A survey inside Phu Pha Man National Park in Khon Kaen has logged red rock paintings that officials estimate could be thousands of years old, with some at one cave possibly dating back 4,000 to 10,000 years.
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) announced the findings on 12 November. Park staff, the Fine Arts Department's Office 8 in Khon Kaen, Phu Pha Man district officials and local community leaders surveyed five sites across three subdistricts on 10 November. Khaosod and The Thaiger reported the same results.
What the team found
The oldest estimates come from Pha Thewada Cave in Wang Sawap subdistrict, where red paintings resemble symbols, lines and human figures. The DNP puts some of them at about 1,500 to 4,000 years old and others at possibly 4,000 to 10,000 years.
At India Cave in Phu Pha Man subdistrict, the team recorded four red paintings, including geometric patterns and a handprint, estimated at 1,500 to 4,000 years old. Two painted rock walls near Wat Phra Siwali Satthatham in Na Fai subdistrict carry red line drawings, including a figure that appears to wear a headdress, put at between 1,500 and 4,000 years old.
The fifth site, Phra Kai Sit Cave, is far more recent. It holds two stucco Buddha images and fragments of three more, with signs of religious use thought to be only 50 to 100 years old.
Why the dates are still estimates
DNP director-general Yongyut Nakviroj said the Fine Arts Office will now register the sites and carry out further study to pin down their age and the cultures linked to them, before any plan for managing the area. Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suchart Chomklin has ordered protection measures and wants the sites developed, with the community, as places for learning and heritage tourism.
Can you visit?
Not yet in any organised way. The announcement sets out registration, study and conservation first, and gives no visitor arrangements or opening date for the painted sites. Anyone planning a trip to Phu Pha Man should check with the national park before heading to the caves, and never touch rock art.