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Adventure Travelling In THailand Cave Exploring (Part One)

Prepared by Harold Stephens
Travel Correspondent for Thai Airways International

The caves of Thailand have been around for many millions of years, and now suddenly they are in the news. Overnight travel offices are besieged with requests for information on cave exploring. Why the sudden upsurge? The Discover Channel, it seems, took viewers into the many caves around America and Europe. No mention was made of Southeast Asia and yet here are some of the world’s greatest caves.
True, the most challenging caves are found in Thailand. But all of Southeast Asia, in fact, has its share of caves from south China down through Thailand and the Malay Peninsula into Indonesia. But no place in Southeast Asia is there such an abundance of caves in such widely dispersed locations as Udon Thani province in the northeast and Koh Khian in Phang-nga and Tham Sin in the south, not to forget all the off-shore islands.
Among the countless caves in Thailand, only a fraction have been explored. New caves are being discovered almost every day. Only a year or two ago newspapers reported that a new cave in Ban Nainang Khao Kram had been discovered following a survey trip by Krabi regional tourist officers, Laddawan Chuaychat and Pisut Phumphamorn.
The cave was seventy meters wide and twenty meters high at its gateway. Within the cave is a 25-meter long beach with a canal that runs through it. The officers found they could drive a long-tail boat through the cave to the other side of the hill. A new tourist spot was found.
How can a cave become lost? Landslides, violent storms, earthquakes, volcanic upheavals, and by the efforts of man himself. It's a known fact that caves for some reason or other are sealed by those who want to keep them secret, as the Japanese had done to many caves in Southeast Asia after their defeat in World War II. And what pirate chieftain, fact or fiction, didn’t seek out a cave to bury his ill-gotten treasure?
Thais have made exploring caves much easier for the neophyte. At many sites they offer guide service and equipment, including carbide lamps.
A number of remarkable caves can be found along Route 4 in the south which runs through Phang-nga town to the small provincial seaport of Krabi. One of the more popular caves near Phang-Nga is Tham Russi or "Hermit Cave." It lies on the left, two kilometers before the Customs House turnoff. A stalagmite in the shape of a hermit marks the entrance. Many believe the Russi has power to cure the sick and predict winning lottery numbers.
Unusual labyrinthine grottoes weave through Tham Russi where visitors can stroll over bridges crossing pools within the cave. It's well lighted with neons and it even has toilet facilities.
Continuing 500 meters down the road, passing the governor's office on the left, a sign points out a trail towards Wat Tham Pong Chang which translates to "Temple-Cave in the Elephant's Stomach." A claustrophobic tunnel, to the left of a pool, leads into a small shrine adorned with statues of three sacred elephants.
Farther south on Route 4 is a splendid cave called Wat Suwannakuha. At the entrance, packs of monkeys wait to be fed by visitors and a sign reads:
DO NOT TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS
WHEN YOU ARE NOT PROPERLY DRESSED
It's one of the few caves that has an entrance fee but the ten baht is well worth it. Wat Suwannakuha has hundreds of Buddha’s images, including a large golden reclining Buddha and two large standing Buddhas. The two are also golden. A second set of stairs leads to an upper cave with more images. The cave has mood and provides an ideal setting for the photographer.
Just two kilometers from Phang-nga, Route 4 reaches a fork where a sign points right to Krabi. Beyond the fork the road rises into a winding pass through giant limestone hills and fertile valleys. At the foot of the pass there's a fine view of a Buddha statue at Wat Kirirong, at the entrance to a hollow under huge cliffs.
South of Wat Kirirong the countryside becomes even more dramatic, especially if you are making the drive at dusk. The horizon on all fronts is outlined with the jagged ridges of endless outcroppings, like contorted dragons of another age.
One of the most interesting caves I found in the south was not far from Krabi. It isn't marked on maps nor is it mentioned in guidebooks. I saw the simple sign that said THAM PETCH, with an arrow pointing down a side road, and decided to gamble. After driving five kilometers down a dusty road I arrived at a hut with a rusted tin roof where an old man with a flashlight stood waiting, as though he was expecting us. I parked and he then led us through a dusty rubber plantation to the entrance of a cave, over a path not well trodden. A statue of Buddha stood at the entrance. Nothing very dramatic. I took a few photos and was about to leave when the man bid us to follow him. He led us to another entrance, and to another adventure.
I spent two days at that cave and, in that time, I explored only a few hundred meters. Yet, the old man claimed the cave was more than seven kilometers deep. At least that was the furthermost anyone had ever gone. The formations were different than other caves we explored. Some chambers appeared to be manmade, with beautifully formed tubs and basins that served as catchments for water, or perhaps they were altars for some strange gods. I wondered if we might discover dens where prehistoric dinosaurs still dwelled.
Also worth visiting in the south, for the adventuresome traveler with more time to spare, are the caves near the provincial towns of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat. Here we find the famous Silpa caves and nearby the larger Tham Koo Ha Pimak which contains a twenty-five meter high Buddha image, considered a holy pilgrimage site by southern Thais. About thirty kilometers northeast from Khok Kloi, a dirt road leads to Suan Ku where a limestone cave shelters dozens of Buddha images. Light streaming in through an opening gives the cave a mystical aura.
Another interesting area for caves in southeast Thailand is along Route 3 that leads to the Cambodian border. At the 288-km stone, a turn north, along a small town street, leads to a rough dirt road and 13 km later to an inland adventure at Khao Wongse. The jagged gray-streaked outcrops of Khao Wongse are full of caverns. Some locals who have lived in the village all their lives claim they have not seen all the caves. In the crevices in the face of one cliff, Buddhist monks have fashioned living quarters where they recite scripture.

