Urgent priority: Drain the water

By The Nation

 

 

The Thai Water Well Association on Friday added its equipment to the battery of well diggers already in operation in the search for 12 footballers and their assistant coach lost in a flooded Chiang Rai cave since Saturday.

 

There were five mobile well-drilling units on the scene on Friday as officials selected optimum places to drill for subterranean watercourses to drain the cave faster.

 

But the underground water channels proved elusive. A vertical shaft dug Friday morning not far from an angled 70-metre hole excavated the previous day also turned up nothing.

 

Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn said on Thursday it was not known how much floodwater there was in the cave because it was entering via multiple small holes throughout the massive cavern.

 

Water was being pumped out around the clock, he said, and in greater quantity thanks to a shift from textile pump tubes to PVC tubes.

 

The floodwater level at the cave entrance had dropped three centimetres by Thursday, Narongsak said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30348912

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-29

It was raining at 40cm per 20minutes yesterday

A 3cm drop could be natural or attributed to the pumps but the weather forecast is rainy for the next 8 days

1 hour ago, Ks45672 said:

40cm per 20minutes

isn't that a lot of rain ??? 

Three focal points in a race against time

By The Nation

 

The search for 12 youths and their assistant football coach trapped in a Chiang Rai cave is focused on three main operations.
 

* The search inside the cave: Royal Thai Navy SEALs and veteran foreign divers are hoping to reach a dry section known as “Pattaya Beach” deep inside the cave, where the lost group might be waiting. But this aim has been hampered by heavy rainfall that’s inundated the cave entrance.

 

Water is continuously being pumped out and well diggers are sinking shafts to try and speed the drainage, but the water level remains high as rainwater keeps flowing in.

 

* Drilling through the cave walls and ceiling: As officials look for access points in the Doi Pa Mee area to the right of the cave entrance, a crack was noticed in the ceiling in the now-flooded area where the youths left their shoes. It’s possible that drilling could widen this fissure and allow deeper access.

 

Another team is scouring the mountaintop above the cave in the direction of Pattaya Beach for accessways and places where water is entering and can be diverted.

 

* Further inspection of four holes in the Doi Pa Mee area. It’s hoped these will lead into the deeper cave chambers.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30348922

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-29

I'm out of this media fest, obviously everything possible is now being done, I await the result.

44 minutes ago, KKr said:

isn't that a lot of rain ??? 

Yes, that's why the navy seals had to retreat... 

 

Weather predicts rain for the next 7or 8 days...... 

Edited June 29, 20188 yr by Ks45672

What's the probability of the cave collapsing due to all this drilling?

China to send rescue experts, equipment to cave 

 

 

China is preparing to send a team of six rescue experts to Chiang Rai to help find the still-missing 12 young footballers and their coach, according to a press statement from that country’s embassy in Bangkok.

 

The team is expected to arrive at Chiang Mai International Airport at about 3pm on Friday before travelling to Chiang Rai.

 

They will be bringing high technology equipment, including an underwater robot and a three-dimension spectrometer.

 

The team has experience in rescuing people trapped from caves in Myanmar and Nepal.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30348927

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-29

You got Thai specialists, and Thai Navy SEALS, you have American S&R teams, now China wants to get in on the act.  I can appreciate the concern, and offers of help, but an old saying comes to mind - Too many cooks spoil the soup.  Hopefully they can coordinate efforts and not be stumbling all over each other. 

 

Shaft offers fresh hope of cave breakthrough

Image: Reuters

 

A search team has found the most promising looking shaft to date in the mission to rescue 12 teenage football players and their coach who entered Tham Luang Cave in Chiang Rai province last Saturday.

Paratroopers descended into the shaft to a depth of 11 metres, before it levelled then plunged a further 11 metres. 

 

National Police Commissioner Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda and Deputy National Police Commissioner Pol General Wirachai Songmetta oversaw the operation. 

 

Discovered after topographical analysis in collaboration with foreign experts, the shaft boosted hopes of locating the missing group, who are believed to have been stranded inside the cave by flash floods. 

 

Rising floodwaters are hindering efforts to reach the group from the cave’s only known entrance, so rescue teams have started looking for alternative ways into the cave complex. 

 

Efforts are now being focused on this shaft, which is now considered the best potential alternate passage into the cave. Photographs taken deep inside the shaft are being relayed back to planners and analysts in an effort to forge the best strategy to gain access to the cave. 

 

GPS images indicate the mouth of the shaft sits just 60 metres above a main hall of Tham Luang Cave. 

 

Given that paratroopers have already gone down 22 metres, the access to the cave’s main hall is less than 40 metres away. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30348926

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-29

Navy divers make progress in cave rescue

 

 

Four Navy Seal divers on Thursday reached a cave that is connected to what is called “the Pattaya beach” where the missing 12 young footballers and their coach were believed to be sheltering.

Facebook user Thai Navy Seal posted a series of photos, showing two divers in the water in the cave, carrying cables.

 

The user said four Seals reached the third hall inside the cave, connected a telephone line and started pumping out water.

 

The hall is close to where the group are presumed to be sheltering after escaping a flash flood on Saturday.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30348932

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-29

Prayers and displays of support from across the nation

By The Nation

 

 

While Thai people were anxiety awaiting the result of the ongoing search-and-rescue mission to save 12 football players and their assistant coach trapped in a flooded Chaing Rai cave, youngsters in schools nationwide on Friday prayed for the team and performed card stunts to express their support.

 

Some 420 primary and secondary students of Traipop Wittaya School in Lampang’s Muang district performed a planned, co-ordinated card display at the school field on Friday morning. They formed cards into the shape of the number 13 inside a heart before praying for the success of the mission to rescue the trapped youths, school manager Rassameepen Paripunanont said.

 

In Chai Nat’s Muang district, 2,000 students from Chainatpittayakom School also formed the number 13 inside a heart with cards, along with the school’s Thai initials, “Chor Nor Por”. They shouted in unison: “We from Chainatpittayakom School wish to send encouragement to the Mu Pa Academy Mae Sai’s 13 members who are trapped in the cave to be safe, rescued and go back to their homes safely.”

 

In Suphan Buri’s Dan Chang district, deputy governor Pipop Boontham led 2,000 Suphan Buri College of Agriculture and Technology students and officials to perform a card stunt at the district office’s field to support the trapped youths and the ongoing rescue mission.

 

In Samut Songkhram, 3,000 students and their teachers from Satthasamut School in Muang district performed a prayer at their school field to ask for the province’s sacred “Luang Por Ban Laem” Buddha image and supernatural beings to aid the ongoing rescue mission. The students also partook in a mass meditation and sang a song to express their support. 

 

They chanted, “May the 13 members of Mu Pa Academy Mae Sai team survive safely and come out for us to see their faces again”, and waving the “love” sign-language gesture to express their belief that love will conquer all. The students said they hoped that their expression of support for the trapped youths and their families would keep them strong. 

 

Student president Phubodi Ngampheuk said he and fellow students had closely followed the news and wanted to help the rescue mission. As they couldn’t go to the site, they thought it better to follow the state advice and pray for the missing team. “All Thais stand behind the trapped youths’ families in this, so please don’t give up hope,” he said. 

 

Mathayom 2 student and school footballer Jirapat Klamklin said he hoped his fellow young athletes were safe and would soon return so they could play football together in the future.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30348945

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-6-29