Tham Wiang Kae [NA0037]
19.303524,100.756839
Location
From Song Khwae go north on the H1148 for about 3 km and turn east on the H1097 to the Hmong village of Ban Tham Wiang Kae. In the village a track on the left, signposted in Thai to Wat Tham Wiang Kae, leads after to 1 km to the temple where the entrance can be seen. As the cave is a temple it is necessary to visit bare-footed.
Description
The entrance to the cave is a wide chamber 4 m wide by 3 m high with a big shrine with numerous statues and ornaments at the end. Behind the shrine it is possible to go for about 10 m to a dead end at the contact with the schists. On the right before the shrine several small ways give access to a small passage formed in a very white limestone ending at a small chamber with another shrine. On the left a small pitch is equipped with ladders and goes to a small passage about 10 m long ending at a meditation chamber. On the left the passage continues, passing a wooden platform then the passages ascends steeply. There are alcoves on the left and right for meditation. This leads to a crossroads where on the far right the passage continues to climb as far as a meditation chamber and on the right it goes back down to rejoin the passage a short distance after the statute. The passages are small (1 m by 2 m), and they are formed in a clean limestone with good bedding planes. There are many rock paintings of unknown age on the walls at the start of the cave.
Topographie
JARLAN, PHILIPPE; CARON-JARLAN, VIOLAINE, BELUCHE, ALEXANDRA; BELUCHE, FRANCOIS (2010)
Documents
Bibliography 12/09/2020- GOODDEN, CHRISTIAN (1999) "Around Lan-na" Jungle Books (Halesworth), England ISBN 0-9527383-1-7 434pp JARLAN, PHILIPPE; CARON-JARLAN, VIOLAINE, BELUCHE, ALEXANDRA; BELUCHE, FRANCOIS (2010) "Expedition NANTHAI 2008" SociÚtÚ SpÚlÚologique de l' AriÞge-Pays d'Olmes 55pp VOGT, NILS B. (2013) "Temple Caves & Grottoes in Thailand: A Picture-Guide Book" Booksmango, Bangkok ISBN 978-616-222-160-6 214pp
History
Explored and surveyed by Jarlan in July 2008.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | Tham Ban Wiang Kae | 124 | 10 |
| 18.6 | Tham Pha Lak - NA0010 | 136 | 5 |
| 24.0 | Tham Luang Sakoen - NA0035 | ||
| 27.7 | Tham Phra Charon - NA0016 | ||
| 32.1 | Cave NA0106 | 70 | 0 |
| 32.6 | Sink NA0104 | ||
| 32.6 | Cave NA0103 | 30 | 0 |
| 33.0 | Tham Men [NA0132] | 283 | 46 |
| 33.1 | Tham Pha Kong - NA0020 |