Tham Luang Nang Non ( th, ถ้ำหลวงนางนอน, lit=Great Cave of the Sleeping Lady, ) is a

karstic Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

cave system in the Tham Luang–Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park, near the village of

Pong Pha Pong Pha ( th, โป่งผา) is a ''tambon'' (subdistrict) of Mae Sai District, in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand. In 2017 it had a population of 16,476 people. Geography The subdistrict is on the border of Myanmar, formed by the Doi Nang ...

, in northern

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. It lies beneath

Doi Nang Non Doi Nang Non ( th, ดอยนางนอน, ; 'Mountain of the Sleeping Lady') is a mountain range in the Thai highlands in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand. It is a karstic formation with numerous waterfalls and caves rising at the southern ...

, a mountain range on the border with

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. On 2 July 2018, the cave was brought to international prominence when twelve members of a junior

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team and their assistant coach were found deep inside the cave. They had become trapped due to

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

al flooding on 23 June. A rescue effort succeeded in bringing them out safely by 10 July. Two Thai rescue divers died as a result of the rescue.

Description

Name

The cave is also known as Tham Luang ( th, ถ้ำหลวง, lit=great cave), Tham Nam Cham ( th, ถ้ำน้ำจำ, lit=Nam Cham cave), and Tham Yai ( th, ถ้ำใหญ่, lit=big cave). Since ''tham'' means 'cave', the commonly used phrase Tham Luang cave is a tautology.

Geology

The cave's main entrance chamber is long and the complex winds through of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

strata. It has many deep recesses, narrow tunnels, boulder chokes, collapses, and sumps.

Stalactite A stalactite (, ; from the Greek 'stalaktos' ('dripping') via ''stalassein'' ('to drip') is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble an ...

s and

stalagmite A stalagmite (, ; from the Greek , from , "dropping, trickling") is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically ...

s are found throughout the cave. There is a permanent stream inside the cave, which enters from the west, flows with the passage for several metres, and exits via the eastern wall. A team of French cavers made the first survey of Tham Luang's main cave in 1986 and 1987. Further surveys were done in 2014 and 2015 by the British cavers Vern Unsworth, Martin Ellis, Phil Collett, and Rob Harper.

Tourism

A visitor centre outside the main entrance has a detailed map of the cave. There is a car park nearby. The first of the cave is open to the public for guided tours between November and April. The cave floods during rainy season and is closed to visitors.

2018 cave rescue

In 2018, twelve boys aged 11 to 16, all members of a junior

team, and their 25-year-old male assistant coach were stranded in the cave for 18 days by a flood. They were rescued in a massive joint operation between the Thai government, the Thai military, and a group of international expert cave divers. British divers found them on a muddy ledge in darkness more than from the entrance nine days into their ordeal. The effort to save their lives was a global operation watched around the world. In all, 90 divers – 50 of whom were foreigners – helped to extract the group. An ex-navy diver,

Saman Kunan In June and July 2018, a junior association football team and their assistant coach were rescued from the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai Province in northern Thailand. Twelve members of the team, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old ass ...

, died during the mission because he ran out of air, having placed air tanks along the route for the boys. Another diver and ex-Navy Seal died a few months later from an infection he contracted during the cave rescue.

Description

Name

Geology

Tourism

2018 cave rescue

References

Further reading