Tham Phet - KR0047
8.393468,98.773306
Location
This cave is a fairly well known tourist site and thus it is signed to the east of the H4 at Ao Luek. Follow the side road for 4.5 km then turn left onto a gravel road for a couple of kilometres to the cave which is in a wat at the foot of the hill on the left. The turning onto the gravel road is marked with a police box. A guide and lights are sometimes available at the cave entrance.
Description
There is a large shrine cave at the foot of the cliff, but the entrance to the main cave is up to the right. This drops down into a horizontal passage with some formations near the entrance. The walking passage ends after about 250m at a sump pool, This has reportedly been dived to a depth of 40m, but in 2008 Fletcher dived it to a silt constriction at 7m depth. The level of the water in the sump can vary by up to 1.5m. The are two side passages to the east of the main passage. The first is a high right oxbow back to the main passage. The second passage, about 50m before the sump, has about 100m of passages that eventually all choke. Reports in the tourist literature suggest that the cave is 7km long and that the water resurges at Than Bok Khorani which is 6km. These claims are very unlikely to be true, but visit at the end of the dry season may allow further progress to be made.
Topographie
OCC/SMCC November 2009 - Grade UISv2 6-3-F ELLIS (2013a) - Grade UISv2 6-3-F
Fauna
Orthriophis taeniurus (Cope 1861) (Chordata, Reptilia, Squamata, Colubridae) (unpublished record) Sundamys muelleri (Jentink, 1879) (Chordata,Mammalia, Rodentia, Muridae) (Latinne et al. 2013)
Documents
[Topo] Tham Phet 08/05/2019Bibliography 15/10/2019
- +ANON. (2010a) "Thailand January 2010" Orpheus Caving Club Newsletter Vol. 46 No. 4-6 pp17-20 +BROOKS, SIMON (2010) "Sun, Sea and Speleology" Descent No. 216 p29 +BROOKS, SIMON (2010b) "Sun, Sea and Speleology" presentation to Hidden Earth 2010 +CHAIMONGKHON, SUWIT (1990a) "Siliapa Tham Phaya Nak, Krabi" Krom Silpakorn, Bangkok ISBN 974-417-125-1 88pp +DUNKLEY, JOHN ROBERT (1995) "The Caves of Thailand" Speleological Research Council, Sydney ISBN 0-9589253-9-9 +ELLIS, MARTIN (2013a) "Some Caves in Thailand Part 3" Shepton Mallet Caving Club Journal Series 12 No. 10 pp554-578 +FLETCHER, ALEX D. (2008a) "Thailand Nov 2007 to Feb 2008" Red Rose Cave and Pothole Club Newsletter Vol. 45 No. 1 March 2008 +FLETCHER, ALEX D. (2008b) "Dive Reports: Thailand" Cave Diving Group Newsletter No. 169 October 2008 pp32-33 +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 +JIVANANTHAPHRAVAT, B. (1988) "Ao Luek - Krabi's Cave District" Bangkok Post 11 February 1988 p9 +LATINNE, ALICE; WAENGSOTHORN, SURACHIT; ROJANADILOK, PRATEEP; EIAMAMPAI, KRAIRAT; SRIBUAROD, KRIANGSAK; MICHAUX, JOHAN R. (2013) "Diversity and endemism of Murinae rodents in Thai limestone karsts" Systematics and Biodiversity Vol. 11 online 22pp +Liamthong, Sumalee (2014) "Antimicrobial activities of fungi isolated from cave soils in southern region of Thailand" Thesis, Nakhon Si Thammarat Rajabhat University, 201pp +MCKERRON, MORAG (1990) "The Magic of Krabi" Asia Books, Bangkok 126pp +Stephens (2000) +NATIONAL PARK OFFICE (2006) "National Parks in Thailand" National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok 280pp +Prabhu, Seema (2006) ôYour Krabi. A comprehensive guide to Krabi Province, Thailandö Blue Sky Media Co., Ltd., Krabi ISBN 974-92299-4-0 274pp +VOGT, NILS B. (2013) "Temple Caves & Grottoes in Thailand: A Picture-Guide Book" Booksmango, Bangkok ISBN 978-616-222-160-6 214pp +Wojton, Andrez (2004) "Jaskinie wybrzeza andamanskiego" Jaskinie Vol. 3 No. 36 pp23-24
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.8 | Tham Ben - KR0160 | ||
| 1.0 | Tham Nai Tui - KR0065 | ||
| 1.3 | Tham Pong - KR0151 | ||
| 2.9 | Tham Orange 2 [KR0347] | 100 | 0 |
| 2.9 | Tham Orange 1 [KR0346] | 80 | 0 |
| 3.0 | Tham Sua - KR0154 | ||
| 4.0 | Cave KR0022 - KR0022 | ||
| 4.0 | Cave KR0023 - KR0023 | ||
| 4.0 | Tham Thalu Fa - KR0002 | 20 | 0 |