Tham Huai Khon [NA0057]
19.583900,101.084219
Location
To visit Tham Huai Khon and a jungle wat proceed eastbound out of Huai Khon 4 kms down the road towards Huai Sai Khao. You will see on your left the new district office building (amphoe Chaloem Pra Kiet). At the turn off to it is the site of Old Huai Khon. Branch left towards the district office, pass it and follow the track about 1km, turning left before the new roadbuilder's office. You come to some jungle and the jungle monastery. To continue to the cave, skirt right and upwards.
Description
The entrance is a vaginal slit which plunges into cool, water-sculpted rock. Down here you go left and through a tunnel to reach a large cavern. Apparently it is possible to proceed 300 to 400m into the cave, or even further. People said to Goodden that the cave complex was largely unexplored. During the communist insurgency in Thailand Tham Huai Khon used to be an important storage place for CPT guns, gold and provisions and the area was the scene of a major battle between the Thai Army and the PLAT. Nowadays local people go into the cave to collect bat droppings to sell to orange growers as fertilizer.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9.6 | Tham Pha Daeng 2 [NA0131] | 80 | 8 |
| 9.8 | Sink NA0086 | ||
| 10.2 | Tham Pha Daeng - NA0019 | 100 | 0 |
| 11.1 | Sink NA0087 | ||
| 11.6 | Sink NA0088 | ||
| 12.2 | Sink NA0089 | ||
| 13.2 | Sink NA0090 | ||
| 13.6 | Sink NA0091 | ||
| 13.7 | Tham Champi - NA0044 | 393 | 32 |