[ad_1]
For three weeks in June and July, the fate of 12 boys and their football coach made Tham Luang caves in Thailand the most discussed topic on the planet.
Five months later, the place is among the most visited in the north of Thailand
In July, a pumping operation of the cave water caused the. Flooding of Orchards and Vegetables in Neighboring Fields
An area was used by Archawin Mopoaku for the planting of pineapple. member of the Akha ethnic group, one of the three who inhabit this mountainous region. But he did not complain. Instead, he abandoned farming for a while and proposed cutting bamboos to facilitate the entry of soldiers into the cave.
Today, Archawin 's pineapple fields remain intact. And next to them, on the dirt road that leads to the caves, he sells tourists oranges from his orchard – an activity that brought him much more than he earned with pineapples.
"Before the rescue, the situation was very calm," he said. "From time to time, strangers came to explore the caves, but after the rescue, there are many more people arriving and the mountaineers like me hear."
The same goes for flower vendors who approach customers. at the beginning of the road, peddlers who sell pork and especially sellers of lottery tickets.
Internal Tourism
A ranger sits on a plastic chair under the canopy, recording in a notebook the number of visitors. It was easy before. It was usually between 10 and 20 a day. Today, there are more than 6,000.
"Today, no other tourist attraction in the region can compete with Tham Luang", says Damron Puttan, a businessman TV star visiting the region.
"I had never heard of these caves before the rescue," said Vanisa Achakulvisut. He was in Europe when the boys were trapped and was impressed by the attention paid to the case on the mainland. "But after the announcement of the news about the Wild Boars football team, I had to see it for myself."
This is not just the curiosity that draws the crowds. The mountain range above the caves was named in honor of Nang No, a mythical princess who committed suicide after a forbidden love affair. It is said that the mountain looks like the image of the sleeping princess.
Caves are considered places of great mystical power in Thailand. A long time ago there is an altar in Nang No near the entrance to the cave, where people can leave offerings to his mind.
Every visitor I saw in this area wore flowers and made a brief prayer at the altar. The site has become a box office for lottery tickets and the most popular numbers end with 13 people, the number of people saved from the cave.
There is now another sanctuary on the site: a 3-meter bronze statue of Saman Gunan, the Thai diver who died during the rescue.
The work was placed in front of a new museum still empty, erected on the formerly muddy parking lot where the news of the rescue was transmitted
The boys and coach Ekkapol Chantawong, who helped them with the 17-day wait for them to meditate, were also present on their second visit to the cave since the rescue.
were present, such as the Finnish Mikko Paasi, the American Josh Morris – who has a climbing school in Chiang Mai and served as an intermediary between foreign divers and Thai government agents – and Vern Unsworth, the explorer of British caves that have known Tham Luang for several years and who were among the first to arrive on the scene after the disappearance of the boys.
It was a moving meeting. The boys, who looked healthy and happy, kissed their saviors.
The Thai government still treats them with great zeal. They are badisted by social workers who accompany them in all public appearances and any request for interview of the group is badyzed rigorously by two committees.
Their families were also instructed not to speak to the press without permission.
"For me, it's still very exciting," said Britain's Vern Unsworth, examining the new network that denied access to the cave. "Some people think that saving 13 out of 13 was such a miracle."
"I think the world was expecting a bad result, but we never gave in. What the divers did was an incredible resistance test." said that no one should blame the boys and the coach for entering the cave – and that they just had bad luck. "It could have been me." Vern planned to visit the caves the next day. The water rose very quickly, after abundant and unusual rains, trapping the boys and the technician and forcing them to take refuge in the cave.
The experience "They form an impressive group," Vern said. "They have kept their feet on the ground and they are treated very well, I would not say that they have a normal life – they go around the world, but they are back in school." [19659002] The boss of the team, Nopparat Kanthawong, explains that they train intensely after school and before the rescue. They regained their lost weight even though they are rebuilding their muscle strength (19659002) At least three rescue films are being produced. The first recording, titled The Cave, Vern and other divers hope that the caves and the museum will be used to educate the public about local geology, flora and fauna.
For Mae Sai District Chief Somsak Kanakham, the additional features and business opportunities generated by the tourist boom in the caves are welcome.
But he worries about maintaining the flow and says the region needs infrastructure investments to accommodate this wave of visitors. In the long term, he hopes to receive advice on how to develop other potential tourist attractions in this green and mountainous region. At some point, all the excitement generated by this extraordinary rescue will begin to diminish, perhaps also to reduce the number of visitors.
Source link
