Wild boars, united for the love of football

It is still unclear why the 12 boys and the coach decided to enter the cave

MAE SAI, Thailand .- Four members of the Wild Boar, the children's football team lost in the Thai cave of Tham Luang, have already come out of the cave and safely in a hospital, accompanied by their families. The other nine are waiting to leave today. The news about the band has been around the world. But we still do not know exactly what led them to the cave at the end of a training on June 23, the day they were surprised by a storm that eventually flooded the cave.

The cave, the fourth in the extension of Thailand and a few kilometers from the border with Laos and Myanmar, is located in a limestone mountain, very porous. Its interior is generally flooded during the heavy rains of the monsoon, between May and October. An exterior sign forbade the entrance of what is, in the dry season, an important local tourist attraction.

The day before yesterday, during a visit to the volunteers in the cave area, the Thai Tourism Minister, Weerasat Kowsurat, stressed that the event served to raise awareness about the need for improve this type of signage throughout the country. "We want to take steps to prevent these incidents from happening again," he told the press

. They may have decided to come in because they needed to protect themselves from the rain. Perhaps, because of the desire to celebrate the birthday of one of the boys, Pipat Bodhi, that day, despite the fact that his parents had organized a party at home. It was a place they frequented frequently: other photos that circulated after finding them last Monday, after nine days of disappearance, show them smiling in the cavern. Some said it was a kind of initiation rite.

This time, they were accompanied by the assistant coach, Ekaphol Chantawong, 26, nicknamed Aek. Orphaned when he was a small and ordained Buddhist monk when he was younger, he had left the monastery to take care of his grandmother (see page 4).

In a letter to the parents of the children, part of which was sent by the group Through international divers, Aek apologized and promised to take care of the children "with all his might."

The parents also sent him a letter saying that they did not blame him for what had happened. "You took care of our children, we just want you to know that it is not your fault, no one here makes you responsible, and we do not want to blame you, we understand what 's going on. has passed and we support you ".

Boys between the ages of 11 and 16 attend different schools in the region and their love of football unites them. The team was formed three years ago and participated in regional competitions.

Precisely, Pipat Bodhi is the only one of the group that does not belong to the club. He had joined the rest to share his birthday day with his soulmate, the team's goalkeeper, Ekkarat Wongsookchan, 14 and nicknamed Bew.