Tham Din Neao [NA0083]
19.343805,101.071607
Location
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 right hand fork (left leads to Tham Huai Poen, Tham Pon, etc.) and follow the track south along the top of the ridge. The track goes through two farms at 47Q 717428 2142542 and 47Q 717288 2140712 and eventually ends in a field at 47Q 716953 2140202. 350 m before reaching the end of the track there is a small parking space at 47Q 717108 2140337. This is also the start of the path to the cave which is 250 m to the north-east. The path descends through the bamboo to reach a dry stream bed. Follow the stream course uphill (NB: this stream has leeches) to where there is a boulder pile. Climb out on to the right hand side of the stream and head up the cliff in front, about 50 m from the stream. The entrance is at the foot of the cliff, about a 10 minute walk from the car.
Description
At the back of the entrance chamber the way on is down a scree slope in a low passage. This passage stays small, with a squeeze past a column, for about 30 m until it opens into the large Boulder Chamber. This impressive chamber is 60 m long and up to 30 m wide with the boulders sloping down to the eastern side. At the northern end of the chamber a passage drops down into a squalid muddy pool that is 5 m long, before it turns abruptly to the east and enlarges to become a big subhorizontal passage. This large passage was followed north for 200 m until progress was stopped by a third deep pit in the mud floor. The first pit was passed by one team member traversing across the drop to rig a ladder for the other cavers. At the second pit only one team member managed to descend and then scale the mud slope on the other side.
Documents
Bibliography 03/10/2020- CAMPBELL, JO (2010) "Return to Nan" presentation at Hidden Earth 2010 ELLIS, MARTIN (2010a) "Thailand's Deepest Cave Now Even Deeper" www.thailandcaves.shepton.org.uk/nan-expedition-20… ELLIS, MARTIN (2010b) "Thailand 2010" Shepton Mallet Caving Club Newsletter Vol. 47 No. 2 pp37-40 ELLIS, MARTIN (2010c) "Ban Mani Phruk Expeditions 2009 & 2010" Shepton Mallet Caving Club www.lulu.com/product/paperback/ban-mani-phruk-expe… 45pp Ellis, Martin (2011d) "Ban Mani Phruk Expeditions 2009 & 2010" Shepton Mallet Caving Club Journal Series 12 No. 7 pp342-369 Ellis, Martin (2015d) "Caves of Doi Phuka National Park" privately published, April 2015, 81pp
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.9 | Tham Bpaet Sip [NA0149] | 918 | 118 |
| 1.7 | Tham Men Dip [NA0181] | 142 | 44 |
| 2.1 | Cave NA0121 | ||
| 3.7 | Sink NA0119 | ||
| 3.8 | Sink NA0120 | ||
| 4.2 | Sink NA0118 | ||
| 4.3 | Sink NA0117 | ||
| 4.5 | Sink NA0116 | ||
| 4.6 | Sink NA0115 |