The Wild Boars football team of twelve boys aged 11-17 and their 25-year-old coach (Exhibit 1 contains their names and brief profiles) went missing on June 23, 2018. As their bicycles, shoes, and other football gear were found at the Tham Luang Nang Non cave entrance, it was believed that they were trapped inside the cave that was inundated by monsoon rains.
The incident occurred on the last day of Narongsak Osatanakorn as governor of Chiang Rai, Thailand. He had been asked to hand over the governorship to Prachon Pratsakun from the next week and assume the governorship of Phayao, a much smaller neighboring province. The transfer was seen as a demotion for Osatanakorn and was rumored to have been triggered by his fight against corruption in awarding large construction contracts in the region. However, as the rescue operations began, the Thai government asked Osatanakorn to continue in his position and head the command center to coordinate the rescue efforts, as he was popular with the people of Chiang Rai.
With degrees in geology and engineering, Osatanakorn was qualified to understand the technicalities of the mounted rescue operation. As help poured in from across the world, Osatanakorn faced several decisions that had to be taken quickly. Every hour’s delay increased the chance of the boys and their coach not being alive. Which of the two proposed ways should he choose to rescue the group? How should he deal with the crowd of local people who had gathered near the cave to help? How should he deal with the global media that had descended on the scene for live coverage of the rescue operations? How should he deal with the people on the plains (at the foothill of the mountain range) who may be negatively impacted by the rescue effort? How should he deal with the government to ensure the continued support that would be required? As he sat in his makeshift office with his team, with the incessant rains that made conversation impossible, he realized that the next few days would define the legacy he would leave behind as governor of Chiang Rai.
The Terrain
Tham Luang Nang Non cave complex is located beneath the karstic (Karstic mountain ranges are formed by soluble compounds such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum) Doi Nang Non (the name means “Mountain of the Sleeping Lady”, as the silhouette of the range resembled a sleeping woman) mountain range that is situated on the border between Thailand and Myanmar, in the Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand. At 1389 meters, Doi Tung is the tallest peak of the range. The over 10 km long Tham Luang cave comprises many smaller caves, deep recesses, narrow passages, tunnels, and chambers. Otherwise nearly dry, the cave fills up with water during the monsoon season from seepage as well as the flow of water from openings to the surface, into the cave complex. A notice posted at the mouth of the cave warned against entering the cave in the rainy season. In 2018 the monsoon rains hit the region almost two weeks earlier than normal.
The entrance to the cave is from the east. It leads to a T-intersection known as the Sam Yak junction. The path to the right from the junction goes north to the border between Thailand and Myanmar. The path to the left from the junction consisting of a series of, downward sloping, undulating, and winding corridors leads to a large, raised cavern in the cave, Pattaya Beach, named after the famous beach in southern Thailand. This ‘beach’, located about 1.5 km from the junction, is the largest part of the cave. This is the usual path taken by visitors to the cave.
The Search
The alarm was raised by the family members of the boys on the night of June 23, after they discovered the bicycles and the football gear at the mouth of the cave. A local rescue team gave up the rescue effort the next day after realizing that the force of the water flowing through the cave was too strong for them to make any progress into the cave. On day two, divers attempted to get into the cave but could make little progress. That is when Osatanakorn approached the government to seek help from Vernon Unsworth, a well-known British cave explorer, who had settled down in Thailand, and had recently mapped the Tham Luang cave with another British cave explorer. Unsworth contacted the British Cave Rescue Council (As stated on the website http://www.caverescue.org.uk/, “The British Cave Rescue Council (BCRC) is the representative body for voluntary underground rescue in the British Isles.” It is a coordinating and not a governing body. The website provides details of the 15 volunteer underground rescue organizations that are members of BCRC.) for help. On day three, while awaiting help from British divers, twenty-five Thai Navy SEALs (SEAL is an acronym for Sea Air and Land. Trained for unconventional warfare and combat, Navy SEALs are the most well-equipped to deal with difficult challenges as were being faced in the rescue efforts) entered the cave and reached the T-junction in the cave. They were however unable to go further to Pattaya Beach, as the force of the water flowing out from the small opening was too strong.
