Must Read Hooyah! Mission accomplished - Rescuers lead final four boys and their coach to freedom

[Yann55]

38 minutes ago, Spidey said:

In the UK, all pots (caves) that may be hazardous (Tham Luang certainly falls into this category) have their entrances gated and locked. Some just appear as a small hole, barely large enough for a man to squeeze through but open out into much larger cave systems. These are secured by the local speleological societies and to gain access you must apply, in advance, to them and prove your capability as a potholer to enter said cave. Also, the party is logged in and out by the keyholder. Larger caves that are open to the public generally have their access controlled by the cave owner. Before entering any cave system it's normal practice to check the weather forecast for the time you plan to be in there from a reliable source (normally the Met Office). Had these basic precautions been followed, none of this would have happened. As for the coach, I can understand him not following any basic safety precautions as this isn't normal practice in Thailand. What really baffles me is why he led them 4km into the cave system, barefoot with no hard hats. If he had only gone as far as the first large cave and had his picnic there he would have easily led the party out when the water started to rise. The route they took was the same as the route used to rescue them, a route difficult enough that, even when dry, should only be attempted by experienced cavers with the appropriate equipment.

Guy was irresponsible and unthinking and seriously endangered the lives of the children in his charge. Personally, I wouldn't want to see him prosecuted as he knew no better but would ensure that he was never put in charge of children again.

Hopefully, the Thai authorities will restrict the access to all caves in Thailand (not just Tham Luang, which is what is currently proposed) but I won't hold my breath.

 

Spidey... aren't you basically suggesting that England ought to move to Thailand...?  

 

Does it occur to you, however, that most Europeans who do move to Thailand actually enjoy this country as it is, warts and all ? I know (boy do I know!) that Thai Visa doesn't quite reflect this fact, but that's because most people tend to air their negative views more readily than their positive ones.

 

I've been living here for almost 20 years and most of my white friends enjoy this country as it is, even if they constantly complain about this, that and the other, dear old farts that they are.

 

Incidentally, in the parts of Asia that were colonized by England, the English effort to 'clonize' the locals - on top of colonizing them - were not exactly admirable and/or successful. The scars are still quite visible. I regret to inform you that no, we are not a superior race and our culture is not a superior culture.

 

PS. Just a technical detail : if you want people to read your posts, may I suggest that you bring some air into them. You know ? spacing ? paragraphs ? thanks in advance

 

 

Edited July 11, 2018 by Yann55

[dufusdonald]

7 minutes ago, Spidey said:

If you read his tweet carefully he doesn't actually say that Americans were involved in the rescue (although the implication was there).

He's a crafty tweeter!

Not trying to start a war here. I was just really interested in knowing:

 

A) who devised the plan to use two divers with each kid plus the "tethering" technique.

 

Clearly when one uses the word "involved" a lot of divers from a lot of countries were "involved" so not fair to say the American divers were not involved or divers from the other countries were not involved but since this is getting more technical, fine, what country were the divers from that escorted the kids and the coach out?  Only the Brits?   

 

If you read carefully my posts I am suggesting the Brits have not gotten their due here but let's be accurate and factual.

 

Edited July 11, 2018 by dufusdonald

[bprinceuk]

A big thank you and congratulations to everyone involved in the rescue operation. Especially to the divers who risked their lives repeatedly every time they dived in the cave.

 

Sadly one of those heroic gentleman paid the ultimate price, giving his own life while trying to save others. My condolences to the family and friends of Navy Seal Petty Officer First Class Samaran Kunan.

 

The courage shown my the young footballers throughout the time they spent stranded in the cave and during the rescue is much admired. The assistant coach Ekapol Chanthawong, may have made the error of entering the cave during the rainy season, but he took control and showed real leadership, even giving his share of the limited food and water which they had with them in the early days. A fine young gentleman who should be thanked and admired.

 

Last but not least, my thanks go out to the medical staff who now have the task of returning the 13 members back to full health.

[evadgib]

16 minutes ago, dufusdonald said:

Not trying to start a war here. I was just really interested in knowing:

 

A) who devised the plan to use two divers with each kid plus the "tethering" technique.

 

Clearly when one uses the word "involved" a lot of divers from a lot of countries were "involved" so not fair to say the American divers were not involved or divers from the other countries were not involved but since this is getting more technical, fine, what country were the divers from that escorted the kids and the coach out?  Only the Brits?   

