Tham Pakarang - MH0045
19.575097,98.218482
Location
The cave is located on the ridge between the Ban Mae Lana doline and the smaller doline with the upstream entrance to Tham Mae Lana. The track is concreted so vehicles can be driven all the way to the "Tham Pakarang" signpost from where a walking path leads south for 100 m to the inconspicuous entrance. Access is controlled by villagers from Ban Mae Lana who lead trips into Tham Pakarang.
Description
Tham Pakarang is part of a larger system that includes Tham Hoo Yai. The small tourist entrance is descended by a 5 m wooden stairs. The cave has a main tunnel approximately 5 to 10 m wide and 10 m high and 200 m long which has many stalagmites, some of which are active. One major side pasage leads to a 60 m drop to Tham Hoo Yai. The cave floor is mainly dirt with some breakdown sections. Tham Pakarang was named after its cave coral and sections of the deepest part of the cave have many fine examples of this formation type. Tham Hoo Yai can be entered via an 86 m or 80 m pitch from the surface or the 60m pitch from Tham Pakarang which land in a large inactive passage. At the southern end of this passage a side passage descends, but exploration was stopped by high carbon dioxide levels. At the northern end of the large passage pitches of 3, 13 and 24 m drop into a section of the Mae Lana stream between its sink in the Ban Mae Lana doline and the upstream sump in Tham Nam Tok. The stream passage soon sumps in both the upstream and downstream directions.
Topographie
Tham Hoo Yai was surveyed by the 1990 Australian expedition to Grade UISv2 3-3-A. The survey data (without sketch) and a drawn map are extant (courtesy of John Brush and John Dunkley).
Fauna
Cyrtodactylus erythrops Bauer, Kunya, Sumontha, Niyomwan, Panitvong, Pauwels, Chanhome et Kunya, 2009 (Chordata, Reptilia, Squamata, Gekkonidae) (Ellis and Pauwels 2012)
Documents
[Topo] Tham Pakarang 12/05/2019Bibliography 04/05/2020
- +Anderson, Sally (1999) "Tham Mae Lana Values and Vulnerability" Proceedings of the Conference on Cave Resources, Bangkok, 4-5 August 1999, pp190-202 +Breugel, Liedewij van (2013) "Community-based tourism: Local participation and perceived impacts. A comparative study between two communities in Thailand" Master Thesis, Faculty of Social Sciences, Radboud University Nijmegen 83pp +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 - STD64 +DUNKLEY, JOHN ROBERT (1995) "The Caves of Thailand" Speleological Research Council, Sydney ISBN 0-9589253-9-9 +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; PAUWELS, OLIVIER S. G. (2012) "The Bent-toed Geckos (Cyrtodactylus) of the caves and karst of Thailand" Cave and Karst Science Vol. 39 No. 1 pp16-22 +Kreuss, Markus (2014) "Thailand" www.troglophil.de/?section=location&id=25 (german) [accessed April 2015] +SIDISUNTHORN, PINDAR; GARDNER, SIMON; SMART, DEAN (2006) "Caves of Northern Thailand" River Books, Thailand, ISBN 9749863135 +SPIES, JOHN (1994) "The Palaces of Darkness" Action Asia (Hong Kong) Vol.3 No.4 pp116-126 +Spies, John (1999) "Managing the cave and karst resources in the Nam Khong and Nam Lang catchment, Northwest Thailand" Proceedings of the Conference on Cave Resources, Bangkok, 4-5 August 1999, pp190-202 +SPIES, JOHN (2000) "Suggestions for Cave Management" in "An Exploration and Database System of Caves: Mae Hong Son Province" Vol. 6. Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University, Bangkok
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.3 | Sink MH0312 | ||
| 0.3 | Tham Phet - MH0266 | 100 | 0 |
| 0.4 | Tham Nam Tok - MH0048 | 1405 | 0 |
| 0.6 | Cave MH0132 - MH0132 | ||
| 0.6 | Cave MH0133 - MH0133 | ||
| 0.6 | Tham Kai Mook - MH0267 | 40 | 0 |
| 0.6 | Cave MH0052 - MH0052 | 25 | 0 |
| 0.6 | Tham Toed - MH0051 | 350 | 0 |
| 0.9 | Cave MH0122 - MH0122 | 20 | 0 |