Burma Railway in the city of Kanchanaburi, Thailand. The paper considers how history 17 18 has been abridged and distorted at a number of attraction sites in order to exploit the dark tourism 19 20 commercial potential. The role of film media is considered as a critical element of the site narrative 21 22 23 and the reality of the tragic past of this place is discussed within the context of Thailand’s role in 24 25 World War Two. The paper contains an analysis of all of the relevant attractions in the city and 26 27 incorporates interview analysis with a range of operators and owners of such attractions. The results 28 29 provide an original contribution to tourism knowledge in this field. Heritage is central to many urban 30 31 destinations marketing strategy (Page and Hall, 2002) however, Kanchanaburi, through the urban 32 33 attractions that constitute key motivations for visitation, utilises its dark history for commercial and 34 35 36 ideological purposes. Where accurate World War Two interpretation was identified, it was 37 38 maintained by balancing the requirements of national governments and institutions with acceptable 39 40 levels of ambiguity and non-controversial perspectives on this urban location’s dark past. This is the 41 42 first time the heritage of this city has been considered in the context of urban destination marketing 43 44 and the role of Thailand in World War Two. It provides an illustrative perspective on the enduring 45 46 legacy of iconic film narrative and its role in understanding the dark past. 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 1

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 Introduction, Aims and Context 4 5 6 The city of Kanchanaburi, located in the province of the same name in north east Thailand on the 7 8 border with Myanmar is not a first stop destination for inbound tourists to Thailand. Indeed, 9 10 Thailand offers the international visitor many alternative attractions, activities and contrasting 11 12 experiences. Thailand welcomed more than29.9 million international visitors in 2015 and achieving 13 14 an enviable 6th place in the world in terms of tourism expenditure. Performance of the nation 15 16 17 across the years 2012-16 is detailed below. 18 19 20 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 21 22 International 22,308 26,547 24,810 29,881 32,611 23 24 Visitor Arrivals 25 26 (m) 27 28 % Growth 18.8% -6.5% 20.4% 9.3% 29 30 31 32 33 34 Table 1.0: International Arrivals Thailand 2012-2015 (Source: UNWTO, 2016, Reuters 2017) 35 36 The primary pull factor remains the capital; Bangkok, with 21.9 m overnight visitors. This is followed 37 38 39 by the beach locations of Phuket and Pattay City achieving 9.3m and 8.1 m visitors respectively in 40 41 2015 (TAT, 2016). In contrast, Kanchanaburi, capital of Kanchanaburi Province, with a population of 42 43 31,327, remains much less visited. The province is in the west of Thailand, 129 km from Bangkok, 44 45 and covers a total area of approximately 19,483 km² and is the country's third largest province. 46 47 48 In recent years, Kanchanaburi has seen some growth in short break tourism, predominantly by Thai 49 50 nationals, travelling north from the urban sprawl of Bangkok, to the closest significant natural 51 52 heritage destination. Kanchanaburi benefits from proximity to two major national parks in this part 53 54 55 of Thailand: 56 57 58 - Erawan National Park (with its celebrated seven cascading waterfalls) 59 60 2

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 - Sai Yok National Park (bordering Myanmar) 4 5 6 7 However, for some international tourists part of the attraction to this destination relates to the Thai- 8 9 Burma Railway history and its representation in a range of sites in the city. The location has become 10 11 synonymous with the railway and the ‘bridge’ over the River’ Kwai’ and a period of Second World 12 13 War history made famous by filmic entertainment rather than historical narrative. It is now seen by 14 15 16 some at least, as a destination associated with the dark heritage of World War Two. The aim of this 17 18 paper is to illustrate the role of dark heritage in the visibility, marketing and content of this 19 20 destination. For the first time the critical influence of iconic filmic narrative in the context of World 21 22 War Two history of Thailand is explored and primary research on operators and owners of attraction 23 24 sites is explored with reference to urban tourism to this destination. 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Dark Tourism and destinations associated with a tragic past 34 35 36 37 38 39 Dark tourism (sometimes referred to as thanatourism) has become established since 1996 as a 40 41 specialist area of tourism study. Death, suffering, visitation, and tourism have been interrelated for 42 43 many centuries, but the phenomena was identified as such and categorized by Lennon and Foley in 44 45 1996 and was later the subject of the defining source text: Dark Tourism: The Attraction of Death 46 47 and Disaster (Lennon and Foley, 2000). 48 49 50 51 52 The phenomenon exists across a range of destinations and demonstrates some elements of 53 54 commonality in a variety of locations, indeed for useful discussion of the range of such dark sites and 55 56 the potential for classification see; Stone and Sharpley, (2008) and Stone (2006). These dark tourism 57 58 59 60 3

