Articles by "Mae Sai"
Mae SaI, JUL 11: A Thai health official says the soccer teammates rescued from a flooded cave lost weight during their two-week ordeal but had water while they were trapped and are in good health.
Thongchai Lertwilairatanapong, a public health inspector, said Wednesday the 12 boys and coach rescued over the three previous days "took care of themselves well in the cave."
Thongchai said one member of the final group of four boys and the coach who arrived at a hospital Tuesday evening had a slight lung infection.
Two of the first group had a lung infection as well, and Thongchai said they would need medicine for seven days.
Divers extracted the team in a high-risk mission inside the flooded passageways. The group entered the cave June 23 but flooding cut off the exit. (AP)
Mae SAI, Jul 11: "Everyone is safe." With those three words posted on Facebook the daring rescue mission to extricate 12 boys and their soccer coach from the treacherous confines of a flooded cave in Thailand was complete a grueling 18-day ordeal that claimed the life of an experienced diver and riveted people worldwide.
Thailand's Navy SEALs, who were central to the rescue effort, celebrated the feat with a post last evening that read: "All the thirteen Wild Boars are now out of the cave," a reference to the boys' soccer team. "We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science, or what."
Eight of the boys were rescued by a team of Thai and international divers on Sunday and Monday. On Tuesday, the final four boys and their coach were guided out of the cave. Their rescue was followed a few hours later by the safe return of a medic and three SEAL divers who had stayed for days with the boys in their cramped, dry refuge.
Cheers erupted from the dozens of volunteers and journalists awaiting news of whether the intricate and high-risk rescue mission had succeeded. Helicopters transporting the boys roared overhead. People on the street cheered and clapped when ambulances ferrying them on the last leg of their journey from the cave arrived at a hospital in Chiang Rai city in far northern Thailand near the Myanmar border.
Their joy and relief was echoed around the globe by the multitude of people who had followed the long ordeal.
Payap Maiming, who helped provide food and necessities to rescue workers and journalists, noted that fact.
"I'm happy for Thais all over the country," he said. "And actually just everyone in the world because every news channel has presented this story and this is what we have been waiting for." "It's really a miracle," Payap said. "It's hope and faith that has brought us this success." Amporn Sriwichai, an aunt of rescued coach Ekkapol Chantawong, was ecstatic. "If I see him, I just want to hug him and tell him that I missed him very much," she said.
The plight of the boys and their coach captivated much of the world from the heart-sinking news that they were missing, to the first flickering video of the huddle of anxious yet smiling boys when they were found by a pair of British divers 10 days later. The group had entered the sprawling Tham Luang cave to go exploring after soccer practice on June 23, but monsoon rains soon filled the tight passageways, blocking their escape.
Each of the boys, ages 11 to 16 and with no diving experience, was guided out by a pair of divers in the three-day high-stakes operation. The route, in some places just a crawl space, had oxygen canisters positioned at regular intervals to refresh each team's air supply.
Highlighting the dangers, a former Thai Navy SEAL died Friday while replenishing the canisters.
Cave-diving experts had warned diving the youngsters out was potentially too risky. But Thai officials, acutely aware the monsoon rains could trap the boys for months, seized a window of opportunity provided by relatively mild weather. A massive effort to pump out water made the winding passageways more navigable. And the confidence of the diving team, and expertise specific to the cave, grew after its first successful mission Sunday.
"We did something nobody thought possible," Chiang Rai province acting Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn, leader of the rescue effort, said at a celebratory news conference.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, speaking today before the final rescue was completed, said the boys were given an anti-anxiety medication to help with their perilous removal from the cave.
Asked at a news conference in Bangkok if the boys had been sedated, Prayuth said: "Who would chloroform them? If they're chloroformed, how could they come out? It's called anxiolytic, something to make them not excited, not stressed." Prayuth said the Tham Luang cave would be closed for some time to make it safe for visitors.
The first eight boys brought out were doing well and were in good spirits at the hospital. They received a treat on Tuesday: bread with chocolate spread that they had requested.
Jedsada Chokdumrongsuk, permanent secretary at the Public Health Ministry, said the boys rescued Sunday were able to eat normal food by Tuesday, though they couldn't yet take the spicy dishes favored by many Thais.
Two of the boys possibly have a lung infection but all eight are generally "healthy and smiling," he said.
"The kids are footballers, so they have high immune systems," Jedsada told a news conference. "Everyone is in high spirits and is happy to get out. But we will have a psychiatrist evaluate them." It could be at least a week before they can be released from the hospital, he said.
For now the boys were in isolation to try to keep them safe from infections by outsiders. But family members have seen at least some of the boys from behind a glass barrier.
It was clear doctors were taking a cautious approach. Jedsada said they were uncertain what type of infections the boys could face "because we have never experienced this kind of issue from a deep cave." If medical tests show no dangers after another two days, parents will be able to enter the isolation area dressed in sterilized clothing, staying 2 meters (yards) away from the boys, said another public health official, Tosthep Bunthong. (AP)
Mae Sai (Thailand), Jul 10: Thai rescuers brought a ninth boy out from the Tham Luang cave this afternoon, police and navy sources said, after 18 days trapped underground.
