The Coffins of Mae Hong Son

Pangmapha District is well known for the over 200 hundred cave which have been found there. Two of the most famous caves IN Pangmapha are Tham Lot and Tham Nam Lang. Than Nam Lang is almost 9 km long. It might be the largest cave in the world volume-wise. What is most unique about this area is not its caves but the teak coffins often found in the caves. The coffins are suspends from wooden scaffolds in the caves. Anthropologists have dated the coffins between 1200 to 2000 years old. Not much is really known about the people to who place practiced this form of burial or who it is that was buried here. One thing is pretty clear not everyone was buried liked this. In order to protect the sites, most of the coffin caves are off limits but some are open. Ask around when you are in Pangmapha about which caves are open to visitors and how one can get to them.