Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi

Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi (Thai: น้ำตกไทรโยคน้อย, lit. 'small Sai Yok waterfall') is a small town (thesaban tambon) in Sai Yok District, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand, along the route of the Death Railway linking Thailand with Burma. It is named after Sai Yok Noi Waterfall of Sai Yok National Park. During World War II, the small town was known as Tarsoa or Tarsau.^[2]

Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi น้ำตกไทรโยคน้อย Tarsoa
Small town
Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi railway halt
Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi Location in Thailand
Coordinates: 14°14′14″N 99°4′2″E
Country	Thailand
Province	Kanchanaburi Province
District	Sai Yok District
Area
• Total	4.4 km2 (1.7 sq mi)
Population  (2012)[1]
• Total	3,675
• Density	840/km2 (2,200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+7 (ICT)

History

The sanitary district (sukhaphiban) was created in 1971.^[3] It was upgraded to a township (thesaban tambon) in May 1999, when all of the sanitary districts were upgraded. As of 2012^[update], the town had a population of 3,675,^[1] and covered an area of 4.4 km² of subdistrict (tambon) Tha Sao.

Camp Tarsoa

Camp Tarsoa was a large Japanese prisoner of war camp constructed during World War II. It consisted of a transit camp, a work camp and a hospital camp, and was founded on 24 January 1943.^[4] The work camp originally contained 400 prisoners, but was enlarged to 800 prisoners.^[5] The hospital had a very bad reputation and hardly any medical supplies.^[6] There were three large cemeteries near the camp, one of which was for deaths from cholera.^[5] The camps closed in April 1944.^[4]

Australian prisoners of war veterans erected a memorial at Hellfire Pass, and each year on 25 April, there is a memorial ceremony.^[7] Hellfire Pass is located 27 kilometres (17 mi) from Nam Tok.^[8]

References

1. "รายงานสถิติจำนวนประชากร และบ้าน รายจังหวัด รายอำเภอ และรายตำบลณ เดือน ธันวาคม พ.ศ. 2555". Department of Provincial Administration (in Thai). Retrieved 28 January 2022. Ignore bad certificate warning
2. "Tarsau, Thailand. c. October 1945. St Luke's cemetery, containing 613 graves". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
3. ประกาศกระทรวงมหาดไทย เรื่อง จัดตั้งสุขาภิบาลน้ำตกไทรโยคน้อย อำเภอไทรโยค จังหวัดกาญจนบุรี (PDF). Royal Gazette (in Thai). 88 (123 ง): 3213–3214. November 16, 1971. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 9, 2012.
4. "Tarsao - 130". Japanse Krijgsgevangenkampen (in Dutch). Retrieved 28 January 2022.
5. "Tarsao Hospital". Far East POW Family. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
6. "Tarsau, Tha Sao 125.00km - Thailand". 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
7. "25th of April, the ANZAC Day". Hintok River Camp. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
8. "Section 2b". Far East POW Family. Retrieved 28 January 2022.