Thailand - Six footballers emerging in quick succession, safe and well : source

As of 7.25pm Sunday, six of the 13 Mu Pa Academy footballers trapped inside Tham Luang Cave since June 23 had been safely evacuated, a military source confirmed.

All six youths underwent medical exams, having weathered the challenging journey to the entrance of the cave from the place they’d sheltered deep inside. All were found to be in good health and responded well to queries.

The first two boys were by that time already at Chiang Rai Prachanukraw Hospital, where they’ll be further monitored, and the two others were being examined at a field hospital. 

Three more members of the group were in a chamber close to the cave entrance.

Source - TheNation

Mark’, 14, first the emerge from cave

The first Mu Pa Academy footballer rescued from the Chiang Rai cave has been identified as Mongkhon Bunpiem, 14.

He emerged from Tham Luang Cave at 5.10pm and was examined at a field hospital before boarding an ambulance to an airfield for the helicopter ride to Chiang Rai Prachanukraw Hospital.

Mongkhon, whose nickname is Mark, is a football academy trainee who  has played football since childhood and tends to wear football jerseys all the time. His favourite team is  Thai League's Muangthong United. 

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Thailand - First two footballers exit cave, getting medical check-up: military source

An ambulance that is believed to carry the first boy rescued from Tham Luang Cave in Chiang Rai leaves the cave for a hospital

The first two trapped footballers have been safely evacuated out of Tham Luang cave, a military news source has confirmed.

 

The Royal Thai Airforce’s Facebook fanpage “Air Force Media by Kawin AFU” disclosed the good news that two unidentified survivors were successfully brought out of the cave on around 6.10pm, while another survivor had already reached the Navy SEALs’ operation base on the third chamber of the cave.

The two survivors have already been transferred to the field hospital just outside the cave entrance for a medical check-up before being transported by separate ambulances to Chiang Rai Prachanukraw Hospital, the source said. 

An evacuation operation to bring out the 13 footballers in the flooded cave kicked off on Sunday morning, with expectations that the first survivor would exit the front of the cave at around 9pm on Sunday evening.

It normally takes the Navy SEAL divers six hours to travel each way to bring supplies to the trapped footballers.

Source - The Nation 
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Thailand - World media moved back from cave as evacuation begins

Foreign media members on Sunday said they accepted an order by Thai authorities to move out of area outside the Tham Luang cave as evacuation of the footballers begins.

Foreign media are being evacuated four kilometres from the cave to ensure clear access. Journalists will be housed at the Tambon Pong Pha Administrative Organisation Office on Phaholyothin Road.

 The 12 teens and their football coach assistant have been trapped in the flooded cave since June 23, with experts from international allies joining with Thais to rescue the team in a race against water and time.

Local and international media have converged at the cave to keep the world up-to-date with the latest developments. 

Six days after the footballers were found safe deep in the cave network last Monday, authorities on Sunday launched the evacuation operation to bring them out.

Spanish television reporter Biel Calderon said he didn't mind the request that media move out of the way of officials and rescuers during the high-risk extraction.

Calderon agreed that a large group of media could harm the efficiency of the rescue operation and cause delays. He said he understood that there were reasons for such a request in the life-and-death situation and media needed to respect it.

 Russian TV reporter Andrey Pashin, who had been covering the story for the past four days from the cave entrance, said he felt positive about the authorities regulating the large number of media in the vicinity to ensure the rescuers are not blocked.

He hoped that, without a continuing media presence in the area, officials could work more efficiently and more quickly rescue the trapped youths.

 Pashin said he wasn't much worried much getting film for his news coverage, because he believed that officials were working to address the issue. He hoped that the Thai authorities would ensure all media have equal access to information and pictures and that any news and images obtained by journalists would be pooled and shared among all other media workers.

The Thai authorities on Saturday began limiting the media’s access at the front of the cave, but some journalists had ventured under the rope fence to report the news.

This led to an official order being issued at 7am on Sunday to reclaim the area outside cave. Media members, along with volunteers and officials not vital to the rescue efforts, were to be cleared from and kept way from the area by 9am.

Many reporters negotiated to remain, while others moved as ordered to crowd the Tambon Pong Pha Administrative Organisation Office area.

