Tham Tab Tao - CM0028
19.661493,99.117098
Location
This well known cave is 3 km west of the H107 between Chiang Dao and Fang, 46 km north of Chiang Dao and 34 km south of Fang. It is sign posted to the west at the police box in Ban Pha Hong
Description
The temple grounds have been landscaped with a large pond at the base of the cliff. From the pond two sets of steps lead up to the two entrances. The main shrine is to the left and is known as Tham Pan Jik (the Light Cave). It is an impressive entrance chamber with two large Buddhas, one seated and one reclining with a smaller one 30m to the north. Behind the statues the large boulder floored passage ascends with a couple of climbs. The other entrance is to the right, with the two sets of steps being linked with a concrete path around the cliff face. This second entrance has a naga staircase leading down into a smaller passage. A couple of ladders aid progress to the junction with the large passage from the main shrine. Continuing up to the right there are some steps and a ladder up through a narrow rift to a gloomy chamber called Tham Pha Khaw (the Dark Cave). To the right a loose scree slope ascends steeply and is choked at the top. To the left a couple of short ladders allow you to follow the large passage where some stalagmites have been turned into shrines. Pressing a coin into the soft calcite of the stalagmites is meant to bring good luck. The Dark Cave ends at a large stall choke. This can be climbed to reach a pitch down the rift at the end. This was first explored in December 2003 by the SMCC and the 5m pitch is quickly followed by a 14m pitch. This pitch lands in a chamber with another pitch in the floor. The floor, covered in very slippery mud and moonmilk, funnels down this pitch which was estimated to be about 10m deep. Back in the Light Cave, below the squeeze up into the Dark Cave, a 1m high passage leads to a boulder choke. Following the obvious route through the choke, which descends a couple of drops (a handline is useful on one of these) and then up a climb, brings you to the large passage of the Lower Cave. After a couple of hundred metres you reach a very large chamber, up to 45m high and 60 m wide. This chamber has large slopes of very corroded boulders. The rock is very loose, friable and crumbly so care is needed. By descending at the other side of the chamber the passage continues for another 100 m before dropping down to a flat mud floor. A small passage between calcite walls opens out after a few metres. However, the air here is very bad with over 5% carbon dioxide. Tham Tab Tao is clearly an ancient resurgence for drainage from the karst plateau further west, the current springs being in the valley below Tham Ngam, over 1 km away.
Topographie
DEHARVENG, LOUIS; GOUZE, ALAIN (1983a) DEHARVENG, LOUIS; GOUZE, ALAIN (1983b) WHITE, ANTHONY (1988) ELLIS, MARTIN (2005) - Grade UISv2 3-3-F
Fauna
Eyndhovenia euryalis (Canestrini, 1884) (Arthropoda, Arachnida, Mesostigmata, Spinturnicidae) (Uchikawa and Kobayashi 1978) Systaria lannops Jaeger, 2018 (Arthropoda, Arachnida, Araneae, Clubionidae) û type locality (Jaeger 2018) Eustra lebretoni Deuve, 1987 (Arthropoda, Insecta, Coleoptera, Carabidae) û type locality (Deuve 2001) Ascodipteron speiserianum Muir, 1912 (Arthropoda, Insecta, Diptera, Streblidae) (Hastriter 2007) Orthriophis taeniurus (Cope 1861) (Chordata, Reptilia, Squamata, Colubridae) (Schulz 2010) Cynopterus sphinx (Vahl, 1797) (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Pteropodidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Eonycteris spelaea (Dobson, 1871) (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Pteropodidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Megaerops niphanae Yenbutra & Felten, 1983 (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Pteropodidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Rousettus leschenaulti (Desmarest, 1820) (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Pteropodidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Taphozous melanopogon Temminck, 1841 (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Emballonuridae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Megaderma lyra Geoffroy, 1810 (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Megadermatidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Megaderma spasma (Linnaeus, 1758) (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Megadermatidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Rhinolophus coelophyllus Peters, 1867 (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Rhinolophus lepidus Blyth, 1844 (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Rhinolophus macrotis Blyth, 1844 (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Rhinolophus malayanus Bonhote, 1903 (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) (Csorba and Jenkins 1998) Rhinolophus microglobosus (Csorba & Jenkins, 1998) (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) (Csorba and Jenkins 1998) Rhinolophus pusillus lakkhanae Yoshiyuki, 1990 (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Rhinolophus thailandensis Wu, Harada & Motokawa, 2009 (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Rhinolophus thomasi Andersen, 1905 (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Aselliseus stoliczkanus Dobson, 1871 (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Hipposideridae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Hipposideros