13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

[fountainhall]

I have read and I hope I'm wrong, that the parents have not been told which boys were rescued yesterday. If true, that seems very cruel.

CNN reports that the families are able to visit the hospital and see the boys - from a distance. This is not just because of any viruses or other illness they may have picked up in that dank cave. It is also because the boys' immune systems will be weak and to ensure they do not catch anything from their families. But the quarantine is expected to be only 24 - 48 hours.

[fountainhall]

The UK's Independent newspaper has an interesting interview with some other local boys which finally explains why the Wild Boars team and their coach ventured far into the cave. This I had not seen before.

For adolescent boys in this mountainous region of far northern Thailand, venturing deep into the dark and mysterious Tham Luang cave network is seen as a rite of passage, reports Matt Blomberg.

Journeys venturing inside the cave were a regular part of training for the "Wild Boars" youth football team, building camaraderie among a group expected to go on to big things in the world's most lucrative sport . . . classmates of some of those missing are already declaring them heroes.

“They will be stronger when they come out,” said Nanthawat Prangsangwilia, a gangly 16-year-old who goes by the nickname Gan.

“When they come home, those kids will be able to teach us something – about how to survive, about how to stay safe in the caves.”

Gan declared that, armed with the wisdom of the survivors, he would still be willing now to head into the caves that have threatened to claim the lives of his fellow students.

Locals say that the ill-fated trip inside Tham Luang was one in a series of excursions, where the boys would push further and further inside the underground labyrinth, hardening them for the rigours of both the pitch and regular life.

On 22 June, the night before they went missing, he [the coach, Ekapol Chanthawong] told the boys to pack lights, ropes and food, according to an elder of the local indigenous minority, the Akka, from which a number of the boys hail.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 38181.html

Rites of passage are not unique to Thailand, but I hope someone drums it into the heads of all kids that caves in future are either out of bounds or only accessible to a certain limit at which the rest of the cave is blocked.

[fountainhall]

This lovely Facebook cartoon of the cave rescue is rapidly going viral.



Two Thai artists created the cartoon. It is full of symbols to depict the ongoing efforts to rescue the Thai soccer team. Here's what each represents:

Wild boars (there are 12 small ones, and one larger one): The stranded boys and their soccer coach

White elephant: Narongsak Osotthanakorn, the leader of the command center in charge of the rescue mission

White horse: All the heroes who have been involved in the mission

White seals: The Thai Navy SEALs who have been leading the rescue efforts

Frogs: The cave divers who have been helping

Blue lion: Rescuers from Britain and Belgium

Kangaroo: Rescuers from Australia

Panda: Rescuers from China

Crane: Rescuers from Japan

Moose: Rescuers from Sweden

Tiger: Rescuers from Myanmar

Brown elephant: Rescuers from Laos

Eagle: Rescuers from the US

Iron Man mask: Elon Musk, who has been tweeting his support for the rescue effort

Swallows: Climbers from Thailand

Dog: K9 unit at the scene

Dragon: The team drilling into the cave and pumping water out

Birds facing all the animals at the end of the cave: Journalists covering the rescue mission

Black crow among the birds: People who are criticizing the mission

[Jun]

CNN reports that the families are able to visit the hospital and see the boys - from a distance. This is not just because of any viruses or other illness they may have picked up in that dank cave. It is also because the boys' immune systems will be weak and to ensure they do not catch anything from their families. But the quarantine is expected to be only 24 - 48 hours.

They must have been taking vitamins & some kind of nutritious food since Tuesday last week. Residing the whole time in a dirty cave. After crawling out of that passage, I would have thought the additional risk of catching anything cannot be that high. However, perhaps the doctors know best.

[Gaybutton]

After crawling out of that passage, I would have thought the additional risk of catching anything cannot be that high. However, perhaps the doctors know best.

While it may be true that the risk may be minimal and quarantining the boys for a day or two may be overprotective, but after all that has happened they don't want to take any chances.

I read one article that contained:

doctors there are probably concerned about leptospirosis, a disease spread by contaminated water, which also claimed a number of lives in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.

[Dodger]

Leptospirosis is A bacterial disease spread primarily through the urine of infected animals which I kind of doubt effected the boys.

Histoplasmosis is an infection caused by breathing in spores of a fungus often found in bird and bat droppings which I believe has the doctors the most concerned. 12 days deep inside a cave without a face mask with plenty of bats around certainly presents a high risk

Histoplasmosis like tuberculosis can be fatal if untreated.

[Undaunted]

Elon Musk in cave:

https://gizmodo.com/alert-elon-now-in-cave-1827463923

[Captain Swing]

Elon Musk in cave:

Does Elon Musk remind anyone else of Tom Swift? Does anyone else remember Tom Swift? Anyway, his mini submarine apparently won't be helpful, but I guess he deserves credit for trying.

[fountainhall]

The weather has now changed with heavy rain having bucketed down all night and continuing this morning. CNN reports that the rescuers have now entered the cave. If so, that is earlier than the 20-hour gap reported yesterday as necessary before the next part of the operation to free the remaining boys and their coach out of the cave could start. It is also not known if they will try to rescue all five today. I hope the doctor and nurse who have been with them inside will also be coming out just as soon as the five have started on their journey.

Last night, Gen Buncha Duriyaphan, an army commander involved in this rescue operation, said he had been asking the god of rain for three days’ reprieve to get the boys out.

They appear to have been granted two.

Rain has bucketed down on Mae Sai all night and continues to fall this morning in torrential quantities.

The extraordinary rescues of the past two days have been predicated on “perfect” conditions, including weather and water levels in the cave, authorities have said.

It is unclear if this downpour on Tuesday will complicate today’s mission. We are talking to sources at the cave site and hope to learn more soon.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/live/2 ... ve-updates

[Captain Swing]

Does anyone know for sure if the remaining boys are considered the strongest or the weakest? I've seen reports that say firmly that the strongest were sent out first, and others that say just as definitively that the weakest were first. And are there still any suggestions that the coach came out in the first group?