Tham Nok Nang En - KA0172
14.833182,98.860675
Location
The Nam Khlong Ngu is on the karst plateau to the east of the H323 and good gravel roads give access to the upstream and downstream ends. To enter at the uppermost stream sink it is necessary to get permission to drive through the lychee farm (located just before the road reaches the Nam Khlong Ngu) and a 4WD vehicle can reach the river level from where it is an easy walk for 4.5 km, past Tham Nam Tok, down the valley to the cave. The lower dolines (4th, 5th and 6th) are reached from the Phra In ranger station and the 6th doline is accessible via a track built by the National Park. A National Park guide is required to visit the cave and can be arranged at the ranger station.
Description
Fauna
Schistura jarutanini Kottelat, 1990 (Chordata, Actinopterygii, Siluriformes, Balitoridae) (Borowsky 1998) Orthriophis taeniurus (Cope 1861) (Chordata, Reptilia, Squamata, Colubridae) (Roche 1993)
The sink entrance is about 40m wide and high and the magnificent river passage, usually 30m wide and up to 50m high, can be followed for 2.5km to the downstream entrance, with swimming being required occasionally. The passage is unroofed in three place, called karst windows by Dunkley. The first collapse section is 400m from the upstream entrance and is 80m long. There is then 100m of roofed passage before the second unroofed section which is 150m long. The third unroofed section is 40m long and about 1km from the upstream entrance. The cave resurges from a downstream entrance that is 40m wide and 80m high in a fourth section of collapsed passage. The cave gets its name from the swallows which enter the downstream entrance after spiralling down into this spectacular doline. After crossing the resurgence collapse doline the river flows through Tham Nang Nok En 2 which is 300m long. The river sees daylight again in a fifth colllapsed section before flowing through Tham Nang Nok En 3. The downstream entrance of Tham Nang Nok En 3 is in a large, sixth, collapse doline where the river enters another cave (Tham Nang Nok En 4) and then sumps before it is seen again in Tham Yai, which also has an entrance in the sixth doline. Tham Yai has a very big chamber and the river sumps before resurging from Tham Nam.
Topographie
Surveyed by the GSSS in 1986 and 1988 to Grade UISv2 3-3-A OSTERMANN, JEAN-MICHEL (ED.) (1988) - downstream 530 m only. ROCHE, FRANCIS (ED.) (1993) ELLIS, MARTIN (2009)
Documents
[Topo] Tham Nok Nang En System 28/04/2019Bibliography 22/08/2019
- +ANON. (2009) "Thailand's Top Destinations Vote: Lam Klong Ngu National Park" Bangkok Post Horizons 1 January 2009 +Boland, Ken (1991) "Thailand 1990 - Part III. Beyond Kanchanburi û Just Getting There is Half the Fun!" Nargun Vol. 23 No. 7 pp59-61 +Bolger, Terry (1999) "Thailand 1997" Australian Caver No. 148 pp21-26 +BOROWSKY, RICHARD (1998) "Survey of the Cave Fishes of South-Western and Peninsular Thailand, March 1998" Unpublished report for Royal Forest Department 16pp +BRUSH, JOHN B. (ED.) (1996) "Khlong Ngu Karst Expedition April 1996. A Report Prepared for the National Parks Division, Royal Forest Department, Thailand" Canberra Speleological Society Inc. iv + 67pp +COGGAN, MARJORIE; DUNKLEY, JOHN ROBERT; ANDERSON, NEIL (EDS.) (1999) "Tham Sanuk: The Lighter Side