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 sites act as the meeting place for history and visitation where questions of authenticity and fact are 4 5 sometimes juxtaposed with the operation of tourism facilities. What is celebrated, interpreted, and 6 7 developed is often selective, and dilemmas of commemoration are reflected in the condition, 8 9 nature, and content of these sites (for useful discussion in the context of the communist past sees 10 11 Bailey, Amore and Hall 2017). The tourist attractions at such sites become key physical elements of 12 13 14 heritage either authentic or created that combines in whole or part: commemoration, history, and 15 16 record. Dark tourism attractions demonstrate a scale of contrasting demand from consumers for 17 18 this type of experience. Strange and Kempa (2003) offer a valuable range of incarceration sites 19 20 operating as visitor attractions that clearly have darker elements as part of the experience and 21 22 appeal. However, they also constitute commemoration, historical reference, narrative legacies, and 23 24 can constitute populist visitor experiences. These tourism sites in some cases become one of the few 25 26 27 remaining commemorative elements of victims and their testimonies. In such cases the content and 28 29 its narrative interpretation take on critically important values in understanding a shared dark past. 30 31 32 33 For many years, humans have been attracted to sites and events that are associated with death, 34 35 disaster, suffering, violence, and killing. From ancient Rome and gladiatorial combat to attendance at 36 37 public executions in London and other major cities of the world, death has held an appeal. Sites 38 39 40 associated with death and disaster seems to exert a dark fascination for visitors and is frequently 41 42 linked to crime locations and the perpetration of both lawful and unlawful acts (Lennon, 2010). The 43 44 sheer diversity of forms of dark tourism sites is significant and has been the subject of research (see, 45 46 e.g., Lennon and Foley, 1996, 2000; Seaton, 1996; Seaton and Lennon, 2004; Dann and Seaton, 47 48 2001; Ashworth, 1996; Sharpley and Stone 2009). 49 50 Further useful contributions to the area include issues of interpretation and selective 51 52 53 commemoration (White and Frew, 2012), cross-disciplinary studies in the field of the sociology of 54 55 death and death studies (Mitchell, 2007), literature and writing (Skinner, 2012), problematic heritage 56 57 (Ashworth, 1996, Tunbridge and Ashworth, 1995), the area of criminology/crime sites (Botterill and 58 59 60 4

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 Jones, 2010), the architectural legacy of dark sites (Philpott, 2016) and in development of scales of 4 5 dark heritage (Sharpley and Stone 2009). 6 7 Tourism and death enjoy a curious relationship. Death and acts of mass killing are a major deterrent 8 9 for the development of certain destinations, and yet such acts can become the primary purpose of 10 11 visitation in others. In the literature that has emerged since identification and analysis of the 12 13 14 phenomenon dark tourism sites have been identified as destination ‘pull’ factors, and the 15 16 relationship between crime and its attraction to visitors has been explored ( Dalton 2015). The 17 18 consideration to date has included: 19 20 - Visits to death sites and disaster scenes whether real or created (for useful discussion see 21 22 23 Stone, 2006) 24 25 - Visits to sites of mass or individual death (see for example Beech 2009, Lennon and Foley 26 27 2000) 28 29 - Visits to sites of incarceration (Strange and Kempa, 2003) 30 31 32 - Visits to representations or simulations associated with death (Seaton and Lennon, 2004) 33 34 - Visits to re-enactments and human interpretations of death (Seaton and Lennon, 2004) 35 36 37 38 39 Murder, execution, and sites of lawful and unlawful deaths have served to attract the attention of 40 41 visitors and residents from ancient times to the current day. The city of Kanchanaburi offers further 42 43 evidence of the phenomenon. In this context and in other cases education and the nature of the 44 45 learning experience are frequently used to justify and explain motivation for development and 46 47 48 visitation in the modern world. Indeed, the idea of travel as an educational experience of new and 49 50 previously unvisited destinations is frequently used as a rational argument associated with 51 52 discussions of modernity. It is important here to consider the significance of film, television and 53 54 communications technology that serves to heighten awareness of ‘dark’ destinations (Lennon 2009, 55 56 Foley and Lennon, 1996) and destinations more generally (Seaton and Hay, 1998). 57 58 59 60 5

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 The paper and the material contained below provide a useful addition to the literature and will bring 4 5 a focus to this part of Thailand which has seen limited exploration in mainstream tourism literature. 6 7 The paper provides a case study of a city; Kanchanaburi, that has become synonymous with heritage 8 9 and filmic narrative that relates directly to the tourism experience of many visitors. This provides the 10 11 foundation for exploring the role of Thailand and the use and treatment of prisoners of war and 12 13 14 native labour by the Japanese army, a hitherto underexplored aspect of Thailand’s dark heritage. 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 Methodology 22 23 24 The paper draws on literature, historical documents and tourism publications related to World War 25 26 27 Two and the incarceration and forced labour associated with the Thai-Burma Railway and the city of 28 29 Kanchanaburi . This part of Thailand has been identified given the significant focus on World War 30 31 Two heritage and history associated with the city and the region. It presents the largest amount of 32 33 heritage and related attraction development of any of the cities of Myanmar and Thailand 34 35 connected by the route of the Thai-Burma Railway in 1942-43. 36 37 38 39 40 41 Qualitative fieldwork incorporating all related tourist attractions, monuments and commemorative 42 43 sites was undertaken in Norther Thailand in January 2017. Curators, managers, operators and tourist 44 45 authorities were contacted in advance of the fieldwork by email to request interviews. The sites 46 47 48 identified are detailed below. 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 Title of Attraction Operator Site Review and Location 58 (Fieldwork Interview 59 60 6

