Print-friendlyAmphoe Kaeng Khoi
The three caves described are all in the same monastery complex to the east of Saraburi town. Take the H2 from Saraburi towards Nakhon Ratchasima. After going through Kaeng Khoi and after passing a large cement works on your left take the U turn bridge and head back the way you came. Then take the first road on the left which goes for a couple of kilometres, past some shops, to a crossroads. Turn left and follow the road east past a monastery (with a cave) at the foot of an isolated hill. The road then trends south and ends at the Wat Tham Phra Phothisat monastery where there is an unusual round temple, the usual temple dogs and lots of monkeys.
The limestone in which the caves are formed is of Early Permian age. Recent studies have placed the limestones at Wat Tham Phra Phothisat in the Phu Phe Formation of the Saraburi Group. The Saraburi Group also contains several other younger limestone units which are exposed to the north and east of Wat Tham Phra Phothisat. These limestones are the southernmost outcrop of Upper Paleozoic carbonates which extend for at least 400 km northwards into Laos. In this area the limestones are exposed as a chain of hills, ridges and mounds to create a classic 'tower karst' scenery.
Tham Lumphini Suan Hin/Tham Mathat
Tham Lumphini Suan Hin Main Entrance 47P 0731706 1611876 Alt.: 245 m
Tham Mathat Entrance 47P 0731727 1611946 Alt.: 244 m
Tham Lumphini Upper Entrance 47P 0732209 1611771 Alt.: 275m
Tham Lumphini Suan Hin Stream Entrance 47P 0732234 1611692 Alt.: 253m
Length: 2,019 m VR: 56 m COT SA 22 / 19
This cave has four entrances and is the longest known cave in the province. Tham Mathat is reached by a good concrete path and steps leading up the hill from the monastery. It has an unlocked gate and a steel ladder down into the cave. The main entrance to Tham Lumphini Suan Hin is not signed and the path up to the entrance is slightly overgrown. This is because some foreigners had to be rescued from the cave a few years ago and access is not encouraged. From the temple follow the main path to Tham Phra Phothisat and Tham Mathat. At a tree with a signpost turn right and cross the stream. Look for a gully after the stream and a path which leads steeply up to the main entrance. The sink entrances are at the other side of the hill and are best reached through the cave.
Tham Mathat is a large fossil passage about 600 m long that ends in a choke. This choke is close to the end of the fossil passage in Tham Lumphini Suan Hin and a connection may be possible. From the steel entrance ladder there are a couple more wooden ladders up and down allowing progress along a boulder filled rift passage to a junction after about 50 m. Daylight is visible to the right and can be reached by scrambling through the boulders to reach the Tham Lumphini Suan Hin main entrance. From this junction going left leads under a boulder and up a wooden ladder and then a fixed chain to a sub-horizontal phreatic passage which ascends gradually. Towards the end a decrepit wooden ladder doesn't help a climb down and then you soon reach the end of the cave where there is a shrine. The air is fresh throughout, but gets noticeably warmer and steamy towards the end. The cave does not have much wildlife, just a few bats and crickets were seen.
Tham Lumphini Suan Hin is a large and impressive stream passage. In the wet season swimming is required in places, but in the dry season it is possible to traverse the cave and keep your feet dry. At the upper end of the cave there is a dry entrance or the stream can be followed through a very wet and unpleasant section to the stream sink. Care should be taken if the cave is explored in the wet season as the cave floods. As well as the rescue mentioned above another group of cavers is known to have had to sit out a flood in this cave.
Tham Lumphini Suan Hin was surveyed by Dean Smart and Phil Oakley in 1998. In December 2003 Tham Mathat was surveyed by the SMCC and linked to Tham Lumphini Suan Hin, though this link had been suspected by Smart.
Tham Phra Phothisat
47P 0731786 1612062 Alt.: 260 m
Length: 150 m VR: 3 m COT SA 18
Other names: Tham Boddhisat, Tham Phra Ngam
This cave is a gated shrine, though we found it to be unlocked. A well maintained and signposted (in Thai) path leads from the monastery up the hill to the cave. The cave is famous for the 7th or 8th Century bas-relief carvings from the Dvaravati period which are up on the left as you come through the cave entrance. Below the carvings there is a large shrine and much of the cave has been floored with concrete. The passage to the left leads to a choke, while to the right the passage ends just after a small shaft entrance.
The abbot of the monastery showed us a book in Thai and English on the archaeology of the cave, but unfortunately we didn’t note down the details.
Tham Sa-Ngat Chedi ถ้ ำส้งดเจดีบ์
47P 0731637 1611801 Alt.: 245 m
Length: 30 m VR: 0 m
To find Tham Sa-Ngat Chedi start by following the path to towards Tham Lumphini Suan Hin from the monastery past the resurgence and stream. At an area with a couple of huts a path contours up the hill to the cave entrance. This is a small gated shrine cave to the south of Tham Lumphini Suan Hin to which we couldn’t obtain access. It didn’t appear to continue beyond the shrine.
Survey of Tham Lumphini Suan Hin
Although this is the closest caving area to Bangkok very little work has been done in Saraburi province apart from at Wat Tham Phra Phothisat. Many caves in this area are threatened by quarrying. The Caves of Thailand lists nearly one hundred caves, temples and hills in Saraburi that have not been properly investigated. There is an old report of a 3 km long stream cave (Tham Sunyataram) which was said to be 10 km from Tham Lumphini Suan Hin and which has not been relocated. A recent study by Dean Smart on the caves of Khao Tham Erawan in Lopburi province (40 km to the north-west of Tham Lumphini Suan Hin) revealed many caves up to 500 m long in an area similar to that of Wat Tham Phra Phothisat.
Saraburi References
Blick, T. (2000) [caving in Saraburi]; Chutakositkanon, et. al. (2000) [geology]; Munier, C. (1998) [Tham Phra Phothisat bas-reliefs]; Niyamabha, V. (2002) [caving trip in Tham Lumphini Suan Hin]; Smart, D. (2005) [caves at Khao Tham Erawan].
Map: 1:250,000 ND47-08 Changwat Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya