About the location (from here):
During World War 2, the Japanese used Allied prisoners of war to build a railway from Thailand to Burma so they could supply their army without the dangers of sending supplies by sea. Many prisoners died under appalling conditions during its construction, and the line became known as the ‘Death Railway’. It was immortalised in David Lean’s 1957 film ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ which centres around one of the line’s main engineering feats, the bridge across the Kwae Yai river just north of Kanchanburi. Although the film was shot in Sri Lanka, the Bridge on the River Kwai really exists, and still carries regular passenger trains from Bangkok as far as Nam Tok. For anyone interested in 20th century history, a visit to Kanchanaburi and the infamous Death Railway is a must.

The Bridge on the River Kwai is about 5 km from the centre of Kanchanaburi. By all means wait for one of the three daily passenger trains, all of which call at the River Kwae Bridge station, but it’s best to take a cycle rickshaw. The Bridge is now surrounded on the Kanchanaburi side by a museum, cafes, shops and a couple of steam locomotives on static display. You’re free to walk across the bridge on the wooden planks, but remember to stand aside for the passenger trains when one comes along. If this sounds foolhardy, remember that there is a 10 km/h speed restriction for trains across the bridge, and they all hoot like mad. There were actually two bridges here, both built by prisoners of war – The first (wooden) bridge was completed in February 1943, superseded a few months later by the steel bridge which you see today. The curved steel bridge spans are original, and were brought from Java by the Japanese. However, the two straight-sided spans come from Japan, and were installed after the war to replace spans destroyed by allied bombing in 1945.

Movies shot at this location:
Oppanakkaara VeedhiyilE song from Giri