Next week we will continue cave exploring, spelunking that is, in the north of Thailand.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q. Dear Mr. Stephens. I read with great interest your story on Harry's Bar in Paris. You mention in your story that Harry MacElhone gave permission to Cipriani in 1936 to use the name “Harry's Bar” in Venice. Does that mean that the origin of the name "Harry's Bar" in Venice (about the rich Bostonian Harry Pickering) is a bit of a tall tale?
According to this letter to the editor of the New York Times: http://www.iht.com/articles/2000/03/24/trlett4.2.t.php, this is apparently what Isabelle MacElhone thinks. But I guess both could be true—that Harry Pickering provided the inspiration for the name, and then Harry MacElhone gave permission to Cipriani to use the name. Thanks for any information you might have on this important subject. I would like to edit the Wikipedia page on Harry's Bar and set the record straight!
Sincerely, Rich Signell, Falmouth, MA, USA

A. Dear Mr. Signell, I went to Paris with the US Embassy in 1949 as one of the first US Marine Guards. After we got off duty every night we went to Harry's. We all knew Harry and his two sons who were bartenders. One was Andy. Then in Later years, when I visited Paris, I got to know Andy's son, Malcolm. He too went to the Foreign Service School at Georgetown as I had. I wrote about Harry’s New York Bar at length in my book The Tower & The River.
My information from the story that you read in Weekly Feature came from what Harry, his sons and grandson gave me. Fortunately I have tape recordings of Andy and his son which I made in the late 70s. It seems Harry MacElhone went to Venice in 1929 and gave permission to Cipriani, who was a bartender, to use the name Harry’s New York Bar when he opened his own place. In 1936 he finaly opened the bar. Harry became very disturbed when, after the war, the bar became a restaurant. Harry fell out with Cipriani. On my tape recording, Malcolm goes into great detail about how other bars around the world began to use the name, but only a very few have the authorization given by his father and him. I hope this answers your question. I might add I was very fond of Harry’s. I used to see Hemmingway sitting at the bar and, at a back table, was Jean-Paul Sartre. Orson Wells often came in; everyone loved him. Then there were writers James Jones and Art Buchwald. Art then was only a cub reporter for the Paris Herald Tribune. Harry’s was a great place, an institution, and it still is. Harry died in 1958 and sadly both Andy and Malcolm passed away. Andy’s wife, Isabelle, now runs the place. –HS

Harold Stephens
Bangkok
E-mail: ROH Weekly Travel

Note: The article is the personal view of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the view of Thai Airways International Public Company Limited.