Thailand caving

[Buford Pruitt]

This fellow contacted the FSS, which doesn’t have many people interested in his offer, so I am posting his enquiry for anyone who might be interested. I do not know the fellow and he is not an NSS member, so I believe I’ve given you fair warning.

Hello,

Earlier this year I spent several months in Northern Thailand. During my stay I had the opportunity to visit several caves in the area. I observed that most are poorly mapped and exploration is incomplete. There appears to be potential for much larger caves than are known to exist. Part of the lack of exploration can be attributed to the culture. Caves are thought to house spirits and many fear venturing too far. One of the larger caves I visited is controlled by a Buddhist temple. The "guides" consist of locals with gas lanterns. These "guides" pointed out areas of the cave that have not been adequately explored and usually had some legend as the reason it was unsafe to do. The existing map I obtained shows the entrance to largely unexplored passages deep within the cave system with a warning about deep drop offs (solution tubes). There are legends claiming people have entered this section of the cave and become lost for weeks. One legend has a Buddhist monk entering the cave and discovering two Thai nationals who had become lost. One =
allegedly died and the other was very weak.

In the section I toured there are two solution that appear to be almost parallel. One drops to a depth of about 30 meters. The other drops to about 50 meters. When asked what is at the bottom the guides said, "just sand." This area of the cave floods during rainy season. There were several narrow passages along the way I inquired about. I was told they go to "hell" and that water pour out during rainy season. I understand from my Thai brother in law there is another cave at a higher elevation on this mountain on the same slope that is largely unexplored. It has a year round pool of water. He has enter the pool to chest level but did not have his diving gear to look for passages leading from this pool. Another cave (one of the many named "Erawan") we entered was partially mapped by the government. It is unattended in a national forest. During this foray I advised my brother-in-law to look for small passages with air blowing from them. A short time later he found one. I squeezed into to the passage and what appears to be a narrow solution tube leading downward. There is a large rock being supported by and much smaller rock and I did not want to venture further since I have no experience safely moving such obstructions.

My Thai brother in law is a physics instructor at a major Thai university. He is also a PADI instructor. I discussed with him the possibility of trying to organize a joint Thai-American exploration of some of the caves in Northern Thailand. Students at Thai universities and perhaps others would be interested in exploring caves but lack the knowledge to safely do so. Would there be any interest in organizing a visit to Northern Thailand to map some of the caves in the region and to train Thai citizens to safely explore the caves in the region? If there is my brother-in-law would be happy to try to organize a group at one of the Universities.

Thailand is a relatively cheap trip the largest expense being airfare which ranges from about $900 to $1200 from Florida depending on the season. Other departure locations would probably cost less. Hotel rooms are about $15 per night and often include breakfast. There is a possibility one of the universities might make dorm rooms available. Food is cheap as well unless you eat at a western fast food restaurant then is is similar to U.S. prices. Meals from local establishments average about one to two dollars.

Caving groups from France, the UK and Australia have mapped some of the caves in Thailand but at present the U.S. is not represented. Neither my brother-in-law nor I have seen evidence of joint explorations with Thai citizens so this might be a first. Most of Thailand is karst country and there are numerous unmapped caves. Thanks for your help in spreading the word.

Regards,
Neal R. Yerkes
nyerkes@neednurses.com