On 27 February 1982, after gaining a decisive victory in military operations to suppress the insurgency of the Communist Party of Thailand, King Rama IX, i.e. Phumiphon Adunyadet (ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช), the then commander of the Thai Army, visited his troops at Doi Phaya Phiphak (ดอยพญาพิภักดิ์) Operation Base on Doi Yao (ดอยยาว) Ridge, in Chiang Rai (เชียงราย) Province, where in 1981 the final and decisive battle on the top of Doi Phaya Phiphak was fought, which eventually led to the collapse of the CPT. On the occasion of his visit, the King had a print of his bare feet cast into plaster, in order to pay homage to the troops, who between 1968 and 1982 had carried out multiple inspection and suppression operations against the CPT, after the latter in 1954 had created as terrorist situation in the northern regions of Thailand, that led to a guerrilla war that was fought mainly between the CPT and the government of Thailand, and that lasted from 1965 until 1983, when the CPT -after several military defeats and promises of amnesty by the Thai government- abandoned the insurgency entirely, ending the conflict. The King's footprints were later enshrined in a special footprint pavilion, within the compound of the Mengrai Maha Raj (เม็งรายมหาราช) Military Camp, home of the 3rd Infantry Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Division. It was later moved to a new pavilion known as Sala Roi Phrabaht (ศาลารอยพระบาท) which was erected for the auspicious occasion of King Rama IX's 80th Birthday Anniversary on 5 December 2007. The military camp itself seems to be following the Tritsadih Mai (ทฤษฎีใหม่) principle, i.e. the ‘New Theory, a concept introduced in 1992 by King Rama IX in order to be self-supporting by dividing the land in four parts. According to this idea a part of the land is used for housing, the rest to keep a small live stock or poultry, to cultivate rice and other crops, and with a water reservoir for ones own water supply and to breed fish. 回