Death Railway During World War II, the Japanese forces built the Burma Railway, connecting Thailand and Burma (now Myanmar). The Japanese had captured over 140,000 Allied prisoners who were sent as forced labor to work on the railway. These prisoners endured terrible conditions, with one in five not surviving the journey. The Japanese realized the need for an overland route after losing sea battles and used the captive labor force to construct the railway. Between June 1942 and October 1943, 415