Tham Khao Phueng - KR0083
8.236376,98.904181
Location
From the H4 north of Krabi the Khao Phanom Bencha National Park is signed along a road a 1.3km to the west of the turning to Wat Tham Seua. This road ends after about 20km at the national park headquarters. Two kilometers before the park, Tham Khao Phueng is signed down a dirt track on the right (south). A few hundred metres along this track look for a sign and a rough track through the plantation to the right (east). This leads to the cave where there is a toilet block and picnic table. From the car park the main entrance is straight ahead. Going around the side of the hill, to the right, is a wooden boardwalk to the back entrance that has fallen into disrepair. To get to the main entrance there is a wooden ladder. At the top of the ladder a scramble up to the left leads to Cave KR0091. Head towards the right where a wooden walkway leads to the small main entrance.
Description
This is a complicated cave with 5 entrances on 2 levels. The main entrance opens into a passage. To the right leads to an entrance about 15 m up a cliff. To the left leads past the climb down to the lower cave to a wooden boardwalk that goes over an area of static pools. This boardwalk has fallen into disrepair in several places. At the end of the 'Water Cave' there is a large decorated chamber. The way on is a small passage on the right that descends to a wooden ladder into a large, dark guano chamber. This chamber has a 12 m high column and at one end a passage leads through, via a short crawl, to the back entrance. To the right a crawl leads to another entrance and larger passage. It is possible to traverse the hole in the floor to a short continuation of the passage which soon closes down. Back near the main entrance a climb down lands in a large passage with bats. To the left there is about 75 m of passage to where the cave ends, while to the right leads for about 25 m to another entrance 5 m up a cliff and above a resurgence.
Topographie
Orpheus Caving Club/Shepton Mallet Caving Club November 2009 - BCRA 3c ELLIS (2013a) - BCRA 3c
Fauna
Orthriophis taeniurus (Cope 1861) (Chordata, Reptilia, Squamata, Colubridae) (unpublished record)
Documents
[Topo] Tham Khao Phueng 07/05/2019Bibliography 17/10/2019
- +ANON. (n.d.) "Kow Phung (Khao Phung) Cave in Krabi, Thailand" www.thaipulse.com/krabi/activities/thailand-caves-… +BROOKS, SIMON (2010) "Sun, Sea and Speleology" Descent No. 216 p29 +BROOKS, SIMON (2010b) "Sun, Sea and Speleology" presentation to Hidden Earth 2010 +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 +HALLIDAY, WILLIAM R. (2002) "Caves in Krabi" pers. com. to Dean Smart +HENLEY, THOM (2003) "Krabi. Caught In The Spell" Thai Nature Education, Phuket ISBN 97491140-5-1 +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 +NATIONAL PARK OFFICE (2006) "National Parks in Thailand" National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok 280pp
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.3 | Tham Thewada [KR0178] | 2018 | 94 |
| 6.7 | Tham Lang Rongrian - KR0078 | 40 | 2 |
| 6.9 | Tham Bua Thong - KR0156 | ||
| 7.1 | Tham Hom - KR0146 | ||
| 7.1 | Tham Hom - KR0229 | ||
| 7.8 | Tham To Un - KR0054 | ||
| 7.9 | Cave KR0303 | 40 | 0 |
| 8.0 | Tham Thep Pratan [KR0243] | 214 | 15 |
| 8.0 | Tham Saeng Phet - KR0158 | 20 | 0 |