Lanna-ww2

Route 1013
Station 008.9

Inscriptions on the War Memorial in Ban Kat

Memorial, built directly over an old water well which serves as a repository for remains of IJA soldiers^[51]

The stele at the center of the monument displays
a name used for addressing Buddha in prayer^[52]

Inscription at front of memorial base:^[53]
Monument to Japanese military personnel
who perished in Thailand and Burma.
Norio Yamashita 
Minister of Welfare

Thai inscription, left of center on memorial base:^[54]

   Our aim is that everyone unite in the creation of 
   peace and happiness. The tragic conflict that cost 
   so many lives must never be forgotten. This 
   building is a symbol of respect for, and faith in, 
   those who gave their lives.

   It is intended as a reminder for future generations 
   that world peace requires the cooperation of all.

Column to right of memorial:^[55]

Here, 18,000 brave soldiers sleep. 
[Erected] by Japanese and Thai Army personnel 
concerned about the battle at Imphal.

The plinth duplicates the information in Thai.

Comment:

The number 18,000 appears in many places in Etou Foundation literature in reference to the total number of remains discovered and reinterred at the memorial. While not impossible, the number is improbable. In 1977-1978, IJA veterans with government support in a very methodical, well organized effort were able to retrieve a total of 1,867 remains from Thailand.^[56] 
Prevailing in most of the areas searched is a wet, tropical climate which is highly destructive to bone. Fifteen years after (1992 and later), a second, less sophisticated effort was made; bone had been in the ground for a total of, say, 45 years; memories had grown dimmer. And searchers at this later date were able to find almost ten times as many additional remains? The 18,000 seems unrealistic.

That said, the monument is really for all the IJA personnel who fell in Thailand, Burma, and India: their number is more like 190,000.^[56a] All 190,000 should be considered honored at this memorial.

51.^ Author photo, CIMG2246a.jpg, 07 Jan 2008

52.^ Composite of CIMG2243 & CIMG2245.jpg (author photos, 07 Jan 2008

53.^ Author photo: CIMG2238.jpg, 07 Jan 2008

54.^ Author photo: CIMG2237a.jpg, 07 Jan 2008

55.^ Author photo: CIMG2241a.jpg, 07 Jan 2008

56.^ In their three country effort, searchers found 35,019 remains of an estimated 190,899 dead (Journal, p 557). The vast majority of casualties and retrievals were in Burma (ibid, p 560).

56a.^ The basis for the estimated 190,000 (above) is not clear; however, Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery, per Wikipedia: Burma Campaign, Note 25, tallies 164,500 unidentified remains from the Burma campaign. To that number should be added those remains not retrieved which can only be estimated as well as those retrieved and identified.

Useful observations about WWII IJA casualties in Southeast Asia are offered on-line in The Battlefield Experience of Japanese Soldiers in the Asia-Pacific War by Yoshida Yutaka.