Tham Phaya Nak - KR0048
7.694304,98.765869
Location
This is the best known cave in Krabi province. The large entrance is located at the northern end of the sheer eastern face of Ko Phi Phi Le. It is a very popular tourist spot and many boats visit it every day during the season.
Description
Fauna
Aerodramus fuciphagus (Thunberg, 1812) (Chordata, Aves, Passeriformes, Apodidae) (Odell 1986)
Topographie
KUSCH, HEINRICH (1977) GILLI (2010) Sukkham, Atthasit; Taþon, Paul S.C.; Tan, Noel Hidalgo; Muhamad, Asyaari bin (2017)
The entrance is a few metres up a precipitous cliff, rapidly opening into a huge, partly day lit chamber which is 60m deep and 80m wide, with bamboo ladders disappearing into the darkness of rifts more than 90m high.
Documents
Bibliography 15/10/2019- +ANON. (1996) "A Birds' Nest View" South Thailand Magazine Vol. 16 No. 6 pp12-13 +BEWLEY, DJUNA (2000) "Exploring Thailand's Phang Nga Bay" National Speleological Society News Vol. 58 No. 8 pp226-7, 230 +Blake, Warren (1996) "Drawings of ships in caves in Thailand" Bulletin of the Australian Institute for Maritime Archaeology Vol. 20 No. 1 pp41-64 +Boulbet, Jean (1984) "Note on cave art in Phang Nga and Krabi" Muang Boran Journal Vol. 10 No. 1 p21-29 +Brison, David N. (2008) "Karst classique et des tropiques diverses grottes cÚlÞbres amÚnagÚes en SlovÚnie et en Tha´lande" La Lettre, SpÚlÚo-Club de Paris No. 263 March 2008 +CHAIMONGKHON, SUWIT (1990) "Siliapa Tham Phaya Nak, Krabi" Krom Silpakorn, Bangkok ISBN 974-417-125-1 88pp +CLARAC, A. (1981) "Guide to Thailand" Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpar x + 255pp +CLARAC, A.; PAGAU-CLARAC, H. (1985) "Thailande: Guide Touristique" DK Book House, Bangkok ISBN 974-2104-174 508pp +DUNKLEY, JOHN ROBERT (1995) "The Caves of Thailand" Speleological Research Council, Sydney ISBN 0-9589253-9-9 +Gilli, Eric (2009) "Evidence of an ancient tsunami in a marine cave at Koh Phi Phi islands, Thailand" Geophysical Research Abstracts Vol. 11 (EGU General Assembly 2009) +Gilli, Eric (2010) "Effect of the 2004 Asian tsunami in the sea cave of Tham Phaya Nak (Koh Phi Phi archipelago, Thailand) and possible evidence of a prehistoric event" Geodinamica Acta Vol. 23 Nos. 1-3 pp79-88 +Halliday, William R. (1988) "Island Karst and Temple Caves of Thailand: A 1987 Reconnaissance" Cascade Caver Vol. 27 No. 1, January-February 1988, pp6-10, reprinted in Geo2 Vol. 15 No. 1/3 p31 [abstract] and in Journal of Spelean History Vol. 22 No. 2 pp21-22 [abstract] +HALLIDAY, WILLIAM R. (2002a) "Temple Caves in Thailand. A 2002 Pilgrimage" The Explorer June 2002, Southern California Grotto of the National Speleological Society pp57-59 +HALLIDAY, WILLIAM R. (2002b) "Caves in Krabi" pers. com. to Dean Smart +HENLEY, THOM (2003) "Krabi. Caught In The Spell" Thai Nature Education, Phuket ISBN 97491140-5-1 +Kiernan, Kevin (1988f) "Mangroves, mountains and munching molluscs: The evolution of a tropical coastline" Helictite Vol. 26 No. 1 pp16-31 +Kiernan, Kevin (1994) "The coastal tower karst of Phangnga Bay" Proceedings International Symposium on the Exploitation and Protection of Karst and Cave Scenic Tourist Resources, China, 22-26 August 1994, pp9-21 +Kusch, Heinrich (1977a) "Bekannte H÷hlen in s³dthailõndischen Provinzen - H÷hlengebiete S³dostasiens V" Die Hohle Vol. 28 No. 3 pp86-94 +Kusch, Heinrich (1982a) "Ergebnisse spelaologischer forschungen in Thailand (Stand 1978)" Die Hohle Vol. 33 No. 2 pp59-69 +Kusch, Heinrich (1985) "H÷hlenmalereien und Felsbildplõtze im s³dostasiatischen Raum - H÷hlengiete S³dostasiens XII" Die