Chiang Rai: small stories beside the big one

[Brunolem]

Since a former monk and meditation were deeply involved in saving the children locked in the cave, many Thai minds have been running wild, and it's certainly not over...

 

From the grainy images taken at the time when the group was discovered, Thais with extremely good eyes were able to see that the coach had a pendant/amulet around his neck.

 

Well, they want it, and they want it badly!

 

As of yesterday evening, the highest offer was...10 million baht!

Yet the coach has refused to sell his family heirloom, at least until now.

 

Meanwhile, preparations for celebration have been going on.

Once the children greenlighted by the medical authorities, a ceremony (tambun) will be organized in front of the cave, and the children will become monks for 9 days.

 

Involved in these celebrations is a monk/saint, who had come to the cave during the early stages of the rescue operation, and had announced that the children were alive and would be found within the next two days...which is precisely what happened.

Since then, he has gone back to his own...cave!

Needless to say that this monk's status has reached the stratosphere!

 

Finally, there is the wonderful solidarity among Thais.

Small farmers had happily sacrified their crops to let their fields be flooded in order to divert water from entering the cave.

They have not been forgotten...while the government is taking care of the issue, a local wealthy individual, who asked to remain anonymous, has handed the concerned farmers 500,000 baht!

Many volunteers had come from far away provinces to help, at their own expense.

Yet, for those who couldn't afford the cost of the trip, whole villages came together to help.