Tham Sao Hin - KA0178
14.766888,98.908198
Location
In Ban Phu Toei turn down the road opposite the village temple entrance from the main road. Go for 700 m to a T junction and turn right. After 100 m turn left and go for 1 km to a dead end at another T junction (there should be a rubber plantation in front). Turn right and go for 400 m and then turn left (just before the turn there should be a tall tree on the right). Follow the road until it ends, a distance of roughly 3.6 km - there should be no side-roads. At the end there is a wooden sign nailed to a tree that says "Parking". From the parking area there is a visible trail heading north-north-east (on your right as you get to the dead end). There are two trails: the one on the left which goes up to a large Sao Hin monument/sign while the one on the right goes to the cave. Follow the trails until you come to the first stream bed (should be dry in the dry season). Follow this down to the river. Sometimes there is an easier trail on the side of the stream bed, but you can't go wrong just following the bed down. Once you get to the river, you should immediately see some tufa cascades. Go upstream until you come to the cave entrance.
Description
The national park only open the cave to tourists in March and visitors have to be on a guided tour. The cave is actively patrolled to discourage unauthorised visits. This is the lower end of the final underground section of the Lam Khlong Ngu, seperated from Tham Nam by a 7 km long 400 m deep canyon which has not yet been prospected for caves. Some attractive 5 m high tufa waterfalls dam the stream emerging from the cave entrance which is 21 m wide. A scramble up the western side of the cliff above the entrance gives access to several hundred metres of high level passages, not fully explored, which descend to the main stream passage 300 m from the entrance. The first 200 m of stream passage needs to be swum, after which most of the remainder can be seen by scrambling through rapids and up short waterfalls. About 500 m from the entrance is an enormous column (or possibly a stalagmite) estimated to be 61.5 m high; in either case it would be the tallest recorded in the world. Further on is a canyon with daylight about 100 m up. The main stream passage is eventually blocked. Several side passages remain unexplored.
Topographie
BOLAND, KEN (1991) - ASF Grade 4.3. Also published in BOROWSKY, RICHARD (1998)
Fauna
The cave has a large bat colony. Schistura jarutanini Kottelat, 1990 (Chordata, Actinopterygii, Siluriformes, Balitoridae) (Borowsky 1998)
Documents
[Topo] Tham Sao Hin 28/04/2019Bibliography 04/09/2019
- +ANON. (1987) Camping Magazine No. 34 +ANON. (1999a) "A Towering Natural Achievement" Bangkok Post 29 March 1999 +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 +BOROWSKY, RICHARD (1998a) "Survey of the Cave Fishes of South-Western and Peninsular Thailand, March 1998" Unpublished report for Royal Forest Department 16pp +BRANCELJ, ANTON; BOONYANUSITH, CHAICHAT; WATIROYRAM, SANTI; SANOAMUANG, LA-ORSRI (2013) "The groundwater-dwelling fauna of South East Asiaö Journal of Limnology, Vol. 72 Supplement 2 pp327-344 +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 +BRUSH, JOHN B. (1999) "News and Notes: Tallest Stalagmite?" National Speleological Society News Vol. 57 No. 4 p115 +COGGAN, MARJORIE; DUNKLEY, JOHN ROBERT; ANDERSON, NEIL (EDS.) (1999) "Tham Sanuk: The Lighter Side Of Caving In Thailand" Canberra, 76pp +DUBOU+, ERIK R.; BOROWSKY, RICHARD L. (2012) "Altered Rest-Activity Patterns Evolve via Circadian Independent Mechanisms in Cave Adapted Balitorid Loaches" PloS ONE Vol. 7 No. 2: e30868. Doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030868 +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, GRAHAME; CLARK, JANE (1989) "The Karst Windows of the Nam Khlong Ngu, Western Thailand" Cave Science Vol. 16 No. 2 pp71-73 +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 +MEKLOY, PONGPET (1999a) "A towering natural achievement" Bangkok Post Outlook 29 March 1999 +Mouret, Claude (2004) "Asia, Southeast" in Gunn, John (ed.) "Encyclopedia of Caves and Karst Science" Fitzroy Dearborn, London ISBN 1-57958-399-7 pp100-104 +NATIONAL PARK OFFICE (2006) "National Parks in Thailand" National park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok 280pp +SMART, DEAN (1995d) "World Record Stal" Descent No. 125 p19 +SMART, DEAN (1998) "Caves of Lam Khlong Ngu National Park, Kanchanaburi Province, W. Thailand" Royal Forestry Department, Bangkok unpublished report 16pp +TAEMSAMRAN, JARUNEE (2004a) "Treasures, Cave Adventures" Bangkok Post 25 March 2004 +TRAJANO, ELEONORA; MUGUE, NIKOLAI; KREJCA, JEAN; VIDTHAYANON, CHAVALIT; SMART, DEAN; BOROWSKY RICHARD (2002) "Habitat, Distribution, Ecology And Behaviour Of Cave Balitorids From Thailand (Teleostei: Cypriniformes)" Icthyological Exploration of Freshwaters Vol. 13 No. 2 pp169-184
History
The cave was explored and surveyed by the 1990 Australian expedition. SMART, DEAN (1995d) records finding 350 m of side passages in March 1995 which do not appear on the survey
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.9 | Tham Sao Hin Sink - KA0472 | ||
| 1.5 | Tham Mor - KA0412 | ||
| 3.5 | Tower Sink 2 - KA0389 | 12 | 12 |
| 3.9 | Tham Ruesi [KA0411] | 90 | 16 |
| 3.9 | Tower Sink 3 - KA0390 | ||
| 4.0 | Tower Sink 1 - KA0388 | ||
| 4.7 | Tham Pra Tu Su Pa Lang - KA0374 | 52 | 0 |
| 4.7 | Tham Mai Yai - KA0378 | 25 | 15 |
| 4.8 | Tham Pra Tu Su Pa Klang - KA0375 | 105 | 0 |