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 Requests) 4 Thailand-Burma Railway TBRC Co Ltd Yes (Yes) City 5 Centre 6 The JEATH War Museum Wat Chaichumpol Yes (Yes) City 7 Temple, Kanchanaburi 8 Arts Gallery and War Yes (Yes) City 9 Museum Private Company 10 11 Kancahanaburi War Commonwealth War Yes (Yes) City 12 Cemetery Graves Commission 13 Chungkai War Cemetery Commonwealth War Yes (Yes) 5 Km West of City 14 Graves Commission 15 Hellfire Pass Memorial Australian War Graves Yes (Yes) 70 Km North West 16 Burma-Thailand railway Commission of the City 17 18 19 20 Fieldwork Research Sites, Kanchanaburi and Region 21 22 23 24 25 26 The table above contains all of the primary sites visited by tourists and no related World War Two 27 28 site in the area was excluded. In two sites, subjects were unwilling to participate however some 29 30 nine individuals were interviewed from four of the identified sites (representing a sample of 67% of 31 32 33 all sites). For those interviewed in relation to the subject area, a standard questionnaire based on a 34 35 rolling data base, relevant to particular sites was utilised. Where permitted interviews were taped 36 37 and transcribed. It should be noted that the subject area was seen as sufficiently sensitive by the 38 39 majority of those contacted that audio recording was deemed unacceptable and anonymity was 40 41 requested and preserved. The data below has been assembled to provide a perspective on what is 42 43 both a historically problematic and ideologically conflicted use of the narrative of the part of the 44 45 46 Second World War and its problematic exploitation. 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54

55 56 57

58 59 60 7

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 Understanding the historical context 4 5 6 7 8 9 This area of Thailand was an important part of the narrative of the Second World War and Japan’s 10 11 struggle for dominance in this part of Asia. The outbreak of hostilities in December 1941 with the 12 13 simultaneous attacks on Pearl Harbour and British colonies saw the Japanese invasion of the 14 15 Malayan peninsula with the goal of capturing Singapore. In February, 1942, the fall of Singapore saw 16 17 the surrender and capture of an enormous number of allied prisoners. In total some; 28,500 British, 18 19 20 18,000 Australians, 67,000 Indians and 14,000 local volunteers surrendered to the Japanese. This 21 22 significant volume of manpower was later to be deployed in the construction of the Thai – Burma 23 24 railway sometimes referred to as the ‘Death Railway’. Burma was an important invasion target for 25 26 the Japanese since it provided a critical allied supply chain to their adversary China. However, Burma 27 28 also offered access to raw materials for the Japanese war machine hence, some form of rail link 29 30 between Thailand and Burma was considered a necessity. 31 32 33 It is important to note that during the Second World War, Thailand signed a co-operation agreement 34 35 36 with the Japanese government in January 1942, declaring war on both America and Britain only days 37 38 later. However, as the conflict in WW2 progressed, the co-operation agreement assumed many of 39 40 the characteristics of an occupation (Thompson, 2002). At a national level there is significant 41 42 sensitivity about this period of Thai history and as Beaumont (2012, 26) noted: 43 44 45 “…there has been something of a national amnesia about the Thai’s bystander role as war crimes 46 47 were committed on their territory.” 48 49 50 This selective attention to the history of conflict and state actions is not unique to Thailand and 51 52 characterises the way many governments and nations re-represent their past. For further discussion 53 54 see Lowenthal (1997) and for a comparable example in the case of Lithuania, during the Second 55 56 57 World War, see Lennon and Wight (2008). In the case of Thailand, the events of late 1942 were 58 59 60 8

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 critical in understanding the extent of this process of re-representation of history. Japan ordered 4 5 the development of a Thai- Burma railway in 1942-3, given Allied pressure on sea based supply 6 7 chains. Japan had conquered much of South East Asia within six months of the Pearl Harbour attack 8 9 on December 1941 (Beattie, 2015). However, the defeat of the Japanese Navy at the Battle of 10 11 Midway in 1942 resulted in major supply chain problems for Japanese troops located in Burma and 12 13 14 the importance of a potential rail link became highly significant. The railway construction of such a 15 16 route was not feasible with heavy construction plant and machinery which was impossible to 17 18 transport to the site given the terrain and climate (Thompson, 2002). Accordingly, the 415 km 19 20 railway from Bampong (Thailand) to Thanbyuzayay ( Burma) was to be constructed by Asian 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 9

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 labourers and Allied prisoners of war. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48

49 50 51 Diagram 1.0: Map of Route of Thai-Burma Railway 1942-43 (Source: Australian-Thailand Chamber of 52 53 Commerce 2006) 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 10

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 The large number of allied POWs and the indigenous populations of some of the Japanese occupied 10 11 Asian nations provided the forced labour supply. The railway was to cross a range of rivers, coastal 12 13 plains, foothills and inaccessible mountainous border regions. The latter terrain often required deep 14 15 cuttings into solid rock, large embankments and numerous wooden trestle bridges (Kinvig, 1992). 16 17 Much of this difficult construction work was undertaken by hand by POWs and Asian forced labour, 18 19 20 using tap drills and explosives. Forest was cleared and earth was moved manually at significant 21 22 human cost (Hardie, 1983). The use of prisoners of war in such dangerous tasks, assisting their 23 24 captor’s in the war effort, was directly in contravention with the Geneva Convention. However, as a 25 26 non-signatory Japan choose to deploy large numbers of allied prisoners in this task. The prison 27 28 workforce was extended significantly by the use of Asian labourers (predominantly Malays, Tamils 29 30 and Burmese). In total across the duration of the construction the workforce consisted of circa 31 32 33 330,000 including some 61,000 Prisoners of War (Australian –Thai Chamber of Commerce, 2007) as 34 35 detailed below. 36 37 38 Nationality Employed on Thai – Burma Railway Deaths 39 People of Malayan 75,000 42,000 40 Origin (including 41 Malays, Tamils and 42 Chinese) 43 Burmese Initial Japanese draft circa 175,000 40,000 (does not include 44 Following desertion deaths of those who 45 90,000 deserted) 46 British 30,131 6,648 47 48 Javanese 7,500 2,900 49 Australian 13,004 2,710 50 Dutch 17,990 2,737 51 Chinese (Singapore) 5,200 500 52 America 686 132 53 Aminese 200 25 54 TOTAL 239,711 97,652 55

