Tham Pha Puek - MH0076
19.649655,98.213829
Location
The large doline with this cave is 1km west of the H1226 road to Pang Kham, 13.5km north of the junction with the H1095. A steep, sealed track descends to the Lahu village of Ban Pha Phuek which is on a ridge in front of white cliffs. From the village a good walking trail leads down to the cave entrance wihich is 200m further on. A small perennial stream runs off impermeable rocks and soil to sink beneath an enormous entrance, which is at least 100m high, at the base of a large cliff.
Description
The enormous entrance gives access to a vast chamber floored by huge, dangerous and unstable talus blocks. The roof, formed by a series of bedding planes and dipping steeply westward, has massive stalactites and high in the northern corner is a possible extension, which has not yet been entered. Around 60m down from the entrance, a ridge of breakdown material extends right across the chamber, dividing the chamber into two. A further 40m down, the breakdown nearly reaches the roof, but a short drop between blocks leads to a sloping passage at the head of which there is an inlet. After a tight wet squeeze, various damp passages through the rock fall can be pushed downwards to a 20m pitch, which can be bypassed through a nasty squeeze, to another pitch and then more climbs to the top of yet another cold, wet pitch estimated at 20m which has not been descended. Photographs on a Thai online blog shows a streamway and cave fish in the cave. The water probably drains to Tham Pung Hung and re-emerges at Tham Huai Khun which is 2km to the north-west. There have been reports of bad air in the cave. Spies (1994) describes it as a multi-pitch cave that is still going.
Topographie
The cave was surveyed by the 1986 and 1990 Australian expeditions to Grade UISv2 2-3-A.The location of the survey notes is unknown. Published surveys:- DUNKLEY, JOHN ROBERT; BRUSH, JOHN B. (ED.) (1986) ASF Grade 42 KIERNAN, KEVIN (1990) - based on DUNKLEY, JOHN ROBERT; BRUSH, JOHN B. (ED.) (1986) SIRIPORNPIBIL (2000) ELLIS, MARTIN (2009) - based on DUNKLEY, JOHN ROBERT; BRUSH, JOHN B. (ED.) (1986)
Documents
[Topo] MH0076 12/05/2019[Topo] Tham Pi 12/05/2019
Bibliography 09/05/2020
- +ANON. (2002) "Spelunking New Depths" The Canmore Leader www.airdrieecho.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=tr… [accessed December 2010] +Anon. (2011b) "Baseline study for ecotourism development in Mae Hong Son" Final mission report by Thailand Community Based Tourism Institute (CBT-I) for the United Nations Joint Program on Integrated Highland Livelihood Development in Mae Hong Son, Output 1.3: Ecotourism. June 2011. 175p +BOLAND, KEN (1989) "Under the Triangle - Thailand 88" Nargun Vol. 21 No. 10 pp90-95 +BOROWSKY, RICHARD (2000) "Thailand 2001 - Expedition Prospectus" www.nyu.edu/fas/cave/ExpeditionPlan.pdf +COGGAN, MARJORIE; DUNKLEY, JOHN ROBERT; ANDERSON, NEIL (EDS.) (1999) "Tham Sanuk: The Lighter Side Of Caving In Thailand" Canberra, 76pp +DILOKWANICH, S.; ET AL. (2000) "An Exploration and Database System of the Caves, Mae Hong Son Province" 6 Vols. Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University, Bangkok - STD604 +DOUCE, C. (2002) "Explorers Plumb Thai Caves" Calgary Herald Monday 7 Oct 2002 reprinted in Shepton Mallet Caving Club Newsletter Vol. 39 No. 4 p94 +Dunkley, John Robert (1985a) "Karst and Caves of the Nam Lang - Nam Khong Region, North Thailand" Helictite Vol. 23 No. 1 pp3-22 +DUNKLEY, JOHN ROBERT (1995) "The Caves of Thailand" Speleological Research Council, Sydney ISBN 0-9589253-9-9 +DUNKLEY, JOHN ROBERT; BRUSH, JOHN B. (ED.) (1986) "Caves of North-west Thailand: Report of the Australian Speleological Expeditions 1983-1986" Speleological Research Council, Sydney ISBN 0-9589253-2-1 62pp +ELLIS, MARTIN (2009) ôThailandÆs Top Twentyö Shepton Mallet Caving Club Journal Series 12 No. 4 pp140-232 +Ellis, Martin (2015c) "Thailand's Longest and Deepest Caves: A Caving Guide" Martin Ellis, Shepton Mallet ISBN 978-1-326-43857-9 84pp +Ellis, Martin; Laumanns, Michael (2017) "Thailand" in Laumanns, Michael; Price, Liz (eds.) (2017) "Atlas of the Great Caves and Karst of Southeast Asia: Part 2 Myanmar - Vietnam" second edition, Berliner Hohlenkundliche Berichte Band 67 pp241-292 +HAIR, WILL (1999) "Notes from the Underground" Sawasdee (Thai Airways Magazine) April 1999 pp36-40,42 +Kiernan, Kevin (1988a) "Beneath the Golden Triangle" Asia Wise August 1988 pp4-5 +Kiernan, Kevin (1988e) "Geomorphology of a tropical intermontane basin in the Sino-Burman Ranges" 26th International Geographical Congress 1988, International Geological Union, Sydney pp1-24 +KIERNAN, KEVIN (1990) "Some Limestone Caves North-east of Mae Hong Son, Northern Thailand" Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society Vol. 38 No. 1 pp59-67 +Kiernan, Kevin (1991b) "Tropical mountain geomorphology and landscape evolution in North-west Thailand" Zeitschrift f³r Geomorphologie N.F. Vol. 35 No. 2 pp187-206 +Kiernan, Kevin; Spies, John; Dunkley, John Robert (1988) "Prehistoric occupation and burial sites in the mountains of the Nam Khlong area, Mae Hong Son Province, Northwestern Thailand" Australian Archaeology No. 27 pp24-44 +Kusch, Heinrich (1990) "Die lõngsten und tiefsten H÷hlen S³dostasiens (Stand 1988)" Die Hohle Vol. 41 No. 1 pp11-16 +SIDISUNTHORN, PINDAR; GARDNER, SIMON; SMART, DEAN (2006) "Caves of Northern Thailand" River Books, Thailand, ISBN 9749863135 +SIRIPORNPIBUL, CHAIPORN (2000) "Geology and Hydrology" in "An Exploration and Database System of Caves: Mae Hong Son Province" Vol. 2. Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University, Bangkok +SPIES, JOHN (1994) "The Palaces of Darkness" Action Asia (Hong Kong) Vol.3 No.4 pp116-126
History
Tham Pha Phuek was first visited by the Australians in 1983, who then surveyed and extended the cave between 1986 and 1992.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Coffin Cave MH170 - MH0170 | ||
| 0.2 | Coffin Cave MH0079 - MH0079 | ||
| 0.3 | Coffin Cave MH169 - MH0169 | ||
| 0.6 | Cave MH0171 - MH0171 | ||
| 1.9 | Sink MH0309 | ||
| 2.0 | Tham Huai Kun - MH0077 | 1747 | 0 |
| 2.8 | Tham Pi Man Pang Kham East - MH0268 | ||
| 2.9 | Tham Pung Hung - MH0065 | 4566 | 43 |
| 2.9 | Tham Pi Man Pang Kham West - MH0078 | 200 | 0 |