Source - TheNation 

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Thaiand - Rescue bid tipped over next few days

Leaders of the rescue effort at Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai are considering whether it will be practical to bring out the 12 trapped young footballers and their coach from the flooded cave over the next few days. 

It would be "favourable" to stage an evacuation before fresh rain and a possible rise in carbon dioxide sets in, according to former Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn who has been put in charge of the rescue operation. 

 "Now, water in the cave is down to satisfactory levels and the weather is fine. The boys' health has begun to improve and they have now learned the basics of diving," said Mr Narongsak, who is now Phayao governor.

"In the next two or three days, the conditions may be perfect to carry out the rescue plan,'' he told reporters yesterday afternoon. 

 The main concern is now the level of oxygen in the cave, Mr Narongsak said, adding that more clean air has been fed into the cave and more oxygen tanks have been brought in.
The number of rescuers operating in the cave complex will now be kept to a minimum to preserve oxygen and prevent a possible increase in carbon dioxide, Mr Narongsak said.
However, at least four rescuers will be sent in to look after the 12 boys and their coach who are sheltering on the ledge called Nern Nom Sao, he said.
Mr Narongsak added that two more British cave diving experts have arrived in Chiang Rai to support the rescue bid and another two from Britain will come today.

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FIFA boss invites Thai cave boys to World Cup final

Moscow - FIFA president Gianni Infantino has invited the Thai boys' football team trapped in a cave to the World Cup final, as messages of support poured in from top players.

    Infantino said he hoped the Wild Boars team, who were stranded by rising floodwaters two weeks ago, would be rescued in time to watch the final in Moscow on July 15.

    "If, as we all hope, they are reunited with their families in the coming days and their health allows them to travel, FIFA would be delighted to invite them to attend the 2018 World Cup final as our guests," he wrote in a letter to the head of the Football Association of Thailand.

    "I sincerely hope that they will be able to join us at the final, which will undoubtedly be a wonderful moment of communion and celebration."

    The Thai footballers, aged 11-16, have been stuck in darkness deep underground after setting off to explore the cave with their 25-year-old coach after training on June 23.

    The players remain trapped despite being reached this week by cave-diving rescuers, who released footage of them looking emaciated but calm, some wearing football shirts.

 Their harrowing ordeal coincides with the World Cup in Russia and it has not escaped the attention of players.

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    "I've been speaking about it with a few of the boys," said England defender John Stones, according to British media.

    "It's so sad to see where they are and we hope they get out safe and sound."

    Japan's World Cup squad tweeted a video urging the team to "Hang in there!", while Brazil legend Ronaldo called their plight "terrible".

    "The world of football hopes that someone can find a way to take these kids out of there," he said, according to CNN.

    Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp urged them to "stay strong and know we are with you", in a video message sent to CNN.

  "We are following all the news and hoping every second that you see daylight again," Klopp said. "We are all very optimistic that it will happen, hopefully in minutes, hours or the next few days."

 

    Meanwhile the Croatian Football Federation said it was "awed" by the team's calm under pressure.

    "We are awed by the bravery and strength that these young boys and their coach have shown amidst such frightening circumstances," it said on its website.

    Many fans on social media said the boys deserved the World Cup trophy for the way they have handled their ordeal.//AFP

Source - TheNation

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What an surprise, one can speak English

English-speaking footballer is academic polymath, says teacher

 The video clip of the first encounter between British divers and the 13 missing members of a local football team trapped in Tham Luang cave for days thrilled the nation as they were found safe and alive.

As the conversation between the divers and the boys continued, the clip’s watchers may have been surprised when a boy was able to communicate in English and became the translator for his friends.

 The boy became the talk of the town as many people wondered who he is. People praised him for being fluent in English considering his age and in comparison to his friends who had to ask him to translate for them.

The clip was shared more than four million times across the globe as the boys’ disappearance in the cave and the multinational rescue operations became the headline news for days and continues to do so.

 Japanese seeing the clip expressed surprise that such a young boy knew sufficient English to communicate and they compared him to Japanese boys of the same age.

One person not surprised was his teacher, Piyarat Yodsuwan of Mor 2/3, Ban Wiengpan School. Adul Samorn, 14, can speak four languages, said the teacher: Thai, English, Chinese and Burmese.

