Tourists in Kanchanaburi seen driving recklessly in an area where an old station on the notorious Death Railway was built face charges of damaging the environment of a historical national park.
Pictures of the drivers and passengers were posted on the Thai Burma railway Facebook page on Monday.
Park authorities have asked them to report within seven days to hear charges of damaging the environment and breaking park rules.
At least eight cars, including 4x4s, and their passengers were seen in the pictures driving on the exposed bed of the Vajiralongkorn Dam reservoir in Sangkhla district. They caused damage to the area where the remnants of Neekey railway station are preserved.
Parts of Neekey station in Sangkhla Buri emerged when the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand drained water from the dam reservoir earlier this year. It could become fully visible during the dry season, according to the park.
Neekey station was built by prisoners of war forced to labour by the Japanese during World War II. It was a major stop on the Death Railway, built from Thailand to what was then Burma.
The railway comprised several tracks and depots where steam engines could take on wood fuel and water, according to the Thai Burma railway Facebook page, a historical archive.
The railway was never used as it was bombed by the Allies, who destroyed a major bridge built by prison labour. Most of it was submerged when the dam was built to produce hydropower. Only traces of the track remain.
The Death Railway began at Nong Pla Duk station off the main southern track in Ratchaburi province, joining a line built from the Burmese side. Neekey station in Kanchanaburi province is about 280 kilometres west of Nong Pla Duk station.
Commenters in the Thai Burma railway Facebook page pointed out that the drivers might not have known they were driving on a historical site. The page administrator argued that reckless driving is banned in all national parks.