"The ninth boy is out," the police source told AFP, requesting anonymity, while a Thai navy source confirmed the boy "has been transferred from the cave entrance to the field hospital." (AFP)
Mae Sai, Jul 10: The first eight boys to be rescued from a Thai cave are in good mental and physical health, an official said today, in the clearest update on their condition so far.
"All eight are in good health, no fever," Jesada Chokedamrongsuk, permanent secretary of the public health ministry, told reporters at Chiang Rai hospital. "Everyone is in a good mental state." (AFP)
Mae Sai (Thailand), Jul 7: The soccer coach trapped in a cave with 12 Thai boys apologised to their parents in the first letter he and the team have sent out through divers, in which the boys say they're doing well and missing their families.
Rescuers said they won't immediately attempt an underwater evacuation because the boys have not yet learned adequate diving skills. But if heavy rains start again, divers will try to take the boys out right away, Chiang Rai Gov.
Narongsak Osatanakorn said at a midnight news conference on Friday. The same day saw a disheartening setback with the death of a former Thai navy SEAL diving in flooded passageways to deliver oxygen supplies.
"To the parents of all the kids, right now the kids are all fine, the crew are taking good care. I promise I will care for the kids as best as possible. I want to say thanks for all the support and I want to apologize to the parents," wrote 25-year-old Ekapol Chanthawong, the coach of the Wild Boars soccer team.
One boy writes: "I'm doing fine, but the air is a little cold but don't worry.
Although, don't forget to set up my birthday party." Another, identified as Tun, writes: "Mom and Dad, please don't worry, I am fine. I've told Yod to get ready to take me out for fried chicken. With love." The name reference could be of a waiting relative.
The rest of the scribbled letters on pages from a notebook struck a similar message of love for parents and telling them not to worry.
One boy named Mick wrote: "Don't be worried, I miss everyone. Grandpa, uncle, mom dad, and siblings I love you all. I'm happy being here inside, the navy SEALS have taken good care. Love you all." The boys, 11 to 16, and their coach went exploring in the cave after a soccer game June 23. Monsoon flooding cut off their escape and prevented rescuers from finding them for almost 10 days.
The only way to reach them was by navigating dark and tight passageways filled with muddy water and strong currents and in oxygen-depleted air.
Asked at his news conference about bringing the boys out underwater, the governor replied, "Not today because they cannot dive at this time." Narongsak said the boys were still healthy and have practiced wearing diving masks and breathing in preparation for the diving possibility.
Thai officials had been suggesting in public statements that a quick underwater evacuation of the boys and their coach was needed because of the possibility that access to the cave could soon close again due to seasonal monsoon rains expected this weekend.
Earlier efforts to pump out water from the cave have been set back every time there has been a heavy rain.
Cave rescue specialists have cautioned against that approach except as a last resort, because of the dangers posed by inexperienced people using diving gear. The path out is considered especially complicated because of twists and turns in narrow flooded passages.
The suggestion that the trapped team might have to wait months inside until a safe way out is available as was the case in 2010 with Chilean miners trapped underground has met with little enthusiasm.
Authorities continue to pursue a third option, which is finding a shaft or drilling into the mountain in which the cave is located to find a sort of back door entrance.
The death of the Thai diver, Saman Gunan, underscored the risks of making the underwater journey. The diver, the first fatality of the rescue effort, was working in a volunteer capacity and died on a mission to place oxygen canisters along the route to where the boys and others are sheltered, Thai SEAL commander Rear Adm. Arpakorn Yookongkaew said.
The strategically placed canisters allow divers to stay underwater longer during the five-hour trip to reach the stranded team.
Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind the Tesla automobile and the SpaceX rocket company, said he would send engineers to help. One of his enterprises is Boring Co., which digs tunnels for advanced transport systems and has advanced ground-penetrating radar.
Musk also brainstormed on Twitter about possible technology for a safe evacuation, suggesting that an air tunnel constructed with soft tubing like a Bouncy Castle could provide flexible passage out. (AP) CPS
Mae Sai (Thailand), Jul 7: The 25-year-old coach of a youth football team trapped for two weeks in a Thai cave has offered his "apologies to the parents" of the boys in a scrawled note released by the Thai Navy today.
Thailand is holding its breath for the safe return of the group, with heavy rains forecast and fears mounting over the falling amount of oxygen and high level of water in the cave.
Ekkapol Chantawong was for nine days the only adult with the children -- aged 11 to 16 -- until they were discovered on a muddy ledge by rescue divers on Monday.
"To all the parents, all the kids are still fine. I promise to take the very best care of the kids," he said in a note given to a diver yesterday but published on the Thai Navy SEAL Facebook page today.
"Thank you for all the moral support and I apologise to the parents." It is the first message from the coach, whose role in the team's predicament has split Thai social media.
Many have lauding him after reports he gave his share of food to the kids before they were located and helped them get through nine days in the darkness.
Others have criticised him for agreeing to take the young boys into the cave during the monsoon season.
The group entered the cave on June 23 and got trapped as floodwaters tore in.
"To my grandma and aunt, I'm here. Don't be too worried. Please take care," he added in the letter. (AFP) CPS
Back To Top
