Tham Sui Tang [Elephant Tusk Cave] [Tham Chang Nga Chang] [CM0250]
19.729060,99.037220
Location
The entrance is reported to be a big hole in the middle of the hillside near the farms in the Ma Phong Si Tung doline, probably near Ma Phong Si Tung. This large doline is to the south of Ban Luang and below the army camp and checkpoint which is on the road which follows the ridge above. From the checkpoint go a couple of hundred metres north and take the dirt track to the west down to the bottom of the doline. The track continues north along the bottom of the doline to a farmstead.
Description
At the bottom of the P40 entrance pitch the passage drops down 1.5 m and 3.5 m climb to the 22 m second pitch. This is followed by a couple of 2.5 m drops before the P6 third pitch which is quickly followed by the 63 m fourth pitch. This P63 is rigged in two sections. At the bottom of the P63 there is a streamway which continues down a 2 m and 1 m drop before reaching the P19 fifth pitch. The P19 lands in a major streamway that flows from the north-east to the south-west. Heading downstream the cave reaches a P6 below which there is a further 2 m drop before the cave quickly closes down. Going upstream from the base of the P19 the streamway can be followed for several hundred metres to a boulder choke which is close to the surface and there is possibly a second entrance here. An elephant tusk was found about 70 m down
Equipement
The cave has the following pitches:- P40 entrance pitch P22 P6 to boulder floor in rift P63 in two sections to the floor of the cave and a large river passage P19 down to a river running from north to south P6
Topographie
Surveyed by Chiang Mai Rock Climbing Adventures (April 2012) Grade UISv2 3-3-A/2-1-A. UIS (1999) symbols. UTM grid on WGS 1984 datum Redrawn by Martin Ellis (September 2015) ELLIS (2015)
Documents
Bibliography 03/07/2019- +BARRON, DENALI (2011) "Notes from Sui Tang Caving Expedition" 26 April 2011 www.thailandclimbing.com/notes-from-sui-tang-cavin… +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
History
The cave was found and explored by CMRCA in April 2011 to the top of the P6. A second expedition in April 2012 descended the P6, but the cave didn't continue much further. The 2012 expedition surveyed the cave and found about 20 other caves in the area
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Ban Sin Chai Nuea Sink [CM0256] | ||
| 2.2 | Tham Phra Pikanet [CM0280] | 40 | 0 |
| 2.3 | Tham Phaya Nak [CM0279] | 40 | 0 |
| 4.3 | Sink CM0262 | ||
| 4.6 | Tham Ngop - CM0195 | ||
| 5.1 | Tham Phi Man Doi Pha Daeng [Tham Phi Man Pha Daeng] [Tham Ruea] [Boat Cave] [CM0271] | ||
| 5.3 | Tham Phra Chao - CM0105 | 285 | 0 |
| 5.4 | Tham Pha Phueng [Bee Cave (Temple)} [CM0027] | 20 | 0 |
| 5.6 | Spring BSS 2000-SP2 - CM0107 |