56 57 58 59 60 11

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 Table 2.0: Employment and Fatalities on the Thai-Burma Railway (Source : Beattie, 2015; Kratoska, 4 5 2005) 6 7 8 9 10 11 This workforce laboured in monsoon conditions without; adequate accommodation, food, clothing, 12 13 medicine or footwear (Kinvig, 1992). Indeed, in the absence of appropriate medicines and medical 14 15 care, diseases such as; malaria, beri-beri, tropical ulcers, dysentery, cholera, general toxaemia and 16 17 pellagra, along with the cruelty and violence administered by the Japanese and Korean guards all 18 19 20 contributed to high fatality rates that characterised the construction phase (Kinvig, 1992). The 21 22 imprecise nature of figures for Asian labourers (sometimes referred to as ‘Romusha’), are 23 24 complicated by the fact that the Japanese captors whilst recording fatalities of allied prisoners failed 25 26 to do so in the case of the Asian labourers. Furthermore, in the case of the recruitment and forced 27 28 conscription of Burmese nationals, the levels of desertion were considerable and a significant 29 30 unknown number are thought to have perished in the harsh environment of the Thai-Burma border. 31 32 33 This tragic summary of the cost of this construction constitutes a major reason for visiting 34 35 Kanchanaburi. However, the interpretation and content of this tragic history receives mixed 36 37 treatment at a variety of sites across the city. 38 39 40 41 42 43 Results: Kanchanaburi and its World War Two Heritage Attractions 44 45 46 47 48 49 As previously indicated, the city comprises a number of attractions associated with this period of its 50 51 history and these provide one of the primary reasons for visitation. All of the sites associated with 52 53 this period of the destinations’ tragic history were visited and operators contacted to request 54 55 interviews as part of the fieldwork (see full listing below). 56 57 58 59 60 12

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 Title of Attraction Operator Paid / Non Paid Location 4 Admission 5 Thailand-Burma Railway TBRC Co Ltd Paid Admission City 6 Centre 7 The JEATH War Museum Wat Chaichumpol Paid Admission City 8 Temple, Kanchanaburi 9 Arts Gallery and War Paid Admission City 10 11 Museum Private Company 12 Kancahanaburi War Commonwealth War Free Admission City 13 Cemetery Graves Commission 14 Chungkai War Cemetery Commonwealth War Free Admission 5 Km West of City 15 Graves Commission 16 Hellfire Pass Memorial Australian War Graves Free Admission 70 Km North West 17 Burma-Thailand railway Commission of the City 18 19 20 Table 3.0 : Kanchaburi Visitor Attractions and Sites associated with the Second World War . 21 22 23 24 25 26 The interviews generated a range of responses to the range of topic areas identified for discussion 27 28 below built around a free flowing data base of questions and prompts 29 30 31 ñ Purpose of Operation and Ownership 32 33 Nature of Experience on Offer 34 ñ 35 36 ñ Scale and Profile of Audience attracted 37 38 ñ Dwell Time 39 40 ñ Repeat Visitation 41 42 ñ Revenue and Profitability / use of funds generated 43 44 45 The nine individuals interviewed ranged from government and charity employees to owner / 46 47 operators of what they described as commercial visitor attractions. For the cemetery and memorial 48 49 50 sites the focus was on remembrance, sacrifice and understanding the narrative. The more 51 52 commercial exploitation of such sites was seen as less acceptable. 53 54 55 In almost all cases levels of visitation was approximated and data pertaining to precise visitation was 56 57 not shared. Visitation profiles were overwhelmingly international with Thai, Myanmar and Burma 58 59 60 13

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 nationals constituting the minority of visitors and exhibiting the lowest dwell time. The majority of 4 5 those visiting the sites (where interviews were undertaken) were ; Australian, UK, Netherlands and 6 7 US visitors. In these cases visitors varied between being totally independent, part of a locally 8 9 purchased tour or part of a more organised coach based tour. Dwell times for visitors of Australian, 10 11 UK, Netherlands and US origins were significant on average 90 minutes but in many cases in excess 12 13 14 of 120 minutes. There was a low instance of repeat visitation, evident normally where there was a 15 16 direct family association with the site; although for all operators this was a declining consumer 17 18 segment. Education visitation by local, regional and national schools constituted a minority visitation 19 20 element at all sites. The use of funds raised by more commercial operators was extremely sensitive 21 22 and discussion was limited. In the case of charities the contributions raised was utilised for 23 24 maintenance, dealing with depreciation, extending and renewal of interpretation or used as a fund 25 26 27 for local community education or development areas in nearby villages and towns. 28 29 30 31 32 33 The key sites also include: the ‘Bridge over the River Kwai’, a non-paid admission, metal railway 34 35 bridge to the north west of the centre of town which is still operational and serves as a major 36 37 attraction for international tourists. Whilst it is not gated or staffed its appeal is considerable. Its 38 39 fame is linked primarily to filmic heritage and specifically a Hollywood narrative from; ‘the Bridge on 40 41 the River Kwai’ directed in 1957 by David Lean. This film achieved no less than seven academy 42 43 awards, despite its limited historical and geographical legitimacy. It catalysed the ‘Bridge on the 44 45 46 River Kwai’ mythology; which, as its narrative grew became more acceptable and simpler to access 47 48 than historical record. The current bridge, located in Kanchanaburi constitutes a re-representation of 49 50 heritage. The Thai-Burma Railway was composed of many bridges, developed by forced labour 51 52 (Allied prisoners and Asian Labourers) across the length of the route from Bang Pong (Thailand) to 53 54 Thanbyuzayat (Burma). The Thai-Burma railway traversed some 416 kms across rugged relief that 55 56 required frequent bridges and cuttings. The bridge which tourists visit in the city of Kanchanaburi, is 57 58 59 60 14

