World War II tunnel found in Kanchanaburi
published : 1 Apr 2024 at 08:22
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Piyarat Chongcharoen
A 35 metre-long man-made escape tunnel built during the Second World War has been discovered in Kanchanaburi.
The tunnel was discovered about 100 metres from Highway 323 (Sangkhla Buri - Three Pagoda Pass) earlier this week by Marnchai Wattanakaran and Srawut Saisungsiripong, local researchers of the Death Railway in the Sangkhla Buri area.
Mr Srawut said the tunnel, which is 2 metres wide and about 1.8-1.9 metres high, was carved through a hill for a distance of about 35 metres. The tunnel ends in a forest.
"It was built by prisoners of war during WW II as we found traces of pickaxes, crowbars and hoes used as digging tools," Mr Srawut said. "The tunnel's interiors are still in relatively good condition. Only soil at the tunnel's mouths collapsed."
He believes the tunnel was used to hide from airstrikes when Japanese troops were building a railway track to the Three Pagodas Pass border crossing into Myanmar.
The researchers asked agencies to further explore the tunnel and develop it into an educational and tourism venue.
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Vocabulary
- agency (noun): a government department that provides a particular service - หน่วยงานราชการ
- airstrike: an attack made by aircraft -
- carved: cut out from - แยกออกจาก
- collapse: to fall down suddenly - พังลงมา ล้ม, พังครืน
- condition: the physical state of a person or animal, especially how healthy they are - อาการ, สุขภาพ
- crowbar: a heavy iron bar usually flattened at one end -
- discover: to find somebody/something, or learning about something that was not known about before - ค้นพบ
- forest: an area with trees, animals and plants - ป่า
- hoe (noun): a garden tool with a long handle and a blade, used for breaking up soil and removing weeds - จอบ
- researchers (noun): people who carry out a careful study of a subject, especially in order to discover new facts or information about it - นักวิจัย
- tunnel: an underground passage - อุโมงค์
