In the memoir "Building the Burma-Siam RailwayTalk," a former prisoner recounts the brutal conditions endured while constructing the railway for the Japanese. The prisoners faced harsh working conditions, including being pelted with iron rivets by a Japanese engineer and working in non-stop downpours during the monsoon season. Cholera outbreaks, lack of proper clothing, and extreme exhaustion from long work shifts further compounded their suffering. Despite the high death rates and disease ravaging the crowded camps, the Japanese enforced a speedup of work, neglecting to address the epidemic. The prisoners endured meager rations and slept in leaky, overcrowded huts.