Print-friendlyAmphoe Nakhon Thai
Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park
Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park covers an area of 307 km2 in amphoe Dan Sai of Loei province and amphoe Nakhon Thai in Phitsanulok province. The park is located on a mountain range whose highest peak is 1,820 m. The H2331 road goes through the middle of the park and links Nakhon Thai to Lom Kao in Phetchabun province. However, the park authorities will attempt to collect the 200 baht foreigner fee if you try to drive through the park.
From 1968 Phu Hin Rong Kla was a major stronghold of the People's Liberation Army of Thailand (the military arm of the Communist Party of Thailand). In 1972 the Thai army mounted a major offensive to defeat the PLAT by force, but were unsuccessful. The communists were joined by Thai students and radicals following the military crackdown in October 1976 and by 1978 the PLAT had 4,000 people on the mountain. The Thai military made little progress in removing the guerillas from their mountain bases until the early 1980s. A new task force was set up and in 1982 there was an amnesty for the students, a road was constructed into the mountains and a hearts and minds programme removed the support of the Hmong hill tribe people which resulted in a relatively bloodless defeat of the PLAT. The bombing and shelling during these battles could be heard 30 km away in Lom Sak (friends in Lom Sak described the battles as being between Thais and Laos, not as a Thai civil war). Unfortunately the 15 years of war, construction of roads and settlement by the Hmong have resulted in a lot damage to the forest and drove away most of the large mammals, though tigers are still reported from the park.
Geologically the mountains are sandstone and the caves reported from the park are either crevice caves or pseudokarst. The pseudokarst has been studied by Odell and Doerr, but these references have not been seen by the author. Although only one of the sites has been visited by the SMCC all the sites in the park have been included. Caves of Thailand places the caves in Phetchabun province, but they are all in Phitsanulok.
Air Raid Shelter Caves No. 1
47Q 0714650 1879650 Alt.: 1,290 m
Length: ~20 m COT PE44
These 'caves' are just to the north of the H2331between the old Communist School of Politics and Military Tactics and the turning to the Flag Raising Cliff and Communist Party Headquarters. The caves are a series of gaps between and beneath large sandstone boulders. Wooden walkways and ladders have been constructed.
Air Raid Shelter Caves No. 2
Length: 50 m COT PE45
The caves are close to the old Communist Party headquarters to the south of the H2331 and on the southern edge of the mountain.
Lan Hin Pum Crevice Caves
COT PE11, PE12, PE13 & PE14
This area of sandstone pseudokarst is called Laan Hin Boom in Caves of Thailand (NB: the grid references in Caves of Thailand are wrong). It consists of an area of exposed sandstone with the surface characterised by 'button' rocks of eroded sandstone. The rock field is accessed from the same parking area as the Flag Raising Cliff and is close to the southern edge of the mountain. The crevices are described as being deeper than those at Lan Hin Tak and appear to carry drainage from several square kilometres.
Lan Hin Tak Crevice Caves
COT PE51
This another area of course sandstone pseudokarst located at the edge of the plateau about 300 m west of the Than Pacharin army headquarters. It covers an area of 6.5 hectares and is at an altitude of around 1,100 m. The bare surface follows an apparent dip of about 5° and is dissected by a series of major crevices about 5 to 40 m apart, 0.5 to 2 m wide and up to 10 m deep. In internet reference states that from several of the crevices the loud, echoing sound of running water can be heard.
Amphoe Noen Maprang
Thung Salaeng Luang National Park
Thung Salaeng Luang is a large national park on the north-eastern edge of Phitsanulok province, extending over the border into Phetchabun province. The park headquarters are on the main H12 road, but the area of interest to cavers is on the western edge of the park near the villages of Ban Chomphu and Noen Maprang. This area was first visited by cavers in 1997 and it already has the longest known cave in Thailand and five other caves over one kilometre long. Exploration in this region has only just started and has been concentrated on the edges of the limestone outcrop. Access to the top of the mountain or onto to the limestone plateau appears to be very difficult, but domestic rubbish was found in the Tham Khang Khao streamway suggesting that there are some villages on the plateau. There is still plenty of potential for further major discoveries and most of the caves have not been fully explored.
