Civil Police Soldier Monument

The Civil Police Soldier Monument stands on Route 1080 in Thung Chang district, Nan Province, close to the Lao border, commemorating the civilians, police officers, and soldiers killed defending this frontier during Thailand’s campaign against communist insurgents in the 1960s and 1970s. Thung Chang saw some of the heaviest fighting in the region. King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit presided over the monument’s opening on 10 February 1976, laying wreaths in a ceremony that Thung Chang still repeats every year on the same date.

Three life-sized statues — one civilian, one police officer, one soldier — stand together raising the Thai flag, set on a black marble base carved with inscriptions recording the events and the names of the fallen. The monument took three years to build. About 300 metres away, a separate military museum displays weapons, equipment, and battlefield photographs from the conflict, giving context to what the statues commemorate. The grounds around the monument are kept tidy, with paths for walking the perimeter and reading the plaques.

The site functions as a place of quiet remembrance rather than a typical sightseeing stop — most visitors are locals or history-minded travellers rather than day-trippers passing through. Some come specifically around 10 February for the wreath-laying, when the ceremony draws officials and residents from across the district. Outside that date, expect to have the grounds largely to yourself.

Insider Tip: Pair the visit with Doi Phu Kha National Park, about an hour further along Route 1080 — the same road that runs past the monument continues into some of Nan’s best mountain scenery, so it is easy to combine both into one day trip north from the city.

Watch out: There is no signage in English at the museum building, and no fixed opening hours are posted — if the museum door is locked when you arrive, the caretaker is usually reachable through the district office nearby. The monument itself is always accessible, being outdoors.

Thung Chang town is the base for visiting, about 90 km from Nan city with your own vehicle the only realistic way to get there — there is no scheduled songthaew or bus service running specifically to the monument. Dress respectfully, avoiding shorts or sleeveless tops, in keeping with the memorial’s purpose. Combined with Doi Phu Kha National Park and the Ban Huai Kon Kao Battlefield Memorial elsewhere in the province, it forms part of a small circuit of sites from Nan’s Cold War-era history that few visitors outside Thailand know to look for.