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The 12 boys, members of the Wild Boars football team, and their 25-year-old coach, had already explored the interior of the cave.
Popular with tourists, it is a place that locals know well. For the first kilometer (600 yards) inside the cavernous entrance, the limestone rock formations hug high ceilings, creating an almost amphitheater-like atmosphere
deeper inside, the Narrow passages in places warn locals that it is dangerous to go there.
For unknown reasons, the boys and their trainer ventured deeper into the cave system on signs warning people not to enter during the rainy season, which usually begins in July.
They got ahead of time as ceilings dropped and trails contracted. They had traveled three kilometers (1.8 miles) by the time they reached a fork in the passage. On the left, a longer trek, but an exit point at the end.
On the right, a higher ground, but a chimney-shaped fall made of rocks that darted directly out of the mountain is the only way out.
They removed their backpacks and their shoes
Outside, it began to rain
A few hours later, a guard from Chiang Rai Province National Park alerted the authorities when he noticed that the bikes were still chained after the park closed. Search and rescue efforts began shortly thereafter.
The boys, aged 11 to 16, and their coach, have been missing for a week. The emergency services who work frantically to find them have spent the past few days dropping the foods they find in the jungle covered mountain in the hope that it connects with them. caves below.
Volunteers help pump water. Search and rescue teams from the US Army have arrived at the request of the Thai government to help with the effort, as well as British experts from underwater caves.
Thai seamen with diving gear traveled five kilometers (3 miles) in the dark corridors to try to find the boys and returned without knowing where they might be. There was no noise from the missing boys all this time.
"When I saw his bike parked inside the cave (entrance), my tears fell," said Pinyo Bhodi, Pipat's father. "I was desperate to find my son."
In the eves that have developed every day of fruitless searching, families and friends have prayed, made offerings, and held firmly to the possibility of signs of life. Some, enduring the torture of such a long and silent waiting, collapsed in the mud with exhaustion and were sent to the hospital.
"I feel that I lost my heart when I found his bag, his cell phone and his shoes," said Prajak Sutham's father, Sudsakorn. "But all I can to do that is to wait. "
The boys are close to each other and their coach, said Noppadon Kanthawong, a parent whose son plays in the team, but who decided not to participate. "He would be there on the ground waiting for the kids to show up after school," he told CNN. "It's a great way to stay in good shape." health, far from the screens, and having friends, I can say that they are very close to each other, "said Noppadon.
Noppadon and his son snuggled together with other teammates at the Entrance to the cave, waiting for the slightest word on the rest of the Wild Boars team.
Meanwhile, the rain continues to beat, preventing helicopters from searching for any hidden entry points. The drones swept the 10 kilometers (6 miles) in search of thermal signatures.
Even when workers pumped water and mud into the cave, the rain persisted, complicating efforts. Vernon Unsworth, a British spelunker and long-time resident of Chiang Rai, who has already explored the cave, told CNN that water was the biggest danger.
"Physically, it's not a hard cavern, small passages," he said. "It's not difficult but if the kids went too far, the floods of the On the other side will arrive, with the rain, it does not help things. "
He added that oxygen levels in the cave would be dangerous if the air flow was reached by the rising waters.
The water pumps, brought from the capital of Bangkok and intended to mitigate the major floods in the city, have worked tirelessly to reduce the water levels in the interior corridors.
Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn told CNN that heavy water pumps made the difference, but rain continues to be a major factor.
"We are in the rainy season, It rained (June 27th) from 8pm to 1am Our teams working inside the cave had to withdraw to the entrance from the cave, "he said." We can not fight with the water. "
This is not the first time people have gone to the water. inside the cave for an extended period – and have survived.
Narongsak still hoped that even after seven days, with so many Elements against them, the boys and their coach would survive.
"We hope they are alive," he said. "If you asked me if they are alive, I would say we have hope."
Pipat Bhodi had a birthday last Sunday. His father Pinyo told CNN that the family had planned a surprise party for Pipat. A cake for the birthday boy remains intact.
"We need a miracle," said Pinyo, Pipat's father. "I want it back."
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