The name of the town gets its name from a white tinzayat located in the town centre. The interjunction that tin zayat located was once a rest place for travellers, and the tin zayat was constructed in 1874 by a Mon lady called Mi Gee Yut. During WWII, Thanbyuzayat was just a large village within Kyaikkami township, and later gained town status.
Camp Thanbyuzayat
During World War II, Thanbyuzayat was the western terminus of the notorious Death Railway (Siam–Burma Railway) linking up with the pre-war coastal railway between Ye and Rangoon. Thanbyuzayat was also the site of a Japanese prisoner of war camp for the prisoners who worked on building the railway,[5] The first prisoners arrived in June 1942. 13,000 prisoners passed through the camp of which at least 6,000 were Australian and 4,300 Dutch prisoners of war. From Thanbyuzayat, the prisoners were moved to work camps on the railway line. The camp was abandoned on 22 June 1943 due to continuous allied bombardment[6] which killed 12 prisoners.[7]
The Death Railway Museum has been established at the western terminus of the railway.[8] In the Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery, 3,626 Allied servicemen (mostly Australian, British and Dutch)[9] are buried.[10] All prisoners who died on the Burma side have been re-buried at Thanbyuzayat except for the Americans who have been repatriated.[9]
^ abReid, Robert and Grosberg, Michael (2005) Myanmar (Burma) (9th edition) Lonely Planet Publications, Footscray, Victoria, Australia, page 159, ISBN1-74059-695-1
^Rivett, Rohan Deakin (1950) "Chapter XIX: Thanbyuzayat Base Camp" Behind bamboo : an inside story of the Japanese prison camps Angus and Robertson, London, OCLC13509214
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