deity Pho Padang in Lom Sak. The history of Lom Sak area dates back to the founding of the
Sukhothai Kingdom in the 13th century. The governor of
Mueang Rat (Lom Sak),
Pho Khun Pha Mueang (พ่อขุนผาเมือง), was one of the Thai warlords who defeated the Khmer. When Pho Khun Bang Klang Hao (พ่อขุนบางกลางหาว) and a friend established the Sukhothai Kingdom, he supported his friend to be the first king because his wife was Khmer. In 1767 in the reign of King
Taksin the Great, Phraya Chakri (the later King
Rama I) returned from an expedition to
Vientiane through the area of present-day
Lom Kao district. Some of the people from Vientiane settled there. When the new town grew bigger, they moved their town to the plain near the
Pa Sak River and named the new town Lom Sak. Later other Lao from Vientiane, who was forced by King Taksin to settle in
Lopburi, returned and settled in Lom Sak. According to the historian Prince
Damrong Rajanubhab,
Mueang Lom Sak was established in the reign of King
Nangklao (Rama III). When King
Chulalongkorn (Rama V) created the
monthon as part of the
Thesaphiban administrative reforms,
Mueang Lom Sak was controlled by
Monthon Phetchabun. Later it was downgraded to be a district of Phetchabun Province. In 1916, the district was named Wat Pa (วัดป่า). The name was changed back to Lom Sak on 11 November 1938. From 1970 to 1980 the hills of Lom Sak were a stronghold of the
Communist Party of Thailand. ==Geography==