07/09/2026
After we left Baan Tonmai Phai Ngam, we decided to visit Hup Pa Tat, a prehistoric collapsed cave valley whose famous for Tat trees (ancient trees in the same species as palm trees), beautiful limestone caves, and pink dragon millipede (Desmoxytes purpurosea.)
The place was discovered by Phrakhru Santithammakoson (Luangpho Thongyot), the abbot of Wat Tham Thong. But right now, it is under responsibility of the Tham Prathun Non-hunting Area (https://www.tourismthailand.org/Attraction/tham-hup-pa-tat) so there will be an entrance fee and it's cash only.
We took time there longer than we thought because we wanted to see the pink dragon millipede. When we heard it was found at the 2nd cave, we hurried there but found nothing, LOL. But we didn't give up. We kept trying and finally noticed an officer who stood near a big rock so I went to ask him about the millipede and he just pointed out that it was there on the rock beside him. The second millipede we found came just a minute after we saw the first one. It was on the ground nearby and half-stepped on so the officer gently brought it back on another rock and everyone who was there prayed for its survival.
But we didn't stop finding our own pink dragon millipede though, LOL. I successfully found it on another big rock near the pink dragon millipede area sign. And it wasn't just one but I found two pink dragon millipede juveniles! They were so small and my first impression was "oh, it's nudibranch." Nowaday I still think that they definitely look a lot like Nudi though, LOL.
Well, after we accomplished our finding pink dragon millipede mission, we left Hup Pa Tat and had lunch at the noodle shop I found on Google Maps. Then it finally was time for our boat trip for wildlife viewing. Yay \(^ ^)/