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 neither authentic nor historically pivotal. Like the river its identity has been changed to provide a 4 5 past that can be more easily commodified and exploited. As Beattie (2015, 7) pointedly 6 7 summarised: 8 9 10 “There was no bridge over the River Kwai. In fact there was no River Kwai.” 11 12 13 The Thai authorities to satisfy visitor demand, changed the name of the river from Maeklaung to 14 15 Kwai and the Thai-Burma railway never crossed the Khwae Noi tributary, that later achieved 16 17 erroneous attention as the River Kwai. In reality, much farther north, near the Thai-Burma border 18 19 20 the same railway crossed a tributary of the Khwae Noi; the Song Khalia River. It was in the British 21 22 POW camp at the Song Khalia crossing that some of the worst excesses of the forced construction 23 24 period occurred. It is probable, that this site inspired the initial 1954 book by Pierre Boule, that in 25 26 turn catalysed the film (see Boulle, 1954). However , this forced labour camp was but one of 27 28 approximately 55 that are recoded on the length of the route (Australian-Thai Chamber of 29 30 Commerce, 2011). This route comprised numerous bridges and many POW camps. However, the 31 32 33 filmic record has undoubtedly influenced the appeal of the destination, the development of its 34 35 attractions and activities, constructing and re-representing destinations and sites (McCannell, 1976). 36 37 Beeton (2016) in her appraisal of Film-induced tourism (2016) cites case after case, where impacts of 38 39 representation in all forms of filmic and televisual media are shown to positively impact on visitation 40 41 and destination awareness. 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 15

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 Diagram 2.0: Location of POW and Forced Labour Camps on Thai-Burma Railway 1942-43 (Source: 45 46 Australian- Thailand Chamber of Commerce, 2011) 47 48 49 50 51 52 The bridge at Kanchanaburi whilst originally built by the Asian labourers and Allied prisoners of war, 53 54 traversed the River Maeklaung (renamed Kwai) and constitutes a further misrepresentation of the 55 56 ‘past’. The bridge is of steel construction rather than the wooden trestle bridge featured in the 57 58 59 60 16

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) film. Such wooden trestle bridges were the dominant construction 4 5 type utilised on the Thai-Burma railway although as Beaumont (2009) noted many were demolished 6 7 or lost following the cessation of World War Two hostilities. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Photograph 1.0 : Tourists visiting ‘Bridge on the River Kwai’, Kanchanaburi, Thailand (Source J J 37 38 Lennon ). 39 40 41 42 43 44 The impact of this augmented historical reality was catalysed by the filmic narrative of the Bridge of 45 46 the River Kwai. This clearly has parallels in other destinations with a dark history. In 1981, a 47 48 generation were reintroduced to the genocide of the Khmer Rouge, through the Roland Jaffe film; 49 50 51 the Killing Fields. This filmic narrative provided a link to a true story and an abridged consideration of 52 53 the complex cause of this barbaric regime’s rise to power. The Killing Fields film, has an eponymously 54 55 titled tourist attraction in the Cambodian capital; Phnom Penh. Whilst this constitutes a significant 56 57 and well visited site, (second only in visitor numbers to the Khmer temple complex of Angkor Wat), it 58 59 60 17

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 fails to effectively or accurately educate visitors about the scale of this genocide. For example, the 4 5 single Killing Field attraction in Phnom Penh fails to highlight that almost 350 such sites existed 6 7 across Cambodia during the murderous period of Khmer Rouge control in Cambodia (1975-9). 8 9 Furthermore, the later loss of such heritage and historical evidence since 1979 is a further omission, 10 11 appropriately tragic in its own context. Despite these facts visitation continues to grow as Riley et al 12 13 14 noted: 15 16 17 “…locations need not be beautiful nor the storylines positive in order to attract visitors” (Op cit, 18 19 932). 20 21 22 Indeed, the pursuit of historical accuracy has rarely been the motivation of visitors. As Seaton and 23 24 Hay (1989) recorded in their analysis of the impact of the impact of the film Braveheart on Scottish 25 26 Tourism. Visitors were motivated to visit Scotland to experience and visit locations featured in the 27 28 film, even though much of it had been filmed in Ireland, because of a more accommodating national 29 30 tax regime. Interestingly, the same tourists would often then continue on to or revisit Ireland, to 31 32 33 experience the ‘faux’ heritage sites which were the in fact ‘authentic’ film locations. 34 35 36 37 38

39 40 41 In the case of Kanchanaburi, the bridge is now a major attraction in the heart of the city where 42 43 44 tourists of all nationalities visit and cross, in a seemingly endless stream of guided and independent 45 46 tours. According to Beaumont (2012), this particular site offers for some: 47 48 49 “… displaced significance- that is a site that lacks heritage authenticity being invested with an 50 51 emotional power at the level of individual memory or popular culture…”(Op cit 23) 52 53 54 However, this bridge is distant from historical fact and geographical location. Indeed, like some of 55 56 the related attractions in the city, historical accuracy has been lost as war time heritage is exploited 57 58 59 60 18