Hohle Vol. 36 No. 3 pp73-92 +MCKERRON, MORAG (1990) "The Magic of Krabi" Asia Books, Bangkok 126pp +MIDDLETON, JOHN; WALTHAM, TONY (1986) "The Underground Atlas" Robert Hale Ltd. reprinted (1992) The Promotional Reprint Co. Ltd., Leicester ISBN 185648-045-3 pp187-188 +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 +ODELL, BILL (1986) "Grottlevande Faglar I Thailand (Collocalia)" Grottan Vol. 21 No. +PRICE, LIZ; WALTHAM TONY (2008) "Hongs of Southeast Asia" Cave and Karst Science Vol. 34 No. 2 pp77-82 +STEPHENS, HAROLD (2000) "Return to Adventure Southast Asia: With Amazing Thailand as the Hub" Wolfenden, Miranda, California ISBN 09642521-6-3 +SUKKHAM, ATTHASIT; TAÃON, PAUL S.C.; TAN, NOEL HIDALGO (2011) ôRock Art od Phrayanaga (Viking) Cave, Southern Thailand: The Illustration of Ancient Vesselsö The MUA Collection 8pp +Sukkham, Atthasit; Taþon, Paul S.C.; Tan, Noel Hidalgo; Muhamad, Asyaari bin (2017) "Ships and maritime activities in the North-eastern Indian Ocean: re-analysis of rock art of Tham Phrayanaga (Viking Cave), southern Thailand" International Journal of Nautical Archaeology Vol. 46 No. 1 pp108-131 +Tan, Noel Hidalgo (2014) "Rock art research in Southeast Asia: A synthesis" Arts Vol. 3 pp73-104 +THIRAKHAMSRI, NAKHARES (1996) "Preparing for a Hard Journey" Bangkok Post Outlook 20 February 1996 +VALLI, ERIC; SUMMERS, DIANE (1990a) "Chasseurs des TÚnÞbres" Paris, Editions Nathan Images +VALLI, ERIC; SUMMERS, DIANE (1990b) "Nest Gatherers of Tiger Cave" National Geographic Vol. 177 No. 1 pp106-133 +VALLI, ERIC; SUMMERS, DIANE (1990c) "Shadow Hunters: The Nest Gatherers of Tiger Cave" Sun Tree Publishing Co., Singapore +VALLI, ERIC; SUMMERS, DIANE (1990d) "The Nest Gatherers of Tiger Cave" Thames and Hudson, London +VALLI, ERIC; SUMMERS, DIANE (1993) "Chasseurs des tÚnÞbres : la nuit des hirondelles" Animan. Nature et Civilisations No. 40 pp22-41 +VETTERLI, ALBIN (1993) "H÷hlen in Thailand, Reisenotizen" H÷hlenpost No. 92 pp3-9 Vorlaufer, Karl (2005) "Karst und tourismus" Geographische Rundschau Vol. 56 No. 6 pp34-43 +WHITE, TONY (1988) "Zen and The Art of Umbrella Pointing" Caves and Caving No. 40 pp14-17 +Wojton, Andrez (2004) "Jaskinie wybrzeza andamanskiego" Jaskinie Vol. 3 No. 36 pp23-24
History
Graffitti, in Jawi and associated with the famous ship drawings, is dated 1900 AD. The cave was originally known as Viking Cave or Tham Rimau, but was renamed Tham Phaya Nak at the time of a visit by the King and Queen of Thailand in 1973. The earlier English name of the cave derives from wall paintings of sailing ships, likened to Viking ships, but more probably Chinese junks. This is the archetypal swallows' nest cave and a truly spectacular sight. Visitors are able to see the nest gatherers at work in a dangerous vocation almost unchanged for hundreds of years and celebrated with superb photographs in the books by Valli and Summers. 1975-03-21 H. Kusch & I. Staber - surveyed cave 2005-01-24 E. Gilli & C, Darrian - survey and observations on the effect of the tsunami. 2007-12 D. Brison & A. Brison 2009 & 2010
Caves nearby
Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
---|---|---|---|
1.8 | Tham Maya [KR0350] | 14 | 2 |
3.6 | Wang Long 2 (Tham) [KR0214] | 830 | 43 |
3.7 | Tham Wang Long 3 [KR0345] | 50 | 7 |
3.8 | Tham Wang Long 1 - KR0084 | 20 | 0 |
4.3 | Tham Ko Phi Phi [Grotte des Hirondelles] [KR0202] | 350 | 33 |
13.5 | Ko Ma Submarine Cave [KR0212] | 50 | 19 |
28.4 | Ko Ya Wa Bon Submarine Cave [KR0215] | 50 | 0 |
35.3 | Tham Nam Bo - KR0207 | ||
35.4 | Ko Nok Sea Cave 5 - KR0117 |