 

If you read carefully my posts I am suggesting the Brits have not gotten their due here but let's be accurate and factual.

 

Brits generally don't do "Hero" no matter how good or how daring they may have been. A doco on the Penlee lifeboat disaster had me in tears last week...

Edited July 11, 2018 by evadgib

[poohy]

As its been said elsewhere were i  betting man i would have bet heavily against this result

 

Very pleased I am wrong!

 

One last thing though Shouldn't the headline Be HURRAH what the heck is "Hooyah"

[Get Real]

1 hour ago, dufusdonald said:

You have of course messaged everyone who mentions God with the same message correct, matey?  What is a "matey" anyway?  Is that a Aussie sex toy?

That, my dear friend, depends on two very important factors. Gender and sexual orientation.

[DavCurtis]

Now is time to rejoice.

[Jennyau]

Just reading reports that the Australian Dr's dad passed away last night. Very sad news indeed.

[Spidey]

19 minutes ago, Yann55 said:

 

Spidey... aren't you basically suggesting that England ought to move to Thailand...?  

 

Does it occur to you, however, that most Europeans who do move to Thailand actually enjoy this country as it is, warts and all ? I know (boy do I know!) that Thai Visa doesn't quite reflect this fact, but that's because most people tend to air their negative views more readily than their positive ones.

 

I've been living here for almost 20 years and most of my white friends enjoy this country as it is, even if they constantly complain about this, that and the other, dear old farts that they are.

 

Incidentally, in the parts of Asia that were colonized by England, the English effort to 'clonize' the locals - on top of colonizing them - were not exactly admirable and/or successful. The scars are still quite visible. I regret to inform you that no, we are not a superior race and our culture is not a superior culture.

 

PS. Just a technical detail : if you want people to read your posts, may I suggest that you bring some air into them. You know ? spacing ? paragraphs ? thanks in advance

 

 

I have lived here for a number of years myself and, unlike you, most of my friends are Thai. I wouldn't live anywhere else, definitely not the UK. However, I do think that, for their own sakes, the Thais would do well to adopt some Western Health and Safety practices.

 

I'm a bit anal on this subject, due to being an ex potholer and a Health and Safety officer for a number of years (you can take the boy out of Health and Safety, but you can't take Health and Safety out of the boy! 555).

 

Hope that the paragraphs and spacings meet your standards (ex teacher?). As a penance I've written this five times (actually the website crashed on me four times whilst typing - nightmare).

[timendres]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Really respecting this man!

 

8 hours ago, webfact said:

“When I visited them, I also told them to be good citizens.”

Vomit.

[ravip]

29 minutes ago, timendres said:

Really respecting this man!

 

Vomit.

Do not be so sensitive - ALL politicians in every country utter pure trash, most times. Otherwise, you might have to be in this condition perpetually.

[timendres]

6 minutes ago, ravip said:

Do not be so sensitive - ALL politicians in every country utter pure trash, most times. Otherwise, you might have to be in this condition perpetually.

Not sensitive at all, merely expressing myself. There is no "condition" to worry about.

[smo]

2 hours ago, Spidey said:

As for the coach, I can understand him not following any basic safety precautions as this isn't normal practice in Thailand. What really baffles me is why he led them 4km into the cave system, barefoot with no hard hats. If he had only gone as far as the first large cave and had his picnic there he would have easily led the party out when the water started to rise. The route they took was the same as the route used to rescue them, a route difficult enough that, even when dry, should only be attempted by experienced cavers with the appropriate equipment.

Guy was irresponsible and unthinking and seriously endangered the lives of the children in his charge

Thanks for the info regarding the safety caution taken in the UK. Now I'm curious at how it is done in our US of A... There is a frightening youtube clip about a dude going potholing and ending up (dead) literally headlong into his vertical rock coffin. 

 

Regarding the young coach's action, I agree (at the start of monsoon season no less, though a lot of posts nitpicking about the warning date on the entrance sign.) Re how far they were when the flood waters rushed in (I assume coming  from the direction of the cave entrance) they might have been somewhere between what you regard as safe distance and how familiar they were with the cave. It seemed like they ran searching for safer grounds and going further and further into the cave, thus ended up where they were which is very deep indeed.
 

