Army chief upbeat on mission to rescue youth missing in Chiang Rai cave

By The Nation

 

 

Hopes remain high in the search for 12 young football players and their deputy coach who went missing in the flooded Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai province since Saturday, Army CommanderinChief General Chalermchai Sitthisart said on Wednesday.

 

He was speaking during a visit to the operational site in front of the cave in Mae Sai district.

 

“The operation to locate the missing group has been going on around the clock in order to save them as soon as possible,” he said.

 

“The authorities believe the missing youth are still alive,” Chalermchai said.

 

However, their rescue mission has been handicapped by the continuing downpour that is aggravating conditions in the already-flooded cave and nearby areas.

 

Pumping machines were stationed in the area to pump water out of the cave to facilitate divers who are working through the muddy waters and in darkness in the cave.

 

The Army has deployed about 800 personnel as well as aircraft to help the mission, he said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30348752

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-27

In all of my years of living in Thailand, it has always amazed me that Thais can work together in a chaotic and seemingly unorganized fashion and yet still accomplish a difficult task. 

 

Here is one example that shows Thais working together at a car wreck near my place. Many of the people helping out were not even from the village, but stopped in order to lend a hand.

 

Let us hope the rescue teams are able to reach these young boys in time.

Edited June 27, 20188 yr by missoura

Oh dear. I fear they're already gone. 4 days, pumps failed, did they have any food?

31 minutes ago, KiwiKiwi said:

Oh dear. I fear they're already gone. 4 days, pumps failed, did they have any food?

I hope you are wrong. Apparently, people have been trapped in these caves before and survived by eating crickets which are found in there.. While I don't know what food they may have had, I am sure the kids will be pretty scared by now if they are alive. Where did you get the bit about pumps failed from? That is the first i have heard of it.Last I heard they had loads running and were bringing in more.

A fight against time that I hope has a happy ending.

1 minute ago, darksidedog said:

I hope you are wrong. Apparently, people have been trapped in these caves before and survived by eating crickets which are found in there.. While I don't know what food they may have had, I am sure the kids will be pretty scared by now if they are alive. Where did you get the bit about pumps failed from? That is the first i have heard of it.Last I heard they had loads running and were bringing in more.

A fight against time that I hope has a happy ending.

 

I hope I'm wrong too, it would not play well to the tourist audience, not at all.

 

I saw it first in the Bangkok Post I think, they said the pumps had failed under pressure (perhaps due to heavy rains in the vicinity). Not allowed to post a link but the online version has it on page 1.

 

Yep, just checked it, look at the online version and the link is on page 1 - 'Pumps overwhelmed as downpour hampers cave rescue'

9 minutes ago, KiwiKiwi said:

 

I hope I'm wrong too, it would not play well to the tourist audience, not at all.

 

I saw it first in the Bangkok Post I think, they said the pumps had failed under pressure (perhaps due to heavy rains in the vicinity). Not allowed to post a link but the online version has it on page 1.

 

Yep, just checked it, look at the online version and the link is on page 1 - 'Pumps overwhelmed as downpour hampers cave rescue'

Overwhelmed does not mean failed. It means that water is coming in as fast as the pumps can take it out. Were the pumps not there, the outlook would be far more grave. Hopefully a break in the weather might come and give the pumps a chance to start getting ahead. Anything that gives those kids a break will be very welcome.

11 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

Overwhelmed does not mean failed. It means that water is coming in as fast as the pumps can take it out. Were the pumps not there, the outlook would be far more grave. Hopefully a break in the weather might come and give the pumps a chance to start getting ahead. Anything that gives those kids a break will be very welcome.

 

Well, This is not the time to pick nits about semantics. You say overwhelmed, I say failed, it amounts to the same thing - not up to the job, which should have been forecast-able.

 

The important thing is the kids and why the supervising adult  did not predict flooding in the rainy season.

I think the news reports have been clear and consistent that the water levels in the cave are certainly not going down and may be going up. There are also strong currents. That's a fail no matter how you pump it. 

 

Basically with the water an epic struggle to fight Mother nature. 

Edited June 27, 20188 yr by Jingthing

2 hours ago, webfact said:

 

“The authorities believe the missing youth are still alive,” Chalermchai said.

