Japanese WWII Memorial

In the Namtok Sam Lan National Park stands a Japanese World War II Memorial. Japan used the area of Khao Daeng as a military base and POW prison camp. There still traces left such as a rock shelter, trenches, and bunker lines. The memorial is established for all the Japanese Railwaymen who were killed during the air raids on the Kaeng Khoi Railroad Junction and yard by the Allied Forces. On 3 April 1945, Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers from the 356th RAF Squadron, Tenth Air Force of the South East Asia Command (SEAC) based at Salboni in West Bengal (British India), bombed the Kaeng Khoi railway junction at day. Kaeng Khoi Railroad Yard was the main centre of Japanese locomotive and wagon repair in Siam. [Source: multiple]

The raids were carried out because Bangkok by then had become a command centre for the Japanese on the Southeast Asian front. RAF and USAAF bombers carried out the raids as part of the Pacific campaigns. The bombers struck installations used by the occupying Japanese military, but the raids were also intended to pressure the government of Thai military strongman Plaek Pibulsongkram to abandon his unpopular alliance with Imperial Japan. The major targets were the newly completed Port of Bangkok and the Thai railway system. [Source: Wikipedia]

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