Episode 02 · 18:07 · Released Fri 6 Nov 2026
The Death Railway Station That Came Back After 40 Years Underwater
In April 2026 a dam operator in western Thailand lowered its reservoir, and a Death Railway station that had been under water for more than forty years rose out of the mud.
Thumbnail photo: Neekey (Nithe) station, Burma–Siam Railway. Leiden University Libraries, KITLV 25522, CC BY 4.0. Licence
- Released
- Fri 6 Nov 2026
- Length
- 18:07
- Chapters
- 7
- Sources
- 29
About this episode
This is Nithe Station: what it was, why a lake covers it, and what the headlines got wrong. It wasn’t a drought, it wasn’t the first time, and the railway was not “never used.”
The episode explains why there is a railway in this valley at all, how a station on the line actually worked, F Force and the cholera months, why the line went under water, and how we know any of this.
No 2026 photographs are reproduced; the graphics are Studio Bright schematics.
Chapters
Sources
The sources behind the facts in this episode, as listed under the video.
- AP, 15 Jun 2026apnews.com
- NHK World, 31 Aug / 7 Sep 2026www3.nhk.or.jp
- Telegraph, 16 Jun 2026telegraph.co.uk
- Thai PBSfacebook.com
- Local-history post, 2020 exposurefacebook.com
- Nation Thailand, the stationnationthailand.com
- Nation Thailand, UNESCOnationthailand.com
- Bangkok Post, vehicle chargesbangkokpost.com
- Bangkokbiznews, maintenance drawdownbangkokbiznews.com
- OPT News, the "drought" framingopt-news.com
- EGAT, the damegat.co.th
- Vajiralongkorn Dam, de.Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
- Vajiralongkorn Dam, Wikiwandwikiwand.com
- Konkoita, Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- COFEPOW railway mapcofepow.org.uk
- BTRMAbtrma.org.au
- CWGC, Kanchanaburi War Cemeterycwgc.org
- Anzac Portal, rememberinganzacportal.dva.gov.au
- Anzac Portal, F Forceanzacportal.dva.gov.au
- AWM film C190906awm.gov.au
- AWM POW guideawm.gov.au
- Mansell, camp listmansell.com
- Hashimoto, SOAS thesiseprints.soas.ac.uk
- 2/4th MGB Assoc., F Force2nd4thmgb.com.au
- 2/4th MGB Assoc., bombing raids2nd4thmgb.com.au
- 2/4th MGB Assoc., Tamarkan raid2nd4thmgb.com.au
- 5th Bn Suffolk Regt rollroll-of-honour.org.uk
- WHO, cholerawho.int
- Kratoska (Heidelberg bibliography)fid4sa-repository.ub.uni-heidelberg.de
Archive film, photographs and maps
- Archives: AWM P02491.261, AWM54 554/7/2, 3DRL/2695, PR86/211; US National Archives RG 407 Boxes 120-121, 174, RG 389 Box 2155; UK National Archives WO 361/2235; P. Kratoska (ed.), The Thailand-Burma Railway, 1942-1946 (Routledge, 2006).
- PHOTOS: Australian War Memorial, copyright expired, public domain (IDs on screen). Leiden University Libraries KITLV, CC BY 4.0: 25517, 25518, 25520, 25522, 25523, 25525, 25529, 34852, 34853, 34854, 160478, 160544. Gilly22 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Ronald Searle / IWM and IMTFE document 5008 (National Diet Library), public domain. Stills cropped, enhanced (upscaled) and graded monochrome.
- FILM: Australian War Memorial, copyright expired: F07346, F07336, F10215. US National Archives naId 24568 (US government work, labelled illustrative on screen).
- MAPS: Studio Bright. Natural Earth (public domain); reservoir and river geometry (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Railway line and extents are schematic; the 1945 alignment is approximate.
- No 2026 photographs are reproduced. Graphics are Studio Bright schematics.
Corrections
No corrections so far (checked Mon 9 Nov 2026).
Spotted an error? Comment under the video or email studiobrighthistory@gmail.com with your source. How corrections work.
Narration is synthesized. Scenes tagged "Reconstruction" are illustrative, not archive film. Photographs and film are real archive material, credited above.