• 
• 

Published on September 3, 2007

Phra-khru Pacharaphiban, also known as Luang-poo Khlaew, said the plan arose after he learned from General Harn Paethai about the history of the house.

The house is located on Saithung Samoe-Khao Kho Road in Tambon Khao Kho.

Harn, former commander of the Fourth Infantry Battalion, built the house on stilts for the King and Queen to stay when they visited soldiers fighting against the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT).

After the conflict ended, the house was used to keep historic photographs and other artefacts from the battlefields.

But now the house is rundown and leaking rain. Harn is afraid the water will damage the photographs and other artefacts. Although he has spent his own money in an effort to preserve the house, more funds are needed for renovation.

Phra-khru said he would help to raise funds for renovation so that the house could be a historical site for future generations to learn about its history and the area.

Khao Kho was a stronghold of the CPT in the 1970s when the party formed its own administration to govern nine Hmong villages and launched guerrilla warfare against the government.

In 1976, after the government's suppression at Thammasat University, hundreds of student activists fled from Bangkok to join the CPT at Khao Kho.

When the communists were defeated in 1980, members of the CPT - mostly Hmong villagers and student activists - left the area. 

Sanom Boonchantuek

The Nation

Phetchabun