Tham Yai - LO0093
17.118439,101.933388
Location
The main entrance is at the southern end of the collapse doline reached via Tham Noi.
Description
The main entrance opens into a daylit chamber which is 59m x 50m x 20m high. To the east of this chamber a large passage leads to a second and a smaller third entrance which open into the doline. To the south of the main chamber a large passage leads after 100m to an entrance on the west side of the hill. At the start of this passage there is a climb down into a descending passage that has been explored to a 20m pitch at the junction of some spectacular 45m high rifts. This pitch has been descended to approximately 100m of passage, at the end of which was some Thai grafitti. The passage heading north-west from the main chamber (via a 2m climb with a broken wooden ladder) joins a west-east trending passage. To the west, past traces of guano mining, the passage ends at a fifth entrance above a 5m climb. To the east the passage passes below a 15m pitch entrance descends to a series of passages that close down close to Tham Pha Sawan. The path to the cave passes close to a small limestone outcrop (before the sala). At the base of the outcrop is a drafting hole that gives access to a passage that goes, via a small collapse entrance to the main entrance and the P15 pitch entrance. Off the main passages there are a couple of vadose canyon mazes that have not been fully explored.
Fauna
Cyrtodactylus papilionoides Ulber & Grossmann, 1991 (Chordata, Reptilia, Squamata, Gekkonidae) (Ellis and Pauwels 2012)
Topographie
SMCC December 2009 - April 2014 Grade UISv2 6-3-BF/2-2-A Ellis, Martin (2018)
Documents
Bibliography 18/03/2020- ***Ellis, Martin (2018) "Some caves in Thailand Part 5" Shepton Mallet Caving Club Journal Series 13 No. 7 pp299-323 +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 +GOSSET, JOHN (2012) "Balades karstiques en Thailande : Province de Loei et NongBuaLamphu" l'Equipe SpÚlÚo de Bruxelles blog 8 January 2012 esbhotnews.blogspot.com/2012/01/balades-karstiques… +Gosset, John (2014) "Prospections en Thailande" l'Equipe SpÚlÚo de Bruxelles blog 26 May 2014 esbhotnews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/prospections-en-… ***Pongkai, Puttamon; Zhang, Li-Bing; Pollawatn, Rossarin (2016) "A new species of Hypodematium (Polypodiaceae, Hypodematioideae) from a limestone cave in Thailand" Phytotaxa Vol. 286 No. 3 pp193-197
History
Tham Yai Pha Sawan was first visited by the SMCC in March 2008. 2008-03-21 (M.Ellis, P. Collett) The cave was explored and surveyed by Ellis & Smith in December 2009 with several leads left open. 2009-12-03 (M. Ellis, S. Smith) In February 2010 a SMCC team expored the P20 and rift series. 2010-02-10 SMCC (M. Ellis, P. Collett, E. Porter, M. Clayton) March 2013 the passages at the northern end of the cave were explored. 2013-03-26 (M. Ellis, P. Collett, G. Washburn) 2014-04-06 (M. Ellis, J. Gosset, S. Gosset) descended the 15m pitch entrance and explored the rift passages near the main entrance.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | Tham Dam - LO0139 | 70 | 8 |
| 0.1 | Tham Noi - LO0092 | 25 | 2 |
| 0.1 | Tham Rakhang [LO0091] | 63 | 10 |
| 0.2 | Tham Pha Sawan - LO0069 | 358 | 42 |
| 0.2 | Tham Lieng Pha [LO0151] | 5 | 1 |
| 1.2 | Banphot Santitham (Tham) [LO0152] | ||
| 1.9 | Tham Ap Banophot - LO0107 | ||
| 2.9 | Caves LO0082 - LO0082 | ||
| 3.7 | Tham Lom - LO0110 |