The middle of the area is a mountain capped with sandstone which creates an impermeable catchment for several streams. These streams sink when they reach the limestone that skirts the sandstone and forms a plateau. This limestone plateau only extends for a couple of kilometres before it ends with a long cliff which borders the flood plain of the Mae Nam Nan river. The limestone and sandstone appear to be sub-horizontally bedded. Tham Phra Wang Daeng has a 10 km streamway that runs up the spine of the sandstone mountain. There are plans to build a dam across the mouth of the valley with Tham Nam Dan and Tham Pha Kaeo which would almost certainly block access to these caves and possibly flood Tham Phra Wang Daeng.
Hotel accommodation is not available close to the caves. We stayed with the Ban Chomphu village head lady (in a rice whisky distillery) and previous expeditions have been based at the nearby Ranger Station or further south near Noen Maprang. As it is a national park permission to go caving should be sought from the Royal Forest Department in Bangkok. However, a small group wishing to have a one-of trip to the caves would almost certainly be able to gain access. To reach Tham Phra Wang Daeng, Tham Nam Dan and Tham Pha Kaeo you have to enter the national park via the Ranger Station near Ban Chomphu and there is a checkpoint here. Tham Khang Khao and Tham Kheo are in the long limestone scarp that forms the park boundary so access to these caves is a lot easier.
Tham Phra Wang Daeng
Length: 13,634 m VR: 114 m
This is the longest known cave in Thailand and still has many leads. The main streamway is about 10 km long, very large and ends in an upstream sump. Only one group of cavers has been to this sump on a two day trip. However, there was evidence to show that monks had been to the end of the cave. To reach the entrance you need to go through the Ban Chomphu checkpoint and follow the track to where it opens out in a cultivated area. Take a track on the right (south) before you reach the small shop and village. This track leads to a large monastery at the base of the mountain. A rough track leads uphill past the monastery (4WD cars only) to reach a parking area after a couple of hundred metres. The cave entrance is a short downhill walk from here.
The entrance is a section of large collapsed passage and contains a shrine. Access to the main cave is down some steps towards the right and through a door. More steps, including some made of concrete, lead you down to the main streamway. It is possible to follow this stream for about a kilometre in the downstream direction to the resurgence. It is not possible to exit the resurgence.
Upstream follows a huge passage, averaging 15 to 20 m wide and 20 m or more high. Progress is made by a never ending sequence of wading, walking and scrambling over fallen boulders. At one section you have to ascend over a collapse and then regain the stream. On our visit in April there were a couple of short sections of swimming. At wetter times of the year more swimming may be required. At various places there were signs of a high level system above the streamway, but these have not been explored. Cave fish, mainly Schistura and a larger species, were numerous in the pools and stream and were very inquisitive, coming up to nuzzle your wellies.
The object of our trip was to explore and survey four inlets on the eastern side of the main streamway which were about 4.5 km into the cave. It took our large party 3.5 hours to reach this area. Unfortunately all the inlets closed down into squalid flat-out bedding planes or ended at tall inlet avens after one or two hundred metres. The trip out of the cave took the author longer than the 3.5 hours to get in. Although the streamway is mainly easy going care should be taken not to over exert yourself as it is possible to go so far into the cave you struggle to get back out again.
This is an impressive cave and there is still plenty of exploring to do.
Tham Nam Dan
Length: 2,102 m
Tham Nam Dan is a resurgence cave located to the south-east of Tham Phra Wang Dang and part of a different hydrological system. Instead of taking the turning to Tham Phra Wang Daeng continue past the shop and village and take the right hand fork at a Y junction towards some limestone outcrops. This track crosses cultivated fields and to describe the route to the cave is difficult! The best advice is to head towards the left at any junctions and eventually the track ends at the base of the hill. A footpath leads for about 100 m uphill to the large rift entrance.
The stream flows along a fairly large passage with some short cascades and swims to pass. We went as far as a chamber where an oxbow, exposed by the low water levels, was surveyed. The cave extends to about a kilometre further upstream from this point. On the way back to the entrance an inlet passage at the top of some dry gours was looked at. By digging out a gravel bank it was possible to pass a low duck into 100 m of passage.
