Tham Kaeo Komon - MH0243
18.396634,97.970216
Location
The cave is signed off the H108 in Mae La Noi. Park at the visitor centre and take a free songtheaw up the hill to the cave entrance.
Description
The cave consists of a series of five chambers on a steep gradient, the final chamber being more than 30m below the surface. The entrance area appears to be covered in sprayed concrete (to stabilise boulders?) before you reach the decorated chambers. Crystals originally covered every available surface and even now are very impressive despite vandalism in the early days after it was discovered.The cave was formed by superheated water from deep underground forcing its way upward along the line of weakness at the limestone/shale boundary and dissolving the limestone in the process. The crystals developed slowly under conditions of high temperatures and very low oxygen levels, probably when the cave was completely filled with water. These special conditions have created a fabulous growth of crystals quite unlike those seen in normal caves. Since the cave was opened up to the outside air these hydrothermal cystals have stopped growing and are now being smothered by stalagctites and flowstone.
Topographie
Charuklat, Benchawan (2005) no scale or grade SPIES, JOHN (n.d.) RFD
Fauna
Elaphoidella intermedia Chappuis, 1931 (Arthropoda, Crustacea, Maxilliopoda, Harpacticoida, Canthocamptidae) (Watiroyram et al. 2015)
Documents
[Topo] Tham Kaeo Komon 11/05/2019Bibliography 15/06/2020
- +ANON. (2004j) "Cave Reopens to Visitors" Bangkok Post 14 October 2004 +Anon. (2011b) "Baseline study for ecotourism development in Mae Hong Son" Final mission report by Thailand Community Based Tourism Institute (CBT-I) for the United Nations Joint Program on Integrated Highland Livelihood Development in Mae Hong Son, Output 1.3: Ecotourism. June 2011. 175p +CANAVAN, DAVID (2009) "The Chingchok Hunter: Cave Exploration û A Whole Other World Under Your Feet" Bangkok Post Eductaion 3 November 2009 +Charuklat, Benchawan (2005) "[ Calcite Crystal Cave, Amphoe Mae La Noi, Changwat Mae Hong Son]", Department of Mineral Resources, Bangkok, 25pp [Thai] +DUNKLEY, JOHN ROBERT (1995) "The Caves of Thailand" Speleological Research Council, Sydney ISBN 0-9589253-9-9 +ELLIS, MARTIN (2010) "Caving Log û January 2010" www.thailandcaves.shepton.org.uk/node/103 +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 +JARIYASOMBAT, PEERAWAT (2004) "Calcite Charms" Bangkok Post 18 Nov 2004 +JARIYASOMBAT, PEERAWAT (2007) "Cultural Soup" Bangkok Post Horizons 4 October 2007 ***Kuttikul, Pracha (2015) "The invaluable natural heritage: Thai geological sites" Department of Mineral Resources, Bangkok, ISBN 978-616-316-237-3, 209pp +MEKLOY, PONGPET (2007) "Road Map October û December" Bangkok Post Horizons 4 October 2007 free suppliment +SIDISUNTHORN, PINDAR; GARDNER, SIMON; SMART, DEAN (2006) "Caves of Northern Thailand" River Books, Thailand, ISBN 9749863135 +Watiroyram, Santi; Brancelj, Anton; Sanoamuang, La-orsri (2015) "Two new stygobiotic species of Elaphoidella (Crustacea: Copepoda: Harpacticoida) with comments on geographical distribution and ecology of harpacticoids from caves in Thailand" Zootaxa Vol. 3919 No. 1 pp81-99
History
The cave was discovered over 10 years ago by mining operations, but was not opened to the general public because of its fragile condition. A major effort has recently been made to develop this unique cave as an important tourist attraction, culminating in the Queen's visit in the year 2000. A specially constructed tarmac road leads right to the cave entrance, where there is a car park and a visitor information centre. The cave itself has been equipped with a permanent walkway, energy saving flourescent lights and an air circulation system, which is only used for VIPs due to concerns of the adverse effect on the cave environment. The show cave is run by the local community. Entrance fee is 40 baht for Thais and 80 baht for foreigners, All visitors must be accompanied by a guide. 2010-01-09 (M. Ellis, Y. Sopha)
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.7 | Tham Mae Hu 2 - MH0276 | ||
| 1.7 | Tham Mae Hu 1 - MH0274 | 80 | 0 |
| 3.5 | Crystal Mae La Noi 2 Cave - MH0275 | 50 | 0 |
| 19.0 | Tham Mae Ga Noi [MH0093] | 100 | 0 |
| 21.2 | Tham Phra Boran - MH0290 | 30 | 0 |
| 25.4 | Tham Ban Phae - MH0287 | 20 | 20 |
| 29.3 | Tham Ko Koa - MH0295 | ||
| 29.8 | Tham Mi - MH0300 | ||
| 30.2 | Tham Pha Daeng - MH0298 | 200 | 60 |