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 and loosely interpreted or ignored. This leads at best to dilution and at worst to inaccuracy. The 4 5 represented history of the Thai-Burma railway has also been at least partially oriented towards a 6 7 narrative of Allied loss. Indeed, in the majority of the attractions in Kanchanaburi, the Asian loss is 8 9 minimised and the ‘appropriation’ of the narrative is evident. In the case of the JEATH museum ( the 10 11 name is an abbreviation of; Japan, England, America, Australia, Thailand and Holland), the 12 13 14 orientation towards an Allied narrative is dominant. The museum structure is a replica POW hut and 15 16 the interpretation though amateurish is focussed around the conditions, work regime, diet, disease 17 18 and sickness the allied prisoners experienced. The much larger Asian sacrifice remains 19 20 undocumented at this location. Interestingly, this museum was established in 1977 by the chief 21 22 abbot of the Wat Chaichumpol, in Muang, near Kanchanaburi. The content and interpretation of the 23 24 museum is interestingly selective. For example, the introductory orientation makes claims which are 25 26 27 hard to substantiate and difficult to comprehend (see below). 28 29 30 “The word JEATH also replaces the word Death because it sounds too horrific. The JEATH museum is 31 32 a very important part of the history of Death Railway which will complete your visit to the River 33 34 Kwae Bridge (sic).” (JEATH War Museum, 2016, 5) 35 36 37 38 39 40 The Art Gallery and War Museum in Kanchanaburi, presents a ‘Bridge on the River Kwai’ narrative 41 42 with a disjointed consideration of selected historical figures of World War Two. These elements are 43 44 combined with; a Miss Thailand fashion museum, an ore and jewellery set of displays along with a 45 46 range of defunct and rusting contemporary helicopters and small passenger aircraft (non-military). 47 48 The museum is constructed in the style of a Chinese temple and contains a large variety of 49 50 51 unconnected artefacts. The museum does comprise some authentic World War Two artefacts which 52 53 include; deteriorating photos and sketches, poorly constructed life size tableaux of prisoners of war, 54 55 and a range of ‘interpretive’ notices such as that illustrated below: 56 57 58 59 60 19

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Photograph 2.0 : Typical Interpretation; Arts Gallery and War Museum, Kanchanaburi (Source: J J 28 29 Lennon) 30 31 32 33 34 35 This private museum also venerates the original Chinese developer and his family in a shrine like 36 37 space on the upper level. The museum also displays, in a glass case, the remains of a number of 38 39 prisoners of war with the following interpretation; 40 41 42 “In this glass monument, the remains of 104 of the prisoners who worked as labourers during World 43 44 45 War Two are kept on the second level and the remains of another two are kept on the third level, 46 47 making a total of 106” (see below) 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 20

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Photograph 3.0 : Display of Human Remains: Arts Gallery and War Museum, Kanchanaburi (Source 26 27 : J J Lennon) 28 29 30 31 32 33 The quality of conservation in this museum is limited and Beaumont (2012) has suggested that these 34 35 are Romusha remains but the situation is unclear. 36 37 38 In contrast, two related attractions, seek to relate a more authentic and historically defensible 39 40 approach to the Thai-Burma railway. They are; the Hellfire Pass Memorial, Burma-Thai Railway and 41 42 the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre. The latter opened in 2003, and is a visitor, research and 43 44 documentation centre. It is located within Kanchanaburi, and its development is associated with 45 46 Ronald Beattie, an ex-Australian army civil engineer, who has researched the Burma-Thai Railway 47 48 49 since the early 1990s. Beattie has lobbied for conservation funds and following assistance from the 50 51 Netherlands government, the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre, is now the major repository for 52 53 artefacts and documentary evidence of the development and human cost of the railway. It provides 54 55 a research and information service for those interested in tracing former prisoners of war and those 56 57 involved in the construction. The interpretive content is deliberately non-partisan and based on 58 59 60 21

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 donated and collected evidence, and a narrative which provides quantification of the full cost of 4 5 construction in terms of Allied and Asian lives. This site also highlights the positive role of some Thai 6 7 nationals in relation to the Prisoners of War. The exhibition features the interventions of; Mr K 8 9 Gardiner (Siam Architects Imports Co), Mr E Heath (Borneo Co), Mr R Hempson (Anglo-Siam 10 11 Corporation), Nai Boonpong Sirivejjabhandu and Nai Lee Soon, who were all associated with the ‘V’ 12 13 14 corporation. These were a network of those opposed to the excesses of the Japanese ‘occupation’ of 15 16 Thailand. They were responsible for passing money and medicines to POWs. Whilst undoubtedly 17 18 heroic and important, it is a small part of the wider narrative. 19 20 21 Hellfire Pass Memorial, Burma-Thai Railway is the other notable heritage site that deals with the 22 23 tragic past of this place. However, its construction was not without controversy and the nature of 24 25 the multiple narratives of this place and how they changed since the initial consideration of the site 26 27 in the 1980s have been documented at length by Beaumont (2012). This analysis probes how the 28 29 30 range of nationalities were represented and charts the range of agendas and interest groups 31 32 involved in the complex interplay of remembrance of captivity and conflict. This site is located 80km 33 34 north west of Kanchanaburi on land owned by the National Security Command (i.e. the Thai Army). 35 36 This location is historically important, since it saw some of the worst excesses of the Japanese 37 38 captors. However, this is also an important relationship between tenant and land owner, and 39 40 constitutes an ‘enclave’ of quality heritage interpretation that remains dependent upon the Thai 41 42 43 government’s understanding and cooperation. As the site leaflet introduction to the memorial 44 45 intimates: 46 47 48 “The Memorial provides an important educational function for the people of Thailand and visitors 49 50 from Australia and other countries. The memorial stands as an enduring symbol of the close 51 52 relationship between Thailand, Australia and those nations whose citizens worked on the Burma- 53 54 Thailand railway.” (Australian Government, 2016, 4) 55 56 57 58 59 60 22