armiger (Hodgson, 1835) (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Hipposideridae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Hipposideros larvatus (Horsfield, 1823) (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Hipposideridae) (Uchikawa and Kobayashi 1978) Hipposideros lylei Thomas, 1913 (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Hipposideridae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Miniopterus magnater (Sanborn, 1931) (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Miniopterus pusillus Dobson, 1876 (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Miniopterus schreibersii Kuhl, 1817 (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) (Hastriter 2007; Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Murina cyclotis Dobson, 1872 (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Myotis siligorensis Horsfield, 1855 (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Pipistrellus javanicus Gray, 1838 (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Tylonycteris pachypus (Temminck, 1840) (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986) Tylonycteris robustula Thomas, 1915 (Chordata, Mammalia, Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) (Yenbutra and Felton 1986)
Documents
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(2011) "A Taxonomic Review of Rhinolophus coelophyllus Peters, 1867 and R. shameli Tate, 1943 (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae) in Continental Southeast Asia" Acta Chiropterologica Vol. 13 No. 1 pp41-59 ***Jõger, Peter (2018) "On the genus Systaria (Araneae: Clubionidae) in Southeast Asia: new species from caves and forests" Zootaxa Vol. 4504 No. 4 pp524-544 +KING, STEVE (2004) "The 'Hell' Caves of Northern Thailand" Shepton Mallet Caving Club Newsletter Vol. 40 No. 7 p170 +Kusch, Heinrich (1982a) "Ergebnisse spelaologischer forschungen in Thailand (Stand 1978)" Die Hohle Vol. 33 No. 2 pp59-69 +Kusch, Heinrich (1982b) "Die lõngsten und tiefsten H÷hlen S³dostasiens (Stand 1981)" Die Hohle Vol. 33 No. 4b pp142-148 +Maffre, Laurent (1986) "Thai-Maros '85: Mini-Expe, mais elle fait le maximum" SpÚlÚOC No. 33/34 pp30-31,33 +MCCARTHY, JAMES (1900) "Surveying And Exploring In Siam" reprinted (1994) White Lotus Ltd, Bangkok ISBN 974-8496-22-8 227pp +MUNIER, CHRISTOPHE (1998) "Sacred Rocks and Buddhist Caves in Thailand" White Lotus Co. Ltd, Bangkok ISBN 974-8434-19-2 266pp +NATIONAL PARK OFFICE (2006) "National Parks in Thailand" National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok 280pp +ROGUIN, LOUIS DE (1988) "ExpÚditions Thai-Maros 85 et Thai 87 - Mammiferes" Expeditions de l'APS en Asie du Sud-est: Travaux Scientifiques û 1. Association PyrÚnÚenne de SpÚlÚologie, Toulouse ISBN 2-906273-03-1 pp47-52 +SCHULZ, KLAUS-DIETER (2010) "Ubersicht der Variationen des Orthriophis taeniurus Unterarten-Komplexes mt Anmerkungen zum Status von Coluber taeniurus pallidus Rendahl, 1937 und der Beschreibung einer neuen Unterart (Reptilia: Squamata: Serpentes: Colubridae)" Sauria Vol. 32 No. 2 pp3-26 +SIDISUNTHORN, PINDAR; GARDNER, SIMON; SMART, DEAN (2006) "Caves of Northern Thailand" River Books, Thailand, ISBN 9749863135 +SMITH, SAMANTHA L.; TELLING, JON P. 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History
Tham Tab Tao has been known for a long time and yhere are several legends associated with the cave including one in which the Lord Buddha is said to have rested in the cave after eating "a surfeit of pork which caused his death". The cave was already a sacred site when visited in 1876 by Hallett. Hallett describes a trip into the cave and mentions the large reclining Buddha so this statue must be over 140 years old. 1890-12 James McCarthy visited the cave. The cave was visited by the famous meditation monk Ajarn Lee. The cave and surrounding areas were somewhat neglected until the arrival of a new abbot (Anatta) in about 1982, since when extensive renovations have been made, new temple buildings constructed, new paths constructed and electric light installed in the cave. 1975-09-01 T. Kobayashi - bat collecting Recorded by Heinrich Kusch 1973-1978 1983-01 John Dunkley visited, possibly before the APS. 1983 The APS were the first to survey the cave, but didn't find the Lower Cave. 1988 Tony White explored and surveyed the Lower Cave. He was stopped by high CO2 after about 550 m. In December 2003 the UBSS, assisted by the SMCC, used oxygen rebreathers to push the end of the Lower Cave in very high CO2. On the same expedition the SMCC descended the rift at end of Dark Cave. 2003-12-13 M. Ellis, I. Hollis 2003-12-16 M. Ellis, I. Hollis, J. Telling, S. Smith 2003-12-17 M. Ellis, I. Hollis 2003-12-18 M. Ellis, I. Hollis, J. Telling, S. Smith 2003-12-19 M. Ellis, I. Hollis, J. Telling, S. Smith 2003-12-20 M. Ellis, I. Hollis, J. Telling, S. Smith 2003-12-21 M. Ellis, I. Hollis 2003-12-22 M. Ellis, I. Hollis 2003-12-24 M. Ellis, I. Hollis, J. Telling, S. Smith 2003-12-26 M. Ellis, I. Hollis 2007-01-15 M. Ellis, Y. Sopha, I. Hollis, S. Hollis 2014-06-29 P. Jaeger & E. Grall - collecting spiders
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Nam Ru Takhien - CM0031 | ||
| 1.2 | Shaft BSS 2000-5 - CM0123 | 10 | 7 |
| 1.5 | Nam Ru Luang - CM0030 | 7 | 7 |
| 1.7 | Tham Ngam - CM0029 | 110 | 50 |
| 2.1 | Bat Bone Cave - CM0111 | 80 | 25 |
| 2.5 | Shaft BSS 2000-1 - CM0119 | 10 | 10 |
| 3.1 | Sink CM0263 | ||
| 3.1 | Sink CM0258 | ||
| 3.4 | Sink CM0259 |