Tham Pha Ka, or Tham Phaka, (Lao ຖ້ຳຜາກ້າ) is a karst limestone river cave in Vientiane Province, Laos, located roughly 22 kilometres (14 mi) north of Muang Met. The Nam Fuang River, a tributary of the Mekong River, flows through the cave.
| Tham Pha Ka | |
|---|---|
 Tham Pha Ka entrance | |
  | |
| Location | Nam Fuang Valley, Laos |
| Coordinates | 19°01′51″N 101°54′08″E / 19.03083°N 101.90222°E |
| Length | >8952 m |
| Elevation | 315m |
| Geology | Karst cavern, Limestone |
| Cave survey | EEGC (2014, 2016, 2019, 2020), J.E.T. (2018) |
It is potentially the largest cave in Laos,[1][2] with nearly 9 km of the cave system surveyed and published,[3][4][5] and a height of 120 m and width of 400 m recorded so far.[6][7] The four main natural underground networks of Laos are the Nam Dôn system (45 km),[8] Tham Nam Non (28 km), Pha Soung (21 km) and Chom Ong (18 km).
The cave has been used by the local population for guano extraction as well as for religious retreats. The government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic has been presenting the cave as "ideal for the development of a people-centered ecotourism site".[9] Recent speleological explorations have highlighted the exceptional nature of this cave and aroused interest in it.[10] The Muang Met tourist office is currently looking for a tourism operator to develop activities there[11]
Tham Pha Ka faces a planned hydroelectric project further downstream—the Nam Fuang Hydropower Project—that threatens to flood most of the lower part of the cave system.[12]
History of exploration
edit
A French speleological club affiliated to the French Federation of Speleology, the EEGC (Etude et Exploration des Gouffres et Carrières), has been exploring and surveying Tham Pha Ka since March 2014 over three expeditions. 8952 metres of the cave system were surveyed in 2014.,[13] 2016,[14] 2019[3] and 2020.[4] In 2018, the J.E.T. (Japanese Exploration Team) explored the Tham Pha Ka cave system accompanied by an NHK television crew,[15][16][6] pushing the exploration upstream and reached the Nam Fuang inflow entrance[5]
A new species of Coleoptera (Beetles) has been discovered in Tham Pha Ka: Ptomaphaminus ferrandae (Perreau & Lemaire, 2018).[17]
Two samples collected from the cave are paratypes used to describe a second species of Coleoptera in the family Aderidae, Zarcosia lemairei (Gompel, 2020).[18]
References
edit- ^ Southivongnorath, Souknilundon (August 1, 2019). "Newly explored cave could be Laos' largest". Asia News Network.
- ^ "洞窟に1か月入りっぱなし…洞窟探検家・吉田勝次がラオスに世界最大級の洞窟を発見" (in Japanese). July 15, 2018.
- ^ a b "Phouhin Namno 2019 expedition report" (PDF). eegc.org (in French). December 2019.
- ^ a b "Phouhin Namno 2020 expedition report" (PDF). eegc.org (in French). November 2020.
- ^ a b "2018 Caves in Vang Vieng, Laos". Retrieved 2022-05-05.
- ^ a b "ຖໍ້າເມືອງແມດ ແຂວງວຽງຈັນ, Meuangmad cave vientiane pro., Lao PDR 180716[Story_Tv]". youtube.com (in Japanese).
- ^ InsideLaos, seesaward (August 2019). "ແຂວງວຽງຈັນ ຄົ້ນພົບຖ້ຳແຫ່ງໃໝ່ ຄາດວ່າຈະໃຫຍ່ທີ່ສຸດໃນປະເທດລາວ | Laos News Agency".
- ^ "Le système de la Nam Dôn, la plus longue cavité du Laos (45 km)". explo-laos.com (in French).
- ^ "Provinces". laogov.gov.la.
- ^ "ມະຫັດສະຈັນ ຖ້ຳຜາກ້າ ແຫຼ່ງທ່ອງທ່ຽວ ຂອງແຂວງວຽງຈັນ – Laos daily news".
- ^ "Lao Youth Radio FM 90.0 MHz". www.facebook.com.
- ^ "INTRA CORPORATION". intracorp.la.
- ^ "Phouhin Namno 2014 expedition report" (PDF). eegc.org (in French). February 2016.
- ^ "Phouhin Namno 2016 expedition report" (PDF). eegc.org (in French). December 2018.
- ^ "世界最大級！ラオス 絶景の未踏洞窟に挑む －NHKオンデマンド". NHKオンデマンド.
- ^ "NHK Corporate Information | Comments from the Top (Executive Director - General of Broadcasting)". www.nhk.or.jp.
- ^ "Ptomaphaminus ferrandae Perreau & Lemaire, 2018". science.mnhn.fr. 2018.
- ^ Gompel, Nicolas. 2020. Synopsis of the Asian species in the genus Zarcosia Collado & Alonso-Zarazaga, 1996 with new combinations and descriptions of fourteen new species . Zootaxa 4838(2): 151–178.