Thailand - FOUND ALIVE - 12 Boys And Coach Rescued from Cave, 23 June 2018 #6

[Gardener1850]

The 12 boys and their soccer coach rescued from a flooded cave in Thailand waved, smiled and offered traditional "wai" greetings in their first public appearance on Wednesday, at a national broadcast in the northern province of Chiang Rai.

Doctors, relatives and friends, some in yellow traditional garb, greeted the boys, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach. They wore T-shirts emblazoned with a red graphic of a wild boar and carried in footballs they kicked gently on the set.

"Bringing the Wild Boars Home," read a banner in Thai on the set, designed to resemble a soccer field, complete with goalposts and nets, where the boys arrayed themselves on a dais, beside five members of the rescue team.

A crowd of media and onlookers was penned behind barricades as the group arrived in vans from the hospital where it has stayed since last week's international effort to extricate it from a flooded cave complex where it had been trapped.

"I told everyone fight on, don't despair," said one of the boys, recounting how they battled during the excruciating days in the cave.

'I told everyone fight on, don't despair': Thai boys, soccer coach recall how they survived cave ordeal | CBC News

 

[Elainera]

It's so interesting to learn all these details now, what they did during those nine days, and how they kept their spirits up. Thank you Gardener for posting!

I would also be really interested to know what kind of meditation coach Ek taught them. What worked best for them?

 

[Gardener1850]

Lt. Col. Pak Loharachun, an army doctor who stayed in the cave with the team from when they were found until they were rescued, said the team had managed to dig a 16-foot hole in their efforts to burrow to freedom. Pak, in a Facebook post, also lauded Ekapol for putting the boys' well-being before his own.

"I saw from the first day that Ek waited for the boys to satisfy their hunger first. He gave his meal to the young," he said in the post.

Banphot Konkum, the ecstatic uncle who has raised 13-year-old Duangpetch Promthep, told The Associated Press that the boy will be going home to a renovated bedroom and plenty of gifts.

“We’ll do whatever he wants," Banphot said. "If he wants anything we’ll buy it for him as a present as we promised. ... Whatever he wants we’ll do it for him."

Gallery of 96 Photos from the rescue at link: 'It was magical': Thai soccer boys recount drama of cave rescue

 

[Gardener1850]

After days spent trying to find a way out, even digging for paths themselves, the boys were finally discovered by a British diver.

“We didn’t think it was real,” said one of the team members according to CBS News, explaining that they couldn’t see him in the dark and only heard his voice (they had one flashlight with them that they were using “economically”).

Only one of the boys among the group spoke English, according to multiple outlets. He simply told the diver “Hello” with confusion. “I didn’t know what to say to him so I just said ‘hello,’ ” he explained. “I was shocked. … My brain was very slow, as we had been in the cave for 10 days.”
Asked by the diver if he was okay, the player said he was. “Hungry, hungry,” he recalled saying. He continued that “his heart was filled with hope.”

“I thought, ‘This really miracle,’ ” he said, CNN translated.

Thai Soccer Team Trapped in Cave for Weeks Lived Off Water, Didn't Think Rescue Diver Was 'Real'

 

[margarita25]

'I told everyone fight on, don't despair': Thai boys, soccer coach recall how they survived cave ordeal | CBC News

It’s soooo wonderful to see this!!!

 

[Gardener1850]

By the fifth day, coach Chathawong realized the boys were getting weak and told them to limit their movements to conserve energy, he said.
They discussed moving further into the cave, thinking there might be an exit at the end of the 6-mile-long grotto. That’s when they heard the water rising toward them.
"So we had to walk," Chathawong said. "The water rose three meters," or nearly 10 feet.
They eventually found high ground on a beach inside a chamber that became known as "Chamber 9." They lost track of how many days they had been lost.

They were sitting inside the chamber one evening, "playing with a rock," when their prayers were answered, Adul Sam-on, 14, said.
"Suddenly, we heard somebody talking," the teen said.
The group grew silent and listened. At first, they thought they were hallucinating.
"We weren't sure if it was true or not, so we stopped talking and listened,” Adul said. “Is it true? I was frightened, I was nervous. I told Mig to go down.”
Panumas "Mig" Sangdee, 13, had a flashlight in his hand but he was too scared to go and investigate the source of the voices, Adul said.

