This article is about Khwae Noi River in Kanchanaburi. For the river in Phitsanulok, see Khwae Noi River, Phitsanulok.
Khwae Noi River
Typical river houses with thatched roofs on the River Kwai
Native name
แม่น้ำแควน้อย(Thai)
Location
Country
Thailand
Physical characteristics
Source
• location
Near Three Pagodas Pass
Mouth
• location
Kanchanaburi
Length
278.68 km (173.16 mi)
Basin features
River system
Mae Klong
The River Kwai (/kwaɪ/), more correctly Khwae Noi (Thai: แควน้อย, pronounced[kʰwɛ̄ːnɔ́ːj], 'small tributary') or Khwae Sai Yok (แควไทรโยค, pronounced[kʰwɛ̄ːsājjôːk]), is a river in western Thailand. It rises to the east of the Salween in the north–south spine of the Bilauktaung range near, but not over the border with Burma.[1] It begins at the confluence of Ranti, Songkalia and Bikhli Rivers. At Kanchanaburi it merges with the Khwae Yai River to form the Mae Klong River, which empties into the Gulf of Thailand at Samut Songkhram.
The river is chiefly known for its association with the Pierre Boulle novel, The Bridge over the River Kwai and David Lean's film adaptation of the novel, The Bridge on the River Kwai, in which Australian, Dutch, and British prisoners of war and indigenous peoples were forced by the Japanese to construct two parallel bridges spanning a river as part of the Burma Railway, also called the "Railway of Death" or "Thai-Burma Death Railway", due to the many lives lost in its construction. One bridge was wooden and temporary. The other was made of concrete and steel and still exists. The bridges actually spanned the Mae Klong, but as the railway subsequently follows the Khwae Noi Valley, the bridges became famous under the wrong name. In the 1960s, the upper part of the Mae Klong was renamed the Khwae Yai ('big tributary').
The river was also used in Michael Cimino's Academy Award-winning film, The Deer Hunter. The prison camp and initial Russian roulette scene was filmed on the Kwai.[2]
A military history of the building of the bridges during World War II can be found in Professor Peter Davies's biography of the British officer Philip Toosey, The Man Behind the Bridge: Colonel Toosey and the River Kwai.[3] The book, and an associated BBC Timewatch documentary, challenge many of the inaccuracies portrayed in Boulle's novel and Lean's film.
The Vajiralongkorn Dam (formerly named Khao Laem Dam) and Srinagarind Dams are hydroelectric dams on the river.
^Route "1. Vajiralongkorn Dam - Ban Hin Dat Kayak Track" - Route
^"Filming Locations for The Deer Hunter (1978)". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations.
^Davies, Peter N. (1991). The Man Behind the Bridge: Colonel Toosey and the River Kwai. Athlone Press. ISBN 0-485-11402-X.
The River Kwai (/kwaɪ/), more correctly KhwaeNoi (Thai: แควน้อย, pronounced [kʰwɛ̄ː nɔ́ːj], 'small tributary') or Khwae Sai Yok (แควไทรโยค, pronounced...
the KhwaeNoi to form the Mae Klong River at Pak Phraek. This river used to be the upper section (before the confluence with the KhwaeNoiRiver) of the...
Thailand, crossing Three Pagodas Pass and following the valley of the KhwaeNoiriver in Thailand, had been surveyed by the British government of Burma as...
species is endemic to the Mae Klong basin (including KhwaeNoiRiver) in Thailand, and the Ataran River on the Thai-Myanmar border. Records from the Mekong...
River Kwai can refer to two rivers in western Thailand, a film or a novel: Khwae Yai RiverKhwaeNoiRiver The Bridge on the River Kwai, film The Bridge...
railway bridge made of wooden trestles which follow the cliff along the KhwaeNoiRiver. The Wang Pho viaduct was constructed by allied prisoners of war of...
Generating Authority of Thailand built dams over the Kwae Yai and KhwaeNoiRiver (Bradley 1989). Because of the displacement of the people of an already...
Klong River is a river in western Thailand. The river begins at the confluence of the KhwaeNoi or Khwae Sai Yok and the Khwae Yai River or Khwae Si Sawat...
the KhwaeNoiRiver. Lam Khlong Ngu National Park and Wat Tha Khanun [th], a large Buddhist temple, are located near the town. Tha Khanun was a river harbour...
kilometres (190 sq mi). The KhwaeNoiriver ("River Kwai") runs through the park. The park's highest peak is Khao Khwae at 1,327 metres (4,354 ft). The...
southeast about 16 kilometers to set at the confluence of the Khwae Yai River and the KhwaeNoiRiver, which is the location of the town today. On March 25,...
Phum District in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. The dam lies across the KhwaeNoiRiver (River Kwai) and was renamed Vajiralongkorn Dam after King Vajiralongkorn...
Chao Phraya Watershed. The KhwaeNoiRiver flows through Wat Bot District. Portions of Wat Bot are part of the KhwaeNoi National Reserved Forest, which...
fluviatilis is a species of cyprinid fish in the genus Garra endemic to the KhwaeNoiRiver in Thailand. "Species New to Science - Ichthyology • 2016 - Garra fluviatilis...
called Sam Sop or Sam Phrasop in Sangkhlaburi District to form the KhwaeNoiRiver. "Song Ka Lia" in the Mon language means "over there". It originates...
"Song Khwae" (lit. "Two Rivers") as it used to situate between the Nan and KhwaeNoiRivers, although the KhwaeNoiRiver now drains into Nan River at ten...
northeast and 110 m above sea level. The cave is about 4 km from the KhwaeNoiRiver. By analysing the faunal remains in the cave, the cave is believed...
fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in KhwaeNoiRiver and Khwae Yai River from Mae Klong River. Tejavej, A. (2012): Barilius signicaudus, a new...
Nan Basin, the Wat Ta Yom and Wang Thong Rivers which join the Nan within Phichit Province, the KhwaeNoiRiver which joins the Nan within Phitsanulok Province...
"city of two rivers", an ancient name dating to a time centuries ago when the Nan and KhwaeNoiRivers met near the city. These two rivers of the Phitsanulok...
origin of the river is in Kanchanaburi town, at the confluence of the KhwaeNoi (Khwae Sai Yok) and the Khwae Yai River (Khwae Si Sawat) rivers, having their...
is found in the hillstreams of Mae Klong and it was described from KhwaeNoiRiver, one of the main tributaries of Mae Klong; its habitat is sandy/rocky...
Wang River), and the Tha Chin River. Each of these tributaries (and the Chao Phraya itself) is augmented by minor tributaries referred to as khwae. All...
building in 1942 of one of the railway bridges over the Mae Klong river—renamed Khwae Yai in the 1960s—at a place called Tha Ma Kham, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi)...
Reservoir, an artificial lake formed by the Vajiralongkorn Dam on the KhwaeNoiRiver. Neighboring jurisdictions are (from the west clockwise) Tanintharyi...
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