Of Caving In Thailand" Canberra, 76pp +DUNKLEY, JOHN ROBERT (1995) "The Caves of Thailand" Speleological Research Council, Sydney ISBN 0-9589253-9-9 +DUNKLEY, JOHN ROBERT (1997) "The Caves of Thailand - Addendum 1995-97" Speleological Research Council, Sydney +DUNKLEY, JOHN ROBERT; WILTON-JONES, GRAHAM; CLARK, JANE (1989) "The Karst Windows of the Nam Khlong Ngu, Western Thailand" Cave Science Vol. 16 No. 2 pp71-73 +ELLIS, MARTIN (2009) ôThailandÆs Top Twentyö Shepton Mallet Caving Club Journal Series 12 No. 4 pp140-232 +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; Laumanns, Michael (2017) "Thailand" in Laumanns, Michael; Price, Liz (eds.) (2017) "Atlas of the Great Caves and Karst of Southeast Asia: Part 2 Myanmar - Vietnam" second edition, Berliner Hohlenkundliche Berichte Band 67 pp241-292 +Kaufmann, Georg (1997) "Thailand 97. Exploration in the National Parks of Thung Salaeng Luang, Thung Saliam, and Sri Nakarind" International Caver No. 21 pp13-18 +KAUFMANN, GEORG; BOLGER, TERRY (1997) "Thailand 1997. Exploration in the National Parks of Thung Salaeng Luang, Tham Chaoram and Sri Nakarind" Canberra Speleological Society Inc. unpublished report for the Royal Forest Department, Bangkok 26pp +Kusch, Heinrich (1990) "Die lõngsten und tiefsten H÷hlen S³dostasiens (Stand 1988)" Die Hohle Vol. 41 No. 1 pp11-16 +MEKLOY, PONGPET (1999) "Wonders of Nature" Bangkok Post Outlook 31 May 1999 p8 +MENIER, ANNICK (1990) "Expedition Speleologique Mae Kwae 1988" Spelunca No. 39 pp9-10 +NATIONAL PARK OFFICE (2006) "National Parks in Thailand" National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok 280pp +OSTERMANN, JEAN-MICHEL (1986) "Expedition Thailande '86" Spelunca No. 23 p25 +OSTERMANN, JEAN-MICHEL (ED.) (1988) "Thailande 86: Expedition Speleologique" Groupe Speleo Scientifique et Sportif, Perigueux 144pp +ROCHE, FRANCIS (ED.) (1993) "Mae Kwae 88. Expedition Speleologique en Thailand" Groupe Speleo Scientifique et Sportif, Perigueux 140pp +SMART, DEAN (1998) "Caves of Lam Khlong Ngu National Park, Kanchanaburi Province, W. Thailand" Royal Forestry Department, Bangkok unpublished report 16pp +SMART, DEAN (1997c) "The Caving Scene: Thailand" The International Caver No. 20 p43 +TAEMSAMRAN, JARUNEE (2004a) "Treasures, Cave Adventures" Bangkok Post 25 March 2004 +WILTON-JONES, GRAHAM (1988b) "Tham Huai Klong Ngu - The Snake River System & Swallow Cave, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand" Bristol Exploration Club Belfry Bulletin No. 443 pp9-18
History
A German engineer working at Song Tho mine in the ealy 1980s, Gert Pedall, was probably the first person to traverse the cave. He showed the cave to the Groupe SpÚlÚo Scientifique et Sportif who surveyed and explored it in 1986 and 1988. The cave system was also investigated by the 1996 CSS expedition and the through trip remains a popular caving trip.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | Bivouac Cave [Grotte de Bivouac] [KA0171] | 20 | 0 |
| 0.2 | Tham Nok Nang En 2 (KA0173] | 250 | 0 |
| 0.5 | Tham Nok Nang En 3 [KA0174] | 150 | 0 |
| 0.6 | Tham Hen Mee [KA0510] | 197 | 27 |
| 0.7 | Tham Nok Nang En 4 [KA0175] | 80 | 0 |
| 0.9 | Tham Yai [KA0176] | 500 | 0 |
| 2.5 | Tham Nam - KA0177 | 557 | 7 |
| 2.9 | Cave KA0509 | 18 | 2 |
| 3.0 | Tham Towat - KA0356 | 42 | 5 |