Tham Nam - KA0177
14.811767,98.866702
Location
From the Phra In ranger station walk 2 km to the south-east past numerous unexplored dolines and shaft entrances. The final 1 km is down a seasonally dry valley, decsending about 160 m vertically to meet the Khlong Ngu river again where an obvious gorge joins from the north. The river itself emerges from the bouldery floor of the valley, about 100 m downstream of the confluence although it can be heard in a shallow doline at the confluence itself. Upstream the gorge is floored with huge, clean-washed boulders. Crossing these leads to the end of the gorge and a very large cave entrance c.150 m from the confluence. Downstream of the confluence has been walked by rangers and they report a resurgence on the east bank.
Description
The entrance is 50 m high and 40 m wide. The first 120 m into the cave is easy walking on sand and gravel banks. These sediments have accumulated behind the barrier of boulders at the entrance. The river flows along this section only during floods and leaves pools of standing water against the east wall. At the end of the gravel bank the first deep water is met. This is the Khlong Ngu river which promptly disappears into an unenterable hole in the west wall. Ahead the river flows out of a low airspace duck under flowstone. Swimming through this reaches a round gravel bank in a tall chamber with a skylight entrance about 100 m up. This gravel bank is the last dry land in the cave and about 350 m of swimming is needed to reach the end of the cave. The cave dimensions are impressive, about 60 m high and 20 m wide. At several places though massive speleothem deposits reduce this size. One of these restrictions is known as the Wind Tunnel because of the powerful, outward breeze at this point. At the following constriction the draught has disappeared and the air becomes stagnant and humid. Soon after, in another 100 m or so, the cave sumps under a massive flowstone. The wind is presumed to come down from the roof of the cave i.e. from a higher level or an unknown entrance. Visiting the sump during an exceptional drought may be worthwhile in case an airspace appears.
Topographie
SMART, DEAN (1998) - Grade UISv2 3-3-A
Hydrology and Geology
This cave is the resurgence for the water last seen at the end of the Tham Nok Nang En system.
Fauna
Python reticulatus (Schneider, 1801) (Chordata, Reptilia, Squamata, Pythonidae) (Smart 1998)
Documents
Bibliography 04/09/2019- +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 +SMART, DEAN (1998) "Caves of Lam Khlong Ngu National Park, Kanchanaburi Province, W. Thailand" Royal Forestry Department, Bangkok unpublished report 16pp +Trajano, et. al. (2002) +WILTON-JONES, GRAHAM (1988) "Tham Huai Klong Ngu - The Snake River System & Swallow Cave, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand" Bristol Exploration Club Belfry Bulletin No. 443 pp9-18
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.9 | Tham Yai [KA0176] | 500 | 0 |
| 2.0 | Tham Nok Nang En 4 [KA0175] | 80 | 0 |
| 2.0 | Tham Hen Mee [KA0510] | 197 | 27 |
| 2.0 | Tham Nok Nang En 3 [KA0174] | 150 | 0 |
| 2.3 | Tham Nok Nang En 2 (KA0173] | 250 | 0 |
| 2.4 | Cave KA0509 | 18 | 2 |
| 2.5 | Bivouac Cave [Grotte de Bivouac] [KA0171] | 20 | 0 |
| 2.5 | Tham Nok Nang En - KA0172 | 3230 | 25 |
| 3.8 | Tham Ruesi [KA0411] | 90 | 16 |