[smo]

2 hours ago, dufusdonald said:

It would be interesting to know who in fact put the plan together. Surely, it was not the remarkable ex governor of Chiang Rai who seems to be getting all the credit. He didn't have the qualifications to come up with the plan. Someone else did. My guess it was the Brit divers in conjunction with the US divers.  They laid out the plan and told this guy what was needed and he got it done to his credit.

 

But the real credit "plan wise" as to who came up with the tethering idea for example and put it together is totally lacking in reporting.  Just saying am curious to know who and how it came about. 

 

 

Coming from the land known as Hollywood, I would credit the role of "producer" to the gov'nor. While "director","star","script writer", "set production" etc credits go to the farang experts then the under-the-line production belongs to the cast of a thousand who toiled in the mud. When a a movie wins an Oscar for "best picture" it's the producer(s) who rush to the podium but those in the profession always understand it's a (huge) team effort. However, it's the producer who brought them all together. The end product would not have been "best picture" without him.

 

The endless nitpicking we all endure here on TVF regarding who/which nation led the effort is over what regarded as "top billing." In other words, vain and glory, that human nature is never having enough of...
 

[Jonmarleesco]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Authorities did not reveal the identity of the boys as they were brought out.

Not quite. One was named, the youngest, I think.

[chickenslegs]

1 hour ago, poohy said:

...

One last thing though Shouldn't the headline Be HURRAH what the heck is "Hooyah"

Hooyah! is the battle cry of the RTN SEALs, so it is appropriate for this headline.

[Jonmarleesco]

1 hour ago, timendres said:

Really respecting this man!

 

Vomit.

The picture is of the governor. The comment was attributed to Prayuth.

[poohy]

6 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

Hooyah! is the battle cry of the RTN SEALs, so it is appropriate for this headline.

Well there you go..... you learn something every day 

[chickenslegs]

I just heard some very sad news that Aussie Doctor/Diver Richard Harris' father died just after the rescue of the boys.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/father-of-australian-thai-cave-rescuer-richard-harris-dies-20180711-p4zqsz.html

[ravip]

37 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

Hooyah! is the battle cry of the RTN SEALs, so it is appropriate for this headline.

A strange description here >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooyah

 

Hooyah is a word used in the United States Navy to build morale and signify verbal acknowledgment. It is comparable to Oorah (Marines) in the United States Marine Corps and Hooah in the United States Army and the United States Air Force.

 

 

 

[ravip]

 

Edited July 11, 2018 by ravip

[hashmodha]

7 hours ago, jaiyen said:

"We are not sure if this is a miracle, science or what"

"The mission was successful because we had power, the power of love"

"Mission possible for Team Thailand"

 

Pathetic quotes ! It was achieved because of the skill of Team World ! It was no miracle, it was skill and bravery.  If left to Thais only,  the kids would all have been wearing magic amulets and left in the cave.  Still a backward country that believes in ghosts, magic and voodoo. Hope they have learnt a lot from this.

Mythology,tell tales, secrets that exists in that cave,going to the Ayutthaya period, truly rivetting readings, spiritual beliefs inside that cave. ..and then reality as this whole event unfolds,a Hollywood movie already been discussed as I write this,yaaaap the producers are already here..... backwards Thailand may be backwards in the eyes of the majority....... forward it is about  seek investment advice on  2Trillion Baht cash.  (54Billion Dollars ).....yes cash...it is the Social security Fund looking for ...5%return....no other country has tripled its Social security Fund...in 3 years.. .   sorry a little off topic but relevant... Well done rescue efforts!

[timendres]

2 hours ago, Jonmarleesco said:

The picture is of the governor. The comment was attributed to Prayuth.

Precisely.

[sirineou]

6 hours ago, HooHaa said:

I dont know about being brought together. From what i read here the divisiveness is alive and well,. And the bigots continue to hate as they alwyas have.

 

Tbere are too many bitter people on thaivisa and this story has just served to expose clearly who they are.

 Don't underestimate the value of a shared experience

For a brief time it did bring as together and made the world a litle better and a litle smaller. Bigots and haters will always hate , but now perhaps a litle less.

 

[realenglish1]

This is science and nerves of steel by the cave divers that rescued the boys

[mrfill]

Shows what can be done with international co-operation.

 

Something way beyond the mind of most politicians nowadays.

