Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi ( th, น้ำตกไทรโยคน้อย, lit. 'small Sai Yok waterfall') is a small town (''

thesaban tambon Thesaban ( th, เทศบาล, , ) are the municipalities of Thailand. There are three levels of municipalities: city, town, and sub-district. Bangkok and Pattaya are special municipal entities not included in the ''thesaban'' system. The mu ...

'') in Sai Yok District, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand, along the route of the

Death Railway The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a railway between Ban Pong, Thailand and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 ...

linking Thailand with

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. It is named after Sai Yok Noi Waterfall of

Sai Yok National Park Sai Yok National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติไทรโยค) is a national park in Sai Yok district, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand. The park, home to mountains, waterfalls and caves, is part of the Western Forest Co ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the small town was known as ''Tarsoa'' or ''Tarsau''.

Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi railway halt

After the war most of the railway was dismantled, leaving Nam Tok at the terminus. In 2003 the 1.4 km from Nam Tok station to Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi was reopened for easier access to the nearby

Sai Yok waterfall Sai Yok Noi is a waterfall, also known as Khao Phang Waterfall, in the Tenasserim Hills, Sai Yok District of Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand, near the town Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi. It is the most popular attraction of the Sai Yok National Park. The ...

. However, as Sai Yok Noi is a single-platform terminus with no run-round loop, the line is only used by diesel multiple units. The only services to use the extension are trains 909/910 which run an excursion to the waterfall from

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

each Saturday and Sunday. All other trains terminate at

Nam Tok railway station Nam Tok railway station is a railway station located in Tha Sao Subdistrict, Sai Yok District, Kanchanaburi. The station is a class 2 railway station, located from Thon Buri railway station. Nam Tok is the current terminus for daily trains fro ...

located about 1 kilometre away. Work to build a Trans-Asian rail linking eight countries in southeast Asia, which would restore the wartime railway to use, has not yet materialised.

History

The sanitary district (''

sukhaphiban Sukhaphiban ( th, สุขาภิบาล ; translated as "sanitary district") were administrative divisions of Thailand. Sanitary districts were the first sub-autonomous entities established in Thailand. A first such district was created in ...

'') was created in 1971. It was upgraded to a township (''

'') in May 1999, when all of the sanitary districts were upgraded. , the town had a population of 3,675, and covered an area of 4.4 km² of subdistrict (''

tambon ''Tambon'' ( th, ตำบล, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district (''amphoe'') and province (''changwat''), they form the third administrative subdivision level. there were 7,255 tambons, not including the 180 ''khwaeng'' ...

'') Tha Sao.

Camp Tarsoa

Camp Tarsoa was a large Japanese prisoner of war camp constructed during

. It consisted of a transit camp, a work camp and a hospital camp, and was founded on 24 January 1943. The work camp originally contained 400 prisoners, but was enlarged for 800 prisoners. The hospital had a very bad reputation and hardly any medical supplies. There were three large cemeteries near the camp, one of which was for deaths from

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

. The camps closed in April 1944. Australian prisoners of war veterans erected a memorial at

Hellfire Pass Hellfire Pass ( th, ช่องเขาขาด, known by the Japanese as ''Konyu Cutting'') is the name of a railway cutting on the former Burma Railway ("Death Railway") in Thailand which was built with forced labour during the Second Worl ...

, and each year on 25 April, there is a memorial ceremony. Hellfire Pass is located from Nam Tok.

References

{{commons category, Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi Populated places in Kanchanaburi province Burma Railway