An Orpheus Caving Club expedition in November 2004 extended the cave to its current surveyed length.
Tham Pha Kaeo
Length: 1,217 m
This seasonal resurgence cave was first explored on the April 2004 expedition. It is located between Tham Nam Dan and Tham Phra Wang Daeng on the eastern side of the mountain. As with Tham Nam Dan a description as to how find the cave is difficult and we were guided there by a park ranger who lives close by. Instead of turning left at a T junction in the fields towards Tham Nam Dan turn right and then take the left hand fork at the Y junction after only a few metres. This track gets rougher and eventually ends at a shack in a clump of trees just before you reach another field. To get to the entrance cross the field heading slighty to the right and then go down a gentle slope before entering the jungle. There is a very rough path, but we had to cut our way in. The path ascends and you reach a limestone cliff. The entrance is a few metres higher up.
On our visit the streamway was dry. A large entrance chamber soon closes down and it is necessary to crawl through a low sandy passage on the left. Following the stream passage to the right enters a maze of small passages that wasn’t properly explored and leads back to the entrance chamber. After crawling through the sandy section there is a short walking section to reach a boulder choke. It is possible to bypass this either on the right through a low crawl and tight squeeze up through boulders or by going left and climbing through and over the boulders.
After the choke the passage is of reasonable dimensions and the next feature of note is a stal bank made of pure white calcite. This can be bypassed on the left hand side to regain the passage (there is also a way through on top of the stal bank). The passage continues as a roomy streamway with static pools as you approach the upstream end. We turned back at a swimming section with low air space after about 800 m. A small side passage on the left not far after the stal bank led to some muddy crawls which eventually choked.
An Orpheus Caving Club expedition in November 2004 extended the cave to its current surveyed length.
Tham Khang Khao
Length: 3,725 m
This cave had been surveyed to a chamber about a kilometre into the system via a very tall vadose streamway. Two inlets joined at the chamber and had been briefly explored. As this previous trip had been made in August water levels were high. We had a single trip in April 2004 when the water levels were much lower and two teams surveyed the two inlet passages and extended the cave to over 3 km. Tham Khang Khao is located in the limestone cliffs to the south of Ban Chomphu which mark the boundary of the national park. We are unable to provide a precise description of its location.
From the chamber the left hand inlet was surveyed for 750 m through some very wet passage to a duck. There was not enough time to finish the survey, but the passage was explored past the duck, through a large chamber and some wide passage to end at an upstream sump after an estimated 250 m. Domestic rubbish was found in the streamway which suggests that it might be possible to reach the stream sink by going over the surface. The right hand inlet was also surveyed for several hundred metres. The surveyors took the right hand passage at a junction which got smaller and wetter. They felt that the left hand passage might have been the main way on, but they didn’t have enough time to explore this branch.
The survey of both branches was completed by the Orpheus Caving Club in November 2004.
Tham Kheo
Length: approx. 200 m
Tham Kheo is also found in the cliffs to the south of Ban Chomphu. It is further south than Tham Khang Khao and has several shrines nearby. Again it is not possible to give a more detailed description. The cave had been explored in the rainy season for 65 m to a sump. In April 2004 the sump had dried up to leave a sandy crawl. Once through the short crawl about one hundred metres of small, muddy passage was followed to a muddy pool and a small chamber with a sump. This is not the nicest cave in Thailand.
In addition to these caves two other caves were found in monasteries just south of Ban Chomphu (but north of Tham Khang Khao) at the foot of the limestone cliffs. Both of these caves were draughting outwards, but were not pushed to a conclusion due to a lack of caving kit and enthusiasm.
Phitsanulok References
Brooks, S. (2002) [Thung Salaeng Luang]; Brooks, S. (2003) [Thung Salaeng Luang]; Cummins, J. (1999) [Phu Hin Rong Kla]; Doerr, S. (2000) [Phu Hin Rong Kla]; Kaufmann, G. (1997) [Thung Salaeng Luang]; Odell (1985) [Phu Hin Rong Kla]; Smart, D. (1997) [Thung Salaeng Luang]
Map: 1:250,000 NE47-16 Changwat Phetchabun