"I took the flashlight from him and went down right away," Adul said. "I said, 'Hello' or something like that. They didn't show their faces at first. They stuck their faces up and were talking."
Two divers from the British Cave Rescue Council, John Volanthen and Richard Stanton, were stringing a safety rope through a flooded area of the cave when they popped up in a cavern and, to their surprise, saw all 12 boys and their coach huddled on a small beach in the darkness.

"It was like a miracle," Adul said of the encounter 10 days after they went missing. "He [Volanthen] asked me a question. It took a long time to respond to it."
A video of the moment was released by the Thai Navy SEALS. In the footage, Volanthen asked Adul how he was and how many were in his group.
"I said, 'We have thirteen,'" Adul said. "Then he said, 'Brilliant.’"

Rescued boys explain how they survived in cave for 2 weeks

 

[Gardener1850]

When asked about lessons they've learned from the incident, Ake said he's going to live life more carefully. Ardoon, 14, said though people can't predict the future, the experience had taught him about the consequences of acting careless.

The group's youngest member, 11-year-old Chanin Viboonrungruang, also known as Titan, said it would make him more patient.

Other boys said though they still dreamed of becoming soccer players, they also now wanted to become Navy SEALs.

Authorities said that more than 100 questions were sent in from members of the media, though only a handful were selected.

Thailand cave rescue: Boys recount moment they realized they were trapped

 

[Gardener1850]

Asked if they would ever return to the cave, all of the boys said, "No."

"If someone invites me, I would say no," Chantawong said. "I would only join them from in front of the cave as a guide to other people."

Following the press conference, the boys finally went home. As soon as young Chanin got to his house, his sister and relatives swarmed him, hugging and kissing him. ABC News crews were present to witness most of the homecoming reunions with loved ones.

Chanin changed into the clothes he wore while trapped in the cave and went with his family to a local temple, where he removed the clothes and left them at an altar to cleanse them of bad spirits, relatives told ABC News.

Another boy, Ekarat "Bew" Wongsukchan, 14, was greeted by an aunt and his grandparents when he arrived home with his parents. His grandmother cried as she embraced him, and the whole family held a blessing ceremony that included water and soap pod leaves as holy water.

Duganpet Promtep, 13, posed for photos with his relieved father and grandfather when he arrived at his family's store in Mae Sai. Also there was a greeting party of relatives and neighbors who showered him with affection.

Boys say they dug holes in cave to try to save themselves

 

[Gardener1850]

According to the New York Times, the boys apologized to their families for sneaking off into the caves, which is known to be very dangerous during the monsoon season:

They wanted to say that they were very, very sorry.

They had not told their parents they would be visiting the cave, a favored spot for exploration, they said. Instead, their families were under the impression the teammates were only going out to practice soccer.

One boy said he hadn’t informed his parents he was going to Tham Luang because he was sure he wouldn’t be given permission.

“I would like to apologize to Dad and Mom,” said Phanumas Saengdee, 13, who recounted how he had secretly put a flashlight for a cave adventure in his soccer bag.

Thai boys speak publicly for the first time: "This experience taught me to be more patient"

 

[Gardener1850]

The press conference was a jovial affair. The boys, dressed in their matching Wild Boars football shirts, entered the packed hall dribbling footballs to loud cheers. They smiled, some widely, some more shyly, at the audience of hundreds who had gathered to hear their account of the drama for the first time.

A video played at the beginning of the press conference showed the boys openly weeping as they thanked the medical staff at the hospital who had helped in their recovery over the past week.

“Everyone was so worried about us,” said 14-year-old Adul Sam-on, looking visibly moved as he stood in his hospital gown in the video. “I’m speechless.”

Thai cave boys applauded at first public appearance after rescue

 

[sweetcaro]

I love these 13 boys so much! So wonderful seeing them speak. Inspiring, funny, resilient. May they all live long wonderful lives! With all the favorite foods they desire!

