In addition to those who worked the TBR, it is estimated that an additional 100,000 – almost entirely Tamils – were imported in 1945 to work on the Mergui Road. Most of these were later consolidated to Kanchanaburi and may likely compose the majority buried in the mass graves that were exposed in 1990.
One of the MIB leader’s father was imported as a teenagers to work on the Mergui Road. His story will be posted to Section 7.1
Concurrent with the TBR, a second railway was being constructed to the south. The story of the Kra Isthmus Railway that employed perhaps an additional 100,000 AFL — mostly Tamil-Indians — can be found here:
4a A new discovery
In 1990, as a result of a series of ‘bad dreams’ a sugar cane field near what is now the Governor’s Office uncovered a number of graves many containing multiple bodies. A team of archeologists from a nearby university were called in to do a proper assessment. From the artifacts in those graves, they were able to determine with a high degree of certainty that these were the remains of Tamils dating to the WW2 era.
Piecing together this large puzzle, it seems likely that these were indeed Tamil-Indians from Malaya. But it is also thought that, unlike the remains in the Chedi Niranam, these there not TBR workers. Instead, it is highly probable that they were the AFL who worked the Mergui Road. It is thought that upon completion of that project, those workers were moved to this second camp somewhat farther east from the larger camp of TBR survivors.
4b their resting place
What became of these remains is almost as tragic as their deaths. As per the above article, the Pothipawana Songkroh Foundation transported the majority (about 300 sets of remains) to a temple in Saraburi where they were cremated and re-buried. There is a remembrance ceremony during Qingming every year.
The skeletons of 106 were taken to the museum near the Bridge over the River Kwai. These are currently on display at that this for-profit museum:
The remains of 35 bodies were requested by Achaan Worawut Suwanarit and deposited at the Office of the Arts Department at Prasat Muang Sing. The Director of Arts, Khun Sathaporn Kwanyuen, later had these bodies re-buried. The reason was said to be that the storage room where the skeletons were stored had a musty smell. At present, it is not known precisely where those bodies were buried in the park since all directly involved have since retired. It is also currently unknown where the other artifacts reside.
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As to the field itself, it is known to have been located on the south side of the modern city very near the large hospital, Paholpolpayujasena, at either 14.0029877 N; 99.5508442 E or 14.00104N; 99.33102 E . This is thought to be near the war-era HQ of the dreaded Kempeitai Secret Police.