I'm glad they found those Thai boys

ex-khobar Andy · Post by **ex-khobar Andy** » Tue Jul 03, 2018 3:28 am

. . . and I hope they can get them out safely. If they can get them food and water and entertainment they can shelter in place until the waters recede. Much safer than trying to teach them to scuba dive in a cave so they can get out.

I have done a fair bit of caving in my younger skinnier days (the Lobster Pot was a particular favorite - so called because it is easy to get in, but getting out, especially when your buddies are being totally unhelpful, is very difficult) and I have done a lot of diving (FWIW I am an internationally certified CMAS two star instructor) but I would never ever combine the two. Those cave divers are the real nutters, and in my book the heroes of this astonishing rescue.

BoSoxGal · Post by **BoSoxGal** » Tue Jul 03, 2018 4:24 am

Happy to hear this, I’ve been following the story with dread that the end would be corpses.

Gob · Post by **Gob** » Tue Jul 03, 2018 7:16 am

Let's hope they are able to maintain them until it's possible to retrieve them. There's a big weather system heading their way, and they are already having to pump 10,000 litres an hour out just to maintain the current water level.

dales · Post by **dales** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 4:32 am

Some sad news, I'm afraid...….

Chiang Rai, Thailand (CNN)

A former Thai Navy diver who had volunteered to help rescue 12 boys and their coach from a cave in northern Thailand has died, according to government officials.

Former Sgt. Samarn Unan, an ex-SEAL, died at 2:00 a.m. Friday local time (2 p.m. Thursday ET) due to a lack of air while attempting to return to a command center deep underground, Deputy Governor Passakorn Boonyalak said.

The command center is located two kilometers (1.2 miles) inside the cave, where the young soccer team and their coach have been trapped for almost two weeks.

Unan, who was in his mid-30s, was returning from delivering oxygen tanks to the cavern where the boys when are he ran out of air while underwater.

"Diving is always full of risks," Navy SEAL chief Rear Adm. Aphakorn Yookongkaew said. "He may have passed out," causing him to drown, "but we have to wait for the autopsy," he added.

A military aircraft will carry Unan's body from Chiang Rai to Satthahip Navy Base this evening.

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 1:30 pm

Who is prepared to say that, whatever the outcome, good or bad, Donald Trump will not find a way to make it all about him?

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Sun Jul 08, 2018 12:03 pm

I guess they've made the calculation that this is the least worst option:

Thai rescue: Divers start mission to free boys trapped in cave

Tham Luang caves, Thailand (CNN)The perilous mission to evacuate 12 boys and their 25-year-old coach trapped deep inside a flooded cave in northern Thailand is under way, Thai authorities announced Sunday.

At 10 a.m. local time, an international contingent of 13 specialist divers and five Thai Navy SEALs descended into the watery network of underground tunnels below the Mae Sai mountains, carrying with them the hopes of an entire nation.

"Our readiness is at the highest today. Today is D-day," said Chiang Rai's governor, Narongsak Osotthanakorn, adding that the families had been informed of the plan and given their support to the rescue effort.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/07/asia/tha ... index.html

With so many lives at stake (and one already lost) the focus has properly been entirely on the rescue effort. But at some point, there needs to be a thorough investigation into just how these kids and their coach were able to get into this fix in the first place; there are many unanswered questions...

RayThom · Post by **RayThom** » Sun Jul 08, 2018 3:02 pm

Four down -- nine to go.

Four members of Thai soccer team rescued after more than two weeks in flooded cave
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/re ... story.html

rubato · Post by **rubato** » Sun Jul 08, 2018 11:29 pm

whether something is in principal foreseeable, or not, it may not be in practice foerseeable for those on the ground in the moment. We learn as we go.

yrs,
rubato

Gob · Post by **Gob** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 7:55 am

I see Trumpy is trying to claim some glory

http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... ave-rescue

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 10:09 am

I really should start playing the ponies.

Guinevere · Post by **Guinevere** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 10:49 am

He is such a one trick pony (sorry ponies for the comparison) that it really isn’t all that difficult, Scooter.

