HISTORY OF CHEOW LAN LAKE
About an hour’s drive away from National Park Headquarters lies the Rajaprabha Dam, which means ‘Light of the Kingdom,’ a fitting name for a dam built to provide electricity for the rapidly developing area. In 1982, the government of Thailand began construction of the 94-meter dam on Klong Saeng, the largest river in Southern Thailand.
At the time, the area was a still a hideout for political activists who had fled Bangkok during the military crackdowns of the 1970s. By 1989, the rebels had been granted amnesty, and the reservoir had filled up to create the 165 sq km Cheow Larn Lake. The area submerged by the dam was historically used for fruit farming and as a trade route between the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. Nowadays, the lake is utilized by fishermen, day trippers, and floating bunglaows.