Tham Huai Poen - NA0069

(TH)
19.398350,101.081435
Length 467m Depth 175m
Grottocenter / carte

Location

This cave is in the same doline as Tham Nam Tok Nam Poen, but is a different stream sink. From the Security Development Project headquarters take the sealed road south (not the road that goes back down to Chiang Klang). As this road turns north take a dirt road south. Drive past the National Park ranger station to a Y junction. Take the left hand fork, turning right at another Y junction, and drive down the rough track into the Nam Poen doline. The track ends at a pond and some farm buildings. Walk northwards along the edge of the cabbage field to the end. From here it is a short descent into the dry stream bed. Follow the stream bed north for about 100 m to the large rift entrance. Martin Ellis - 23/09/2020

Description

Topographie

Martin Ellis - 23/09/2020

SMCC February 2010 Grade UISv2 3-3-F

Martin Ellis - 23/09/2020

The seasonal stream sinks into an impressive rift entrance 5m wide and 70m deep which requires four rebelays to allow a safe descent. At the foot of the shaft the passage continues to descend with a 4m climb followed by an inclined 8m pitch and then a vertical 6m pitch into a large boulder floored passage which descends steeply before leveling out at a mud choked sump. Just back from the choked sump a draughting crawl on the right leads over mud and then sand before opening out into an active streamway. The stream enters via a waterfall from a chamber with loose boulders that was not fully explored. Heading downstream the stream drops down a series of cascades and through a couple of pools before reaching a sump at a depth of -175m.

Documents

Bibliography 23/09/2020

History

The entrance was found by the SMCC in 2009 and the cave was explored and surveyed by the February 2010 SMCC expedition. Martin Ellis - 23/09/2020

Caves nearby

Distance (km)NameLength (m)Depth (m)
0.3Sink NA0109
0.5Tham Nam Tok Nam Poen - NA0068569138
0.7Sink NA0113
0.7Sink NA0112
0.9Sink NA0108
1.1Tham Pon [NA0084]16489
1.2Tham Wa [NA0085]7825
1.2Sink NA0110
1.3Sink NA0111