Eventually, the airfield work was completed, and in September 1942, A Force was shipped to Thanbyuzayat to start work on the Burma-Thailand Railway.
Hendrik Gustaaf "Hans" Fokker (February 18, 1900, Rotterdam - July 2, 1943, Thanbyuzayat) was a sailor from the Netherlands, who represented his native country at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam.
During World War II Thanbyuzayat was the western terminus of the Thailand–Burma Railway linking up with the pre-war coastal railway between Ye and Rangoon.