Tham Nam Mut - KA0225
14.996881,98.626062
Location
From Wat Sunyataram, which is located 20km north of Thong Pha Phum, follow the H323 towards Sanghla Buri for 1.5km. The cave is located by a large fallen rock where the lake first comes into view when travelling to Sangkhla Buri. After a big descent the road climbs up in a curve to the left and one can see below the course of the river which resurges at the foot of a small wall 50m from the road. Access is easiest following the farm track that descends from the road at 47P 459905 1657718 towards the lake. There are large boulders and lots of bamboo around the entrance which has a large river coming out. The sink entrance, is at the end of the large closed valley of the Huai Nam Mut, 1.8km east-north-east of the resurgence.
Description
Fauna
Spelaeoblatta thamfaranga Roth, 1994 (Arthropoda, Insecta, Blattodea, Corydioidea, Nocticolidae) û type locality (Roth and McGavin 1994)
Topographie
APEL, LAURENT; GROUSSOUS, SOPHIE; GUILLOT, FLORENCE; JARLAN, PHILIPPE; LUSCHEVICI, OLIVIER; MAGNE, THIERRY; VACQUIE, JEAN-FRANÃOIS; VISCHI, VAL+RIE (1990) UIS Grade 4 - Entrance series SMITH, RICHARD J. (ED.) (1995) - BCRA Grade 5 ELLIS, MARTIN (2009)
The resurgence entrance is at the head of a dry river bed filled with huge boulders with a static looking pool outside the entrance. By swimming through the entrance arch (which sumps in wet weather), one is in a 10m wide passage with deep water and the roof 3 to 4m above. As the water gets shallower the current gets stronger and after about 15m the water flows with strong force over gour dams. One leaves the water via a climb into a chamber which has a large sump to the left as the cave is followed via a modest fossil passage for 40m. A 12m deep pitch follows which lands upstream of the sump. To the right there are two small ways into a passage which goes for 40m with deep water. From a calcite barrier the passage can be followed to a point 2m above the water level in a new large river passage. At the level of the fossil passage there is abundent flood debris. The first 200m of passage is a canal about 15m wide with deep water and a powerful draught. At the 200m point the river sumps and there is an obvious passage continuing in the roof. This was scaled using bolts and combined tactics. The high level passage continues for about 50m before dropping into a log filled lake. The Log Bog Lake ends in a narrow log filled constriction which opens out into more flood debris of tree branches, etc. After about 40m this become shallow enough to stand up, free of flood debris and with faster flowing water. This walking size passage soon gives way to the next lake which is home to a number of large catfish. After the Catfish Pond the cave opens up into a huge, well decorated, breakdown chamber which is 290m long and up to 80m wide with an area of over 20,000 sq m. The river passage continues, varying from 15 to 30m wide, for a further 2km to the sink entrance. The majority of this is walking or wading interspersed with several short swims. About 1km in from the sink is a large flowstone blocking the passage which is bypassed via a short climb to the right, with a pile of flood debris on top. Some of the upper reaches of this massive cave were explored and there is evidence of substantial flooding, including whole trees lodged in the roof some 40 to 50m above water level. There is potential for further discoveries, both within the cave and in the Huai Nam Mut gorge upstream of the sink entrance. It is quicker to get to the gorge via the cave than through the jungle on the surface. Do not visit the cave in the rainy season - two days of hard rain in 1992 produced a fantastic water display as the resurgence struggled to release the flood waters from the cave.
Equipement
Climb up at entrance: 20m rope and 2 slings P12: 18m rope, 2 slings and 1 spit.
Documents
[Topo] Tham Nam Mut 28/04/2019Bibliography 05/09/2019
- +ANON. (1992c) "BCRA Conference 1992: Tham Farang" Descent No. 109 p26 +APEL, LAURENT; GROUSSOUS, SOPHIE; GUILLOT, FLORENCE; JARLAN, PHILIPPE; LUSCHEVICI, OLIVIER; MAGNE, THIERRY; VACQUIE, JEAN-FRANÃOIS; VISCHI, VAL+RIE (1990) "Kwai 90 - ExpÚdition SpÚlÚologique en Thailande" SociÚtÚ SpÚlÚologique de l' AriÞge - Pays d' Olmes, Lavelanet 34pp +DUNKLEY, JOHN ROBERT (1995) "The Caves of Thailand" Speleological Research Council, Sydney ISBN 0-9589253-9-9 +ELLIS, MARTIN (2009) ôThailandÆs Top Twentyö Shepton Mallet Caving Club Journal Series 12 No. 4 pp140-232 +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 +ROLLAND, IAN (1993) "Cave Exploration In Kanchanaburi - Tham Farang" International Caver No. 9 pp29-32 +ROLLAND, IAN (1994) "Tham Farang" Chelsea Speleological Society Newsletter Vol. 36 No. 1 pp14-17 +ROTH, L.M.; MCGAVIN, GEORGE C. (1994) "Two new species of Nocticolidae (Dictyoptera: Blattaria) and a redescription of the cavernicolous genus Spelaeoblatta BolÝvar" Journal of Natural History (London) Vol. 28 pp1319-1326 +SMITH, RICHARD J. (ED.) (1995) "Exercise Tham Farang Thailand 1992 Report" Combined Services Caving Association 49pp
Histoire
The entrance series as far as the main river was explored by the SociÚtÚ SpÚlÚologique de l'AriÞge-Pays d'Olmes in August 1990, but the main cave through to the sink was explored and surveyed by the Combined Services Caving Association in April/May 1992. The cave was visited by Jake Brodie-Stedman in May 2009 and Phil Collett visited the resurgence entrance in March 2015.
Cavités proche
| Distance (km) | Nom | Longueur (m) | Profondeur (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.4 | Tham Wat Sunyataram - KA0226 | 400 | 69 |
| 1.7 | Shaft P1 - KA0230 | 25 | 25 |
| 1.7 | Shaft P2 - KA0231 | 90 | 70 |
| 1.7 | Cave KA0133 - KA0133 | ||
| 1.8 | Tam Nam Mut | ||
| 2.0 | P1 | 25 | 25 |
| 2.6 | Cave KA0136 - KA0136 | 40 | 0 |
| 2.7 | Tam Wat Sunyatara | ||
| 3.2 | Cave KA0128 - KA0128 | 30 | 0 |