How Thai archaeologists’ exhausting search for prehistoric cave paintings is rewarded with ancient art discovery

A team of archaeologists are scouring a Thai national park, searching caves and caverns for ancient artworks

After looking into 40 caves, they were rewarded with the discovery of 2,000- to 3,000-year-old cave paintings

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Achaeologists look at newly-discovered cave paintings in Khao Sam Roi Yot national park in Thailand. Photo: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP

Published: 5:45pm, 7 Oct 2020Updated: 7:44pm, 8 Oct 2020

An antelope, a lonely figure, a family linking arms – Kanniga Premjai shines her flashlight across a cave to reveal long-hidden paintings, a stunning discovery for this team of archaeologists in Thailand.

For months, Kanniga and her small team have combed Sam Roi Yot National Park, southwest of Bangkok, following a ranger wielding a machete as he slashes a path through thorny vegetation. They had searched about 40 caves with no luck, before they stumbled on a cavern on a steep climb through rocky cliff terrain.

“I screamed when we found the paintings,” she says, pointing out clusters of rust-coloured figures that look like they are holding hands. The dark walls initially shrouded the etchings, but careful examination and the use of a mobile application – which helps researchers enhance rock art – exposed the drawings. “They are prehistoric, about 2,000 to 3,000 years old,” Kanniga says.

Thailand has unearthed ancient temples and cities, such as the ruins in the historic former capital of Ayutthaya and northern Chiang Mai – which attract domestic and foreign tourists. But the search for cave drawings is more challenging for Thailand’s understaffed Department of Fine Arts, often because of the arduous trekking required.

A newly-discovered cave painting in Khao Sam Roi Yot national park, Thailand. Photo: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP

“A lot of their primary work is just preserving what is already found … and that already takes up a lot of time,” says Noel Hidalgo Tan, an expert with Southeast Asia’s regional centre for archaeology and fine arts. “There’s a lot of places in Thailand that are still unexplored.”