[balo]

I wonder if we will see a picture of the boys or a video from the hospital in a few days ?   

 

This rescue operation reminds me of the tsunami in 2004 , when I went to this forum for the first time to seek information after being contacted by my

Norwegian friends who sadly lost their relatives in the tsunami . It was a special time for everyone involved and the world could only pray and hope. 

 

This time it was not a disaster , still we experienced much of the same this time  , humans working together in a big group , specialists and locals with the same goal , to save other human beings .  And they did it , I salute all of you. 

 

 

 

Edited July 11, 2018 by balo

[africasiaeuro]

Congrats to all who played a role in their rescue. Tum nun dee mug krub!

More significantly to the Brit cave rescuers who returned back after they found the kids. Heroes who will soon be forgotten.

An invitation for an all out paid vacation in Thailand should have been the appropriate way to thank them.

Once the danger is past the Guardian Angel is soon derided.

Elon Musk looks interested in doing business in LOS. I assumed it immediately. Elon is sharp minded and will of course weigh his options now that the iron is hot. A few Billion subsidies from the Thai government in return for a Multi Billion Dollars Tesla plant perhaps?

Why not. After all he made a real effort. I 'm confident he would have brought them out as well with his mini sub.

He isn't a person to leave things as they are, a real achiever.

Still he will have to deal with the 'Thai style' of doing business though.

I wish them good luck.

Let those kids get back to normal first. I bet you they will not step into a cave again.

That's it. Chok dee.

 

P.S.: Church bells are ringing in my tiny enclave in the Italian Alps in Piemonte Italy, each and every time a dog near me starts howling to it. Funny isn't ... Some kind of concert. ON the 11 th there is circus show here, by then I will be off to the Cote d'Azur  god knows what next. Wanna see some mountains watch our instagram Nicecotedazur.

 

 

 

 

[Yann55]

5 hours ago, Spidey said:

I have lived here for a number of years myself and, unlike you, most of my friends are Thai. I wouldn't live anywhere else, definitely not the UK. However, I do think that, for their own sakes, the Thais would do well to adopt some Western Health and Safety practices.

 

I'm a bit anal on this subject, due to being an ex potholer and a Health and Safety officer for a number of years (you can take the boy out of Health and Safety, but you can't take Health and Safety out of the boy! 555).

 

Hope that the paragraphs and spacings meet your standards (ex teacher?). As a penance I've written this five times (actually the website crashed on me four times whilst typing - nightmare). 

 

Where on earth did I write that most of my friends are Western ? As is common practice on TV, you reply without taking the time to read carefully, and you assume all kind of things. Me an ex-teacher ? wrong too.

 

My advice about the spacing was actually because I thought your post was worth reading. For that purpose, spacing would indeed help. Take it the wrong way if you will, answer sarcastically if you wish, but there was no patronizing intention on my part.

 

As for you being 'anal', well.. I wouldn't want to get too personal.

 

 

 

 

[smo]

8 hours ago, smileydude said:

10 hours ago, jaiyen said:

"We are not sure if this is a miracle, science or what"

"The mission was successful because we had power, the power of love"

"Mission possible for Team Thailand"

 

Pathetic quotes ! It was achieved because of the skill of Team World ! It was no miracle, it was skill and bravery.  If left to Thais only,  the kids would all have been wearing magic amulets and left in the cave.  Still a backward country that believes in ghosts, magic and voodoo. Hope they have learnt a lot from this.

Yes definitely, skills, ingenuity, experience, cooperation but more importantly will, determination and bravery.

As for the ridicule of Thai cultural superstitious beliefs, well I’m sure where your from they also believe in ghosts, the omens of walking under a ladder, opening an umbrella inside, and the numbers 13 and 666 perhaps??

 

If becoming cynical, grumpy, and racist is part and parcel of growing old in a foreign country then shoot me now.

 

And why should mother nature be left out of this resounding success? The Thais might be superstitious, but it's obvious to anyone on the ground (except arrogant farang expats) to see that the monsoon weather had held off in favor of the mission. Had it been torrential rain throughout, maybe the boys would not have made it in the first place, rescue turned to recovery and who's crying now. That's why the local seals paid their respect to both miracle and science, the conflux of both. As for ungrateful humans, now and then they need an Icarus to remind them who's the boss...