Thung Salaeng Luang National Park

Salaeng Luang

.National Park.

In 1959, 14 important forests were proposed for inclusion in national parks, among them the once vast and malarial Thung Salaeng Luang. Eventually, in 1972, 1,262 square kilometers were declared the Thung Salaeng Luang National Park. But from the late 1960’s to the early 1980’s the forest was used as a major base area and infiltration route for guerrillas of the outlawed Communist Party of Thailand (CPT). It was sealed off by the Thai military from even the park officials. One of the climactic showdowns of the war with Communist insurgents took place at nearby Khao Kor, where government forces defeated the guerrillas in a series of tough battles in 1981 and 1982, Khao Kor is now the site of a resort and community–based development protects. Guerrillas have not been the park’s only scourge. Other intruders were hilltribe people and squatters who made use of the Phitsanulok–Lomsak highway running through the park’s northern end to gain easy access to the area and stake claims to virgin terrian.