I wish he had a little evidence to back that up, but I hope he is correct. It will be a great moment for the country if they manage to bring them out alive, and one of the biggest tragedies imaginable if they don't.

Well, the eyes of the world are on Thailand now.

It reminds me somewhat of the dramatic rescue of the Chile miners in 2010 which of course turned out well (and got politicized there). But no similarities beyond that really. They were adults with lots of experience in the mines. 

 

But this quote from that event highlights the importance of group psychology --

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Copiapó_mining_accident

After leaving the hospital, miner Mario Sepúlveda said "All 33 trapped miners, practicing a one-man, one-vote democracy, worked together to maintain the mine, look for escape routes and keep up morale. We knew that if society broke down we would all be doomed. Each day a different person took a bad turn. Every time that happened, we worked as a team to try to keep the morale up." He also said that some of the older miners helped to support the younger men but all have taken an oath of silence not to reveal certain details of what happened, particularly during the early weeks of desperation.

Edited June 27, 20188 yr by Jingthing

Still hoping and praying

I read somewhere that there is an underground watershed in the cave system. So it is not only flood water. The overall saturation of the surrounding area will be pushing water into the cave system from somewhere underground (I presume).

Hopes remain high said Army Comander in chief general . Another one there now who is doing bugger all good but thinks he should be seen.

On 6/27/2018 at 5:26 PM, KiwiKiwi said:

 

Well, This is not the time to pick nits about semantics. You say overwhelmed, I say failed, it amounts to the same thing - not up to the job, which should have been forecast-able.

 

The important thing is the kids and why the supervising adult  did not predict flooding in the rainy season.

Very sad indeed. Bad response all to late. US seal team search and rescue and Thai area cave specialist. If I was the PM of a third world country..I would be calling Trump immediately 

A troll post leading to bickering and personal attack has been removed

Thai kids especially up country do not know how to swim, easy to drown if you get panick. Unfortunately I fear the worst.

26 minutes ago, balo said:

Thai kids especially up country do not know how to swim, easy to drown if you get panick. Unfortunately I fear the worst.

Yes, and that would be an understandable and not uncommon human reaction.

Panicked, trapped, and no help coming, desperate attempt to swim out.

A way to avoid that would be a strong leader that has some good sense.

One question I have is about the found sandals found much earlier.

Isn't that bad sign? Why would people that haven't been swept by water discard their sandals? 

Edited June 29, 20188 yr by Jingthing

7 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Yes, and that would be an understandable and not uncommon human reaction.

Panicked, trapped, and no help coming, desperate attempt to swim out.

A way to avoid that would be a strong leader that has some good sense.

One question I have is about the found sandals found much earlier.

Isn't that bad sign? Why would people that haven't been swept by water discard their sandals? 

The sandals were found near the entrance to one of the chambers along with bicycles. It makes sense because sandals are difficult to climb in when you are planning on scaling up rocks or slopes. Better to leave them behind and go barefoot.

Just now, Norrad said:

The sandals were found near the entrance to one of the chambers along with bicycles. It makes sense because sandals are difficult to climb in when you are planning on scaling up rocks or slopes. Better to leave them behind and go barefoot.

Oh! Are you sure about that? If that's the case, then I understand why the reports haven't focused on that. 

Just now, Jingthing said:

Oh! Are you sure about that? If that's the case, then I understand why the reports haven't focused on that. 

I'm just going on personal experience on climbing rocks with sandals on. You sweat and the sandals become slippery and dangerous to use when climbing. Your bare toes are far better adept at finding the perfect spot on a rock to give you a better footing.

26 minutes ago, Norrad said:

I'm just going on personal experience on climbing rocks with sandals on. You sweat and the sandals become slippery and dangerous to use when climbing. Your bare toes are far better adept at finding the perfect spot on a rock to give you a better footing.

I see. I recall reading the sandals and hand prints were found deeper into the cave. Maybe someone can confirm about that and also explain why if that was found deeper in the cave, why that isn't being seen as a very ominous sign? 

Why can't the diver go into the cave until he reaches the end?  Or  send in a remote underwater camera to check for life? 

 

Edited June 29, 20188 yr by balo