| TOP 10 | 6973 | 47.0% | |
| 1499 | K060 | CngKai | 10.1% |
| 819 | K050 | KAN | 5.5% |
| 763 | K365 | Thambaya (F) | 5.1% |
| 752 | K125 | Tarsao (F) | 5.1% |
| 673 | K294 | SongKurai (F) | 4.5% |
| 656 | K045 | F&H hosp KAN (F) | 4.4% |
| 521 | K299 | Kami SongKurai (F) | 3.5% |
| 486 | K222 | Tha Kanun (F) | 3.3% |
| 410 | K171 | Kin Saiyok (F) | 2.8% |
| 394 | K01 | NgPlaDuk (late) | 2.7% |
| 2230 | 5at sea | to Japan | 15.0% |
| 394 | other | late | 2.7% |
| 2648 | next 10 | 17.8% |
Of the 14845 men who died as a result of their TBR experience, the largest group were those en route to Japan (2230 = 15%).
Nearly 50% of the deaths on the TBR are accounted for in the top 10 places that they died. The ChungKai hospital camp was the longest operating of this type of death camp, so it is of little surprise that the most deaths occurred there (1499 = 10%).
Similarly 5% of the total occurred at Kanchanaburi. Many of these were post-construction (300+), but over 450 died there during the TBR construction effort.
It also should not be totally surprising that the next 7 on this list are associated with F Force. These accounted for 4200 deaths (29% of the total). I separated out the F &H Hospital which was also in Kanchanaburi since it accounted for almost as many deaths (656 = 4.4%) as all the other deaths at KAN (819), most of which followed consolidation. These 7 camps account for 61% (4261) of the top 10’s 6900 deaths. Few other statistics would seem to emphasize the horrendous plight of the 7000 men of F Force. These 4200 alone account for a 60% death toll! In fact, all but 2 of the next 10 camps on the descending list of deaths are also either F or H Force camps accounting for an additional 2600 deaths out of those 10K men. These include Hintok area camps and the infamous HellFire Pass cutting.
Number 10 on this list is the only one I would not have predicted to be there. NongPlaDuk was the first of the POW camps so was in existence the longest. It grew considerably in size as many Dutch POWs were sent there during the consolidation period. 66% of the 400 deaths occurred during this later time; more than 80 men died in SEP 44 during a B-29 bombing raid on that camp.
There is a pattern hidden in this list. It seems as if the men who were arriving in the KAN area post-construction were being divided initially into two then three groups. The fittest of these were shifted to the Tha Muang camp for eventual passage on to Japan. The less fit or overtly ill men were kept at the KAN area camps. This would have included the 2 F & H hospitals. While conditions and diet improved greatly, men continued to die. It wasn’t until the third group were admitted to the first actual hospital at Nakorn Pathom that the death toll began to improve. Despite treating thousands, only 121 deaths were recorded as occurring there. These encompassed a large variety of causes (30 in all) the most being dysentery (22 deaths) and malaria (15). Many amputations were successfully conducted there with only a single death charted as due to Tropical Ulcer; most likely a post-amputation death. Such surgeries, when performed in the jungle camps, had at best a 50% survival rate.
Another 400 men died in Japan, Saigon or Singapore or other camps in Thailand (189 on the Mergui Road alone) following their TBR time. Many of those Mergui Road deaths were among men discharged from the Nakorn Pathom hospital and immediately sent south!
In summary, of 14845 total deaths, 10,000 (70%) occurred in Thailand[1], 1300 (9%) in Burma during or following TBR construction and 3000 (20%) more non-direct-TBR deaths in other places. Estimates are that just under 12K men spent their TBR time in Burma with 46K in Thailand. This would show an 11% overall TBR death rate in Burma and double that (22%) for Thailand.
[1] This includes the 763 F Force men who died in Thambaya