More than 110,000 people died as slave laborers building the Thai-Burma "Death Railway" during World War II. At one point along the 260-mile railway stands a certain bridge, immortalized in the 1957 movie, Bridge on the River Kwai. Thailand's government decided this would be a swell place to throw a two-week carnival -- complete with rides, discos and rock concerts -- to "commemorate" the start of the Allied bombing campaign against the bridge in November 1944. While the Thais defended the idea of a glitzy (and lucrative) carnival, others were not amused, including Takashi Nagase, 83, a former Japanese Army military policeman, who has made more than 100 visits of atonement to the River Kwai.
Dance of Death
More than 110,000 people died as slave laborers building the Thai-Burma "Death Railway" during World War II. At one point along the 260-mile railway stands a certain bridge, immortalized in the 1957 movie, Bridge on the River Kwai. Thailand's government decided this would be a swell place to throw a two-week carnival -- complete with rides, discos and rock concerts -- to "commemorate" the start of the Allied bombing campaign against the bridge in November 1944. While the Thais defended the idea of a glitzy (and lucrative) carnival, others were not amused, including Takashi Nagase, 83, a former Japanese Army military policeman, who has made more than 100 visits of atonement to the River Kwai.