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 The site is synonymous with the section of the rail route between Konyu and Hintok, which saw a 4 5 major concentration of work on the railway construction between 1942-43 involving approximately 6 7 2,000 Australian and British prisoners (Australian Government, 2016). At this site, the excavation of 8 9 soil and rock was carried out with limited machinery and predominantly by hand. Prisoners mainly 10 11 used; hammers, drills, picks and shovels to remove rock. As production timescales became critical to 12 13 14 Japanese engineers, productivity was increased, at great human cost ( Hearder, 2009). Shifts were 15 16 extended from 12 to 18 hours, with the workplace lit by wood fires and oil pot lamps. This gave the 17 18 impression of fires in a ‘hell like’ location, hence the application of the title ‘Hellfire Pass’ by the 19 20 Prisoners (Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce, 2011). In 1995, the Australian Government 21 22 provided A$ 1.6 million (Austrian Dollars) for the development of a substantial memorial centre and 23 24 related visitor infrastructure to commemorate the events of the Railway construction. The 25 26 27 interpretation of this site makes strong use of the audio testimony of Prisoners of War, in a self- 28 29 guided tour. The visitor centre element incorporated illustrated and narrative based interpretation 30 31 within the Memorial. It is deliberately not built around artefacts and has a clear focus on 32 33 remembrance and learning, that provides due weighting to the extent of Asian as well as Allied 34 35 losses. 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 Memory, memorial and re-representation; Hell fire Pass and beyond 45 46 47 48 49 50 It is apparent that in some cases memory remains contested and selective in aspects of the World 51 52 War Two heritage displayed in the city and environs of Kanchanaburi. The context of incarceration, 53 54 forced labour, atrocity is overlaid with competing memories of differing national groups. However, 55 56 57 this city offers a range of contrasting narratives for visitors and tourists, who may have limited 58 59 60 23

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 understanding of the competing sensitivities and agendas present. This incarcerated and forced 4 5 workforce laboured mercilessly in monsoon conditions without adequate accommodation, food, 6 7 clothing, medicine, clothing or footwear (Kinvig, 1992).In the absence of appropriate medicines and 8 9 medical care, diseases such as; malaria, beri-beri, tropical ulcers, dysentery, cholera, general 10 11 toxaemia and pellagra took their toll. This along with the cruelty and violence administered by the 12 13 14 Japanese and Korean guards all contributed to the high fatality rates that characterised the 15 16 construction phase (Kinvig, 1992). However, as Beaumont (2012) has recorded the site of Hellfire 17 18 Pass is: 19 20 21 “…vulnerable to charges of selective and nationalistic representation and is inherently dissonant 22 23 with local memories and cultural practices. Hence the sustainability of such heritage is fragile, 24 25 dependent upon diplomatic negotiation and a continuing perception on the part of the host country 26 27 that the heritage development is to its economic and political benefit.” (op cit, 21) 28 29 30 31 32 33 The potential for the controversy in relation to content and interpretation within this site was 34 35 36 considerable. Indeed, the potential impact on diplomatic and economic relations between Thailand 37 38 and Japan was a concern during the site evolution and remains contentious as the Australian 39 40 government wishes to make further investment in the site form 2017 onwards (Lennon 2017). The 41 42 site and content also risks drawing attention to the Thai co-operation with the Japanese during 43 44 World War Two; a period that receives limited coverage in other Thai museums. The co-operation 45 46 agreement of 1942 between Japan and Thailand and the reality of Japanese occupation sits 47 48 uncomfortably with narratives of nationalism and self-reliance (Blackburn, 2010). The distant Thai 49 50 51 past of empire and conquest, may present a more acceptable history for the purpose of nationhood. 52 53 However, selective interpretation is also accompanied by commercialising elements. In the case of 54 55 the city of Kanchanaburi, this is illustrated each year with a son et lumiere performance that relates 56 57 the ‘history’ of the ‘Bridge on the River Kwai’. This visitor entertainment focuses on the allied 58 59 60 24

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 bombing of the ‘bridge’ in 1944-45, and the civilian loss recorded. This lights and firework show 4 5 attracts thousands of viewers generating significant economic impact at a local level. This spectacle 6 7 and commercial exploitation of the ‘River Kwai’ narrative from T-shirt and souvenirs to resorts 8 9 utilising the River Kwai as a destination marker, evidence how an increasingly distant interpretation 10 11 of the past can be capitalised upon. 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Photograph 4.0: River Kwai Bridge T-Shirt Merchandise and Resort Names, Kanchanaburi (Source: 41 42 43 J J Lennon) 44 45 46 47 48 49 Kanchanaburi offers a selective appraisal of the past. At least some of its attractions are located 50 51 within a context of heritage that is neither neutral nor accurate. It is contingent on the political and 52 53 cultural context of the national location. Heritage in such a context can be constructed, represented 54 55 and re-represented to assert the primacy of national and political identity. The narrative is at one 56 57 level appropriated by some of those with access to; tangible heritage, memories and artefacts. At a 58 59 60 25

