Saving Thai boys from the cave: uncomfortable questions and answers



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Why did the children of the football team, rescued after a long day of stone captivity in Thailand, still not be allowed to kiss their parents? Have they been pumped with soothing medications before going out? Who paid the expensive international rescue operation? And what will happen to the coach who pitched his football team into the dangerous cave?

  Photo: Facebook
Photo: Facebook

While 12 children and a trainer, released from the Tham Luang cave, continue their rehabilitation, new details, sometimes ambiguous, about what is happening to them. 39, inside and outside the cave appear. Jonathan Head, BBC correspondent in Thailand, found answers to embarrbading questions

Why did the children end up so deep in the caves?

The guys themselves and their trainer Ekapol "Ake" Chantavong that they have not communicated with friends or with the press. You can only guess based on the facts we have.

On Saturday, June 23, the team had scheduled a game, but it was canceled, said the club's head coach Nopparat Kantavong .

All the guys in the team are great bike lovers, so on the Facebook page, through which coaches exchanged information with children and parents, junior coach Ake wrote that the team would go to the football field by bicycle. That day, one of the players, Pheeraphat "Night" Sompengjai, celebrated its 16th birthday, and the company bought food for a baht 700 ($ 22) party at the local store – Nopparat Kantavong, the head coach, describes his badistant Aka as a very sweet person, very friendly to children – Kantavong believes that the boys persuaded the coach to accompany them to the cave. Most likely, they went further (which is not difficult to do when the cave is dry), were caught by the water currents from the shower and ran away from them again. further.

Why are parents not allowed to communicate with children released at the hospital?

The official explanation is that children are still weak after their unbelievable ordeals and can easily catch an infection.

These lives for all of Thailand are very precious. The whole country prayed for them, a huge operation was organized for their salvation, and it is understandable that the Thai authorities do not want to expose them to the slightest risk.

Parents may not be allowed in hospital beds. In general, Thais tend to behave more soberly than those in the West, they rarely express their feelings physically and rarely embrace anyone.

In addition, the parents of these boys are ordinary people from very poor villages; they are used to obeying the orders of their superiors, and most likely they are very grateful to the government. that such sacrifices were made to save their children. These parents will not regret being prevented from going to see their children.

Now, they have the right to watch their boys by the hospital window and sometimes to stand for a few minutes indoors while donning gloves and masks. Aku?

At this point, it seems unlikely. His parents forgave him. They are grateful to him for the way he took care of the boys during the two weeks of detention, gave them their food and supported their minds, mainly by teaching them meditation – which he himself mastered after having spent 12 years in a Buddhist monastery. Coach of the Noppawang Football Club, coach Aku may be sent back to the monastery for some time – Thais often go into temporary obedience to atone for their faults and spiritual cleansing.

In Thailand, it will be very well received, and probably after he can continue to lead a normal life.

Moreover, in Thailand, the search for the culprit is not common; Thais are not used to finding a scapegoat for every disaster or problem.

In the perception of life, Thais have more fatalism and if something bad happens, society does not immediately look for those responsible. 17 days with a small amount of food and at the same time not very thin?

Before the boys were discovered, they spent nine days in the cave. Probably, they had with them the remains of candies bought on the occasion of their birthday.

All are disciplined athletes, in good physical shape, very fit. This helped them to rationally distribute a lean diet, and also to maintain the team spirit – perhaps with songs.

The coach of Aka taught them to meditate, say Thai military divers, and gave them most of their food. He also told them to drink the water that was leaking cave walls, infiltrating through the stones, not the dirty water that was under their feet.

The following six (and some eight) days they were fed out: first high protein gels, then already ordinary food; perhaps, therefore, some before the exit of the caves have had time to start to restore their weight.

Have sedatives been applied to children before they are brought to the surface?

Thai officials have avoided answering this question diligently. the minister of the country Priut Chan-och said that they had been injected with mild soothing drugs. But a number of people involved in the rescue operation confirmed to the BBC that boys – at least some – were heavily pumped with drugs and almost in a semi-conscious state.

According to the logic of the rescuers, this might be necessary: ​​for the first time in life swimming under water in absolute darkness, with heavy equipment, through narrow winding stone pbadages – this can scare not only the teenager. But if, under these conditions, the child succumbs to panic, that would put his life in danger

 Infographic: BBC

John Volanten and Richard Stanton two British divers who drove the guys to the surface, as shown, specifically asked the Australian Richard Harris – a diver and anesthetist-profession-to prepare the boys for a conclusion.

How it was possible to keep teens under anesthetic by technically complex turns, we do not know

In some places, divers attached the children to themselves. Below, in the wider aisles, the child was placed on a stretcher suspended from a cable anchored under the ceiling of the cave and transported as well.

The whole operation was very large, complex, completely new and daring. Never before has anything like it been done in history. Some participants in the operation called a mission led by key divers who brought out the children one by one, superhuman

Who was paying for salvation?

The Government of Thailand is the most important. the air fleet was most likely paid by the authorities of these countries as a sign of goodwill.

The Thai people also participated in the operation – the companies provided free transportation, the farmers brought food.

free tickets for some of the foreign divers who came to help

Would the Thais be able to cope independently with no strangers?

No, and almost no country could do it. Diving in caves is a very narrow and complex area, there are very few experienced divers of this kind in the world.

Thailand was fortunate that an experienced explorer of caves Verne Answorth had already examined the Tham Luang complex.

He arrived at the scene the very next day of the disappearance of the football team, and it is he who suggested to the Thai authorities to invite experienced divers

Divers military of the "sea lions" sub division of the Thai navy. first diving inside the cave has not been very successful – they are trained and have facilities to dive into the sea.

The rapid rise of water in the underground enclaves flooded was an insurmountable obstacle. it's almost impossible.

But when foreign divers from different countries arrived, the Thai authorities gave them the direction of search and rescue of the children. It was a gigantic logistic operation involving hundreds of people

A rope route was built inside the cave complex, electrical and communication cables were laid

. , that there were no attempts to underestimate or diminish the value of foreign aid.

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