The bridge and the railway on it are still in use today. The bridge over the Kwai Yai River was the first one built by POWs, and approximately 12,000 POWs and 90,000 laborers died during the construction of this railway. Prisoners of war and Asian laborers were brought in to finish the impossible task, which ended up taking only 16 months. The tracks would cut through the dense jungles in Thailand, and while the job should have taken about five years, the Japanese High Command decided that five years was not fast enough. This railway was known as both the Thai-Burma Railway and the Death Railway. In 1942, the Japanese decided to build a railway running from Thailand to Burma (Myanmar). Delve a bit deeper into this bridge’s past, however, and find that it is rich with history, as morbid as it may be. Lingering tourists twist and turn in hopes of achieving the perfect selfie before having to dart out of the way of an oncoming train. At first glance, the bridge over the River Kwai looks like your average, overcrowded attraction.