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 second level; the main World War Two graveyards, the visitor is overawed by the scale of loss. Yet, 4 5 this belies the unmarked and unrecorded loss of the so-called Romusha. The table below records 6 7 burials and estimated deaths at Chungkai and Kanchanaburi cemeteries in Thailand and 8 9 Thanbyuzayat in Myanamar. 10 11 12 13 14 15 Nationality POW / Chungkai Kancahanaburi Thanbyuzayat TOTAL Deaths 16 Labourers Cemetery Cemetery 17 British 30,000+ 1,384 3,568 1,588 6,540 18 19 Dutch 18,000+ 313 1,896 622 2,831 20 Australian 13,000+ - 1.362 1,348 2,710 21 Malaysian N/A 37 104 79 220 22 Indian N/A 6 12 15 33 23 Unknown - - 35 114 149 24 American 700+ Remains Remains 133 25 Repatriated Repatriated 26 Subtotal 61,000 1,740 6,977 3,766 12,616+ 27 28 Asian 200,000+ 80,000+ 29 Labourers 30 Japanese 15,000 1,000 31 TOTAL 275,000 94,000+ 32 33 34 35 Table 4.0 : Burials, Recorded and Estimated Deaths on the Burma-Thai Railway (Source: Australian- 36 37 Thai Chamber of Commerce, 2011) 38 39 40 41 42 43 During World War Two the Japanese Forces recorded the deaths of allied prisoners and allowed 44 45 burial and marking of graves. Such record keeping and understanding was not extended to Asian 46 47 labourers. Whilst it is understandable that these are fundamentally Allied War Graves, this reaffirms 48 49 50 that remembrance of war is at one level political. The celebration and development of heritage 51 52 shapes and sustains narratives of political legitimacy and identities (Gegner and Ziino, 2012). The 53 54 physical manifestation of war memorialization in areas such as; cemeteries, uses distinct semiotic 55 56 and aesthetic strategies to represent a sanctioned and acceptable interpretation of war. However, 57 58 59 60 26

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 these are not simply the narratives of elite groups (cf Hall, 1992) but rather they absorb a multiplicity 4 5 of war narratives. The narrative of the Asian Labourers, whilst represented in Hellfire Pass and the 6 7 Thailand-Burma Railway Centre, is not the dominant interpretive context. This remains largely an 8 9 interpretation of Allied loss, Allied struggle and ultimately an Allied victory. Heritage is contingent on 10 11 the agencies that realise the narrative. This takes place in visitor centres and attractions and is 12 13 14 sustained with funding by governments or commercial endeavour. As Eyal (2004) concurs, memory 15 16 is neither immutable or given, heritage is selectively interpreted, constructed and reconstructed, 17 18 represented and re-represented to assert national, religious, personal and cultural identities. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47

48 49 50 Photograph 5.0: Visitor Orientation, Kanchanaburi, Thailand (Source: J J Lennon) 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 27

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 Conclusions 4 5 6 The city of Kanchanaburi is defined by a heritage that has changed over time. Many factors imbue 7 8 the meanings and content of a city. This is a function of a plethora of competing Influences and 9 10 agendas; political, economic, cultural, demographic and historical. Yet this urban destination is at 11 12 least partly defined by the Dark history of World War Two. The critical mass of attractions focussed 13 14 on the ‘Bridge of the River Kwai’ and the history of the construction of the Thai – Burma Railway 15 16 17 provide destination awareness and have been utilised in urban marketing and individual product 18 19 marketing whether in accommodation, retail, attractions or events. The narrative of some of these 20 21 products remains problematic. Operators of tourist sites, such as visitor attractions; that constitute 22 23 for some visitors a major learning experience (cf Lennon and Foley, 2000) have to be aware that they 24 25 have potential to influence the historical, social and cultural meanings represented (Smith, 2006). 26 27 The selection, interpretation and conservation of elements of the past are critical in understanding 28 29 30 what is considered and how it is represented (Ashworth, 2008). 31 32 33 The visitor attraction sites considered in Kanchanaburi provide multiple narratives around World 34 35 War Two events. They offer a range of content driven by influences as diverse as simple commercial 36 37 gain to the complex interaction of political, economic and ideological agendas (cf Gegner, 2012). In 38 39 each case interpretation can be used to articulate heritage through objects, artefacts, audio 40 41 recording, place or imagery. These elements exist in environment(s) of their creation; the World War 42 43 Two heritage of Kanchanaburi is developed in a nation that has only a selective acceptance of its role 44 45 46 in this conflict. Historical memorialization remains embedded in interests that are global, 47 48 commercial, ideological but rarely neutral. The interpretation of the Thai- Burma Railway and the 49 50 narrative of the many victims associated with the construction merit respect and sensitive 51 52 commemoration. 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 28

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1 2 International Journal of Tourism Cities 3 4 5 6 Further Research and Practical Insight 7 8 9 10 11 12 This paper provides a foundation for further consideration of how such contested dark heritage is 13 14 viewed not least by visitors and users. Development of research in this area would provide a 15 16 valuable source of data on; consumer profiles, motivations and orientation. Relating this data to 17 18 nationality and origin would provide useful comparative data to that offered by operators and 19 20 managers of key attractions. Furthermore, the prevalence of social and digital media as primary 21 22 23 tourist information source could be measured against the continued (and possibly declining) 24 25 importance of the filmic narrative. Furthermore, deeper evaluation of nature and content of 26 27 interpretation is merited given the range of approaches and content observed. At a political and 28 29 policy level the treatment of this part of Thai history and the degree of sensitivity around 30 31 interpretation is linked to how a nation confronts its difficult past. More thorough evaluation of 32 33 treatment in national media and education curriculum also merits review. Urban heritage is an 34 35 36 important element of urban destination marketing and evaluation based around core themes of 37 38 transparency, openness, respect for the past and sensitive treatment of tragic events offer direction 39 40 for application and evaluation in other urban contexts. 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 29

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