Guinevere · Post by **Guinevere** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 11:27 am

According to CNN 5th boy is out and 6th in process. Keep up the amazing work Thailand!

Big RR · Post by **Big RR** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 1:34 pm

CNN recently reported that now 8 boys have been removed; the operation will resume at daybreak.

RayThom · Post by **RayThom** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 2:47 pm

Let's hear it for Lord Dampnut -- he ALONE can fix this. You just know that our Commander-in-Tweet is going to proclaim he's actually a PADI Master Scuba Diver and the fat tub of goo would have been the first one into the cave to find the boys.

BoSoxGal · Post by **BoSoxGal** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 6:46 pm

Lord Jim wrote:I guess they've made the calculation that this is the least worst option:

Thai rescue: Divers start mission to free boys trapped in cave

Tham Luang caves, Thailand (CNN)The perilous mission to evacuate 12 boys and their 25-year-old coach trapped deep inside a flooded cave in northern Thailand is under way, Thai authorities announced Sunday.

At 10 a.m. local time, an international contingent of 13 specialist divers and five Thai Navy SEALs descended into the watery network of underground tunnels below the Mae Sai mountains, carrying with them the hopes of an entire nation.

"Our readiness is at the highest today. Today is D-day," said Chiang Rai's governor, Narongsak Osotthanakorn, adding that the families had been informed of the plan and given their support to the rescue effort.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/07/asia/tha ... index.html

With so many lives at stake (and one already lost) the focus has properly been entirely on the rescue effort. But at some point, there needs to be a thorough investigation into just how these kids and their coach were able to get into this fix in the first place; there are many unanswered questions...

I think the only relevant issue is whether the outing was approved by parents, since the kids are minors.

Beyond that, it seems that Mother Nature is the only real culprit, and the situation is akin to when folks perish in flash floods while hiking canyons in the desert Southwest in beautiful weather that suddenly changes. Certain landscapes are just inherently vulnerable to the addition of large quantities of water.

Big RR · Post by **Big RR** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 6:59 pm

From what I read, I don't think it was a "outing" per se, more like a local custom kids followed in a local cave--running to the end and carving their name in the wall. My guess is that the coach encouraged thee whole team to do this to build a sense of accomplishment as a team, but I have not seen anything yet saying this (nor am I surprised--now it the time to get them out, the time for recriminations is later). I recall doing something like this in Boy Scouts, walking into a park drainage tunnel at night without a flashlight and leaving something at the other end (the next day everyone who wanted to could go in and see where you left it, and if you were "man" enough to walk through it. ) Stupid? Sure. but that's what boys do (when I was older, we used to jump off the back of the Staten Island ferry and swim through the harbor, another stupid thing). None of these were encouraged by our adult leaders, but I can't believe they didn't know what was going on.

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 7:03 pm

I did read somewhere (but only in one source that I recall) that there are signs posted at the mouth of the cave warning people not to enter during rainy season. But if there really is a foreseeable danger, then why not just block the entrance altogether during rainy season?

Big RR · Post by **Big RR** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 7:12 pm

MY guess is because it's a poor community in Thailand and the cost is too high (although I am sure it is dwarfed by the cost of the rescue. I remember once in the midwest (possibly Texas--I guess that's midwest) that I was driving in an area where there were a lot of concrete culverts (8-10 feet deep and running a number of yards to more than a mile--I recall one filling up in minutes during a rainstorm, and one of the locals told me they usually had a couple of fatalities a year due to drowning.

RayThom · Post by **RayThom** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 7:17 pm

Scooter wrote:I did read somewhere (but only in one source that I recall) that there are signs posted at the mouth of the cave warning people not to enter during rainy season. But if there really is a foreseeable danger, then why not just block the entrance altogether during rainy season?

Yes, there are signs.

Thai cave rescue: Four more boys pulled from flooded cave -- live updates
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/thai- ... e-updates/

Eight down... five to go.

BoSoxGal · Post by **BoSoxGal** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 8:18 pm

So they entered the cave in June, in compliance with the sign.

That bitch Mother Nature brought the rains early.

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