As a student of the school’s so-called “Buffer School”, Adul learnt foreign languages from native speakers. He is under the care of Hope Mae Sai Church as his Akha hilltribe family, who live in Myanmar, is very poor.The school has promoted the study of foreign languages because about 80 per cent of the students who graduate from Mor 3 are planning to run a business at the border. Therefore, it is necessary for them to understand foreign languages.

The studies focus on enabling the students to communicate rather than on the grammar, the teacher said.

Piyarat said that Adul is a hardworking student with a grade average of 3.9 out of 4.

He also joins in many activities after classes, such as football, volleyball and biking, and shows musical talents and can play guitar, violin and piano. 

He was also a winner in the science competition at the provincial level and has a good sense of responsibility, as he always submits his homework when he is absent, said his teacher.

Source - TheNation

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Thailand - Diving the top option to evacuate 13 despite risk out of the Chiang Mai cave

Rescuers do not want to delay their exit due to upcoming rains and the possibility of more flooding in cave.

ALL 13 survivors are now familiarising themselves with diving gear as rescue planners concluded yesterday that they will have to dive through floodwaters to get out of the Tham Luang cave, where they have been stranded since June 23. 

“The fittest of the survivors will be the first to come out,” Narongsak Osotanakorn, the head of the rescue operations, said yesterday. “Others will follow.”

The former Chiang Rai governor spoke as the floodwater level inside the cave subsided thanks to the powerful pumps, well-connected tubes, and diversion of the natural water flow around the Tham Luang cave system. 

The easing of the flood situation has raised the prospects of helping the 13 footballers come out of the cave where they have spent 11 days.

“The floodwater level has been dropping by one centimetre per hour. If we can maintain this momentum, it should be safe enough to bring the kids out soon,” Narongsak said. On Tuesday, the US Cave Rescue Commission’s national coordinator Anmar Mirza said that while diving was the quickest option to bring the survivors out, it was also the “most dangerous” option.

But the option of letting the survivors stay inside the cave until the floodwaters completely receded was yesterday ruled out amid the significant risk of impending heavy downpours that could again leave the cave flooded. The 10-kilometre-long cave in Chiang Rai province is normally flooded between July and November every year. On Monday night, experienced cave divers from Britain found the missing football team at a spot about 5km from the cave’s entrance. 

The 13 survivors will stay put at their current location while detailed preparations are being made for their safe evacuation. They have been joined by Royal Thai Navy SEALs and are also supplied with soft food, water, light, medicine, thermal blankets and diving gear. 

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 Learning to dive

The survivors were yesterday taught to wear full-face masks and practice breathing. 

Medics, including Army doctor Colonel Pak Loharachun, have completed health checks for all team members and found them relatively healthy. A video clip released yesterday showed the footballers had minor wounds and were apparently eager to leave the cave. One footballer asked, “Can we go out today?” Pak told the boys to be patient, explaining that despite his diving skills it took him six hours to move from the third chamber of the cave to the current location of the survivors. 

The third chamber of the cave, which is about two kilometres from the entrance, is now operating as the forward command of the rescue operations. Lighting and communication devices have been installed there and also supplied with oxygen tanks, medicine and all other necessary supplies. 

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From the third chamber to the flooded T-junction is a distance of about 800 metres. From that intersection, there is a narrow and completely submerged passage that requires rescue teams to dive to get through. The floodwater level there was nearly five metres as of press time. 

After getting out of this narrow passage, rescue teams have to climb and hike a stretch of 400 metres. This zone is dry. Then, they have to dive for about another 130 metres to reach the so-called Pattaya Beach. Then the team must walk further over the beach before making another 400-metre-long dive to reach the slope where the survivors have gathered. 

All these survivors will have to be taught to swim and dive before being escorted out. 

Even with diving experts by their side, the team will have to dive and swim on their own at some points in the journey out of the cave. 

The two Britons who first located the missing victims – Richard Stanton and John Volanthen – have remained with the rescue team to help with the safe evacuation. The other British expert, Robert Harper, who was in his 70s, had to leave Chiang Rai province yesterday, though, to undergo a medical check-up in his homeland. 

A rescue team from the United States Indo-Pacific Command has also vowed to support the operations at the Tham Luang cave until all 13 survivors are safely brought out.

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Source - TheNation 
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