 

[Gardener1850]

Why the Thai cave rescue captivated the world

"We really needed something to cheer for right now. We needed some positivity. We needed a good headline that could carry the day," says Daryl Van Tongeren, an associate professor of psychology at Hope College in Michigan who studies how humans build meaning in their lives.
"People started believing, like a snowball rolling down a hill: 'Maybe they WILL get out,'" he said.
First, the obvious. These were children who did nothing wrong, and we love tales of innocents. Plus, it was easy to conclude for several days that they'd met their end prematurely and unfairly.

When they did not — when children not unlike those in our own lives had a fighting chance at being OK — many eyes locked in on the story.
At that point, the saga was also fueled by hope, and by a possibility of a good outcome — both elements of any memorable human tale.
There are other reasons this particular story was so captivating, though. They cast light on some things about ourselves and about the strange forces — sometimes wonderful and sometimes destructive — that shape our lives in a modern media society.

Read more: Why the Thai cave rescue captivated the world

 

[Elainera]

Is there no song about them yet?

 

[Spellbound]

Just getting caught up this afternoon and am so thrilled to read all the latest reports and words from the boys. So close to happy tears here! Thanks to all who have added to the thread today and throughout ths entire ordeal. I can barely wait to watch the video of the presser.

 

[Gardener1850]

Is there no song anout them yet?

I have not seen one written yet, but I searched and found this moment when a Thai rescuer broke out into song:

Sometimes you simply can’t find the words to encapsulate a feeling or a moment in time.
Other times, there’s a quote, a poem, a song - even a single line of lyrics - that says everything so perfectly; it’s almost as though it was written for this very occasion.
This was one of those times.

“Imagine there’s no countries … The world will be as one.”

Those words were delivered by an ecstatic and very relieved member of the rescue team, when he launched into an impromptu and heartfelt rendition of John Lennon’s Imagine during our interview in the moments after the final boy had been pulled from the Tham Laung Cave in Northern Thailand.

The clip has gone viral in Asia, shared and viewed millions of times.
And the rescuer, Suthee Sommart, has become an overnight sensation.
On arriving back in his home province, he was invited to perform the iconic hit with the district governor.

Videos at link worth a watch-- put a smile on my face anyway

'Very best of humanity': Why rescuer's impromptu song struck a chord

 

[Spellbound]

Aww Gardener, thanks once agan .... and how I wish that were true for all of us. ".... and the world will live as one"

 

[Elainera]

I have not seen one written yet, but I searched and found this moment when a Thai rescuer broke out into song:


Video at link is well worth a watch-- put a smile on my face anyway

'Very best of humanity': Why rescuer's impromptu song struck a chord

Wow that's beautiful and very fitting. Thank you Gardener

 

[Gardener1850]

Is there no song about them yet?

I just found one that was written about them when they were still stuck in the cave:

Published July 1, 2018:

MAE SAI, Thailand (AP) — It's a simple melody sung to the plucking of acoustic guitars by schoolchildren sitting around candles: "I beg the skies to show mercy and empathy/ My brothers are in Tham Luang Khun Nang Non/ Let them pass this danger, I beg."

The song is dedicated to events unfolding in a flooded mountain cave in northern Thailand, where 12 boys aged 11-16 and their soccer coach disappeared a week ago. It was written and performed by students at Lek Nai Tung Kwang school across the country, in Buriram province.

The music video has played on national newscasts during round-the-clock coverage of the search and rescue operation at the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in far northern Chiang Rai province. It is part of an outpouring of hope, empathy and concern across Thailand for the boys, their families and the army of people working to bring them home

Saw this reported in several other sources but I can't find any video/audio of the song: 'I beg skies to show mercy': Thais rally behind cave rescue

 

[Gardener1850]

Aww Gardener, thanks once agan .... and how I wish that were true for all of us. ".... and the world will live as one"

Wow that's beautiful and very fitting. Thank you Gardener

That song really takes me back to my youth, lol.

 

[Gardener1850]

Adul at the presser describing the moment they were found:

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