By day four, thousands of people comprising local police, soldiers, local guides, and volunteers were engaged in searching the mountainside, to locate shafts from the surface that could provide alternate entry to the cave. The command center under Osatanakorn monitored the efforts of the volunteers. The inspiration for locating a shaft, that could be deepened, was the dramatic rescue of 33 miners from the San Jose copper-gold mine in the Atacama Desert near Copiapo Chile in 2010 (As reported in https://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/02/world/chilean-miners-miracles/index.html). The miners were trapped 700 meters underground, after a landslide on August 5, 2010, blocked the exit from the mine. A shaft was drilled to reach where the miners were located. A metal cage that could move through the shaft was used to haul the 33 miners to safety, one by one. On the Doi Nang Non mountain range, some shafts were tens of meters deep, but none reached the cave. While searching for shafts on the mountainside, attempts had also begun to drain water from the cave. Flexible pipes were laid, and pumps were installed. The level of water, however, refused to go down as the rate of inflow was much higher than the rate at which the water was being pumped out of the cave.
Experienced cave divers from Britain reached the cave site on day five. Unsworth vividly recalled that the noise of the water was deafening, and the cave complex appeared to be shaking to the rhythm of the gushing water (As recorded in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-esjQLvsgTs). The British divers confirmed the obvious – that search and rescue would be impossible, without reducing the level of water. The locally available pump sets that had been installed were woefully inadequate to handle the pumping required. Osatanakorn again approached the government to search for more powerful pumps. Three giant pumps, transported from 900 km away, reached the cave site by June 30. The services of a geologist, knowledgeable about the terrain, were sought by the command center to set up the pipes and the pumps to divert the water properly so that it did not percolate back into the cave. By early evening on June 30, the water level had started receding. The water was being pumped out downhill, submerging paddy fields over a 2000 square kilometer area. Osatanakorn met the farming families who bore the brunt of the rising level of water in their farms and homes, to reassure them that the government would make up for the losses incurred due to the inundation of their fields.
By July 1, the search and rescue operations had become an unprecedented international effort, with help reaching from ten other nations. The local population rose to the occasion and willingly provided logistical support for the operations. The command center took charge of organizing the help. Makeshift kitchens were set up serving fish, meat, rice, fruits, and drinking water, free of cost. The volunteers willing to contribute labor were channelized to lay a gravel road on the hillside for the movement of vehicles and people. The global media, with about 1600 journalists, was present in full force covering the operations live. Osatanakorn gained international recognition with his calm demeanor and precise and informative press conferences, organized regularly near the cave site. It was estimated that the number of people at the cave site exceeded 10,000. The command center ensured that at no stage the crowd became disorderly. The families of the stranded boys were particularly looked after by the command center.
After extensive discussions, Osatanakorn approved the search plan proposed by the British divers who suggested the use of very different protocols and equipment from those being used by the Thai SEALs. The plan involved laying a guide rope as the divers went deeper into the cave, searching for the boys. The cave was divided into sections (called chambers), based on the available map of the cave. Chamber 3, a relatively large area, located about 500 m from the cave entrance, would hold spare divers and equipment needed to support the exploration as well as respond to any emergencies. One of the British divers, Jason Mallinson (53 years), who helped in laying the guide rope, confessed later, that he was not expecting to find the boys alive. The divers spent ten-eleven hours inside the cave to lay the guide rope.
The Eureka Moment
The world was transfixed by the developing story as it was extensively covered, day after day, by television news channels. After several days of futile attempts to search the cave, by dozens of divers from Thai Navy SEAL, Thailand reached out for help from the international community to locate the team inside the cave and rescue them. Several countries, including Britain, Australia, and the USA responded to the call with teams and equipment that could be used in the situation. Well-known cave divers (Cave diving is often taken up as a hobby or sport by individuals engaged in unrelated professions. They became known through their participation in rescue efforts in similar situations across the world.) and had participated in rescue efforts in similar situations, typically involving trapped miners, who responded to the call for help and converged on the cave site.
The chance of finding the trapped team alive was diminishing with every passing hour. By the end of the first week, doubts were being expressed about the condition the boys would be in, even if they were to be found. As the days went by, divers went further and further into the cave, exploring the caverns and passages of the network of caves, with negative results. It had started taking almost ten hours of diving to expand the area of search. As the search deepened and the guide rope got extended further and further into the cave, the ‘Eureka’ moment occurred on the evening of July 2, nine days after the team had gone missing, when the two British divers, Richard Stanton (57 years) and John Volanthen (47 years) (Richard Stanton, a retired firefighter, and John Volanthen, an IT consultant, were experienced cave rescuers. Together, they had participated in several rescue missions across the world ), made the heart-warming discovery that all the boys and their coach were alive.
The British divers were extending the guide rope into the cave that would be used by divers to continue searching for the boys when they reached the end of the guide rope. As they surfaced in pitch darkness from the murky water, they could smell human presence close by from the strong odor of human excrement that wafted in the air. Guided by their noses, they went a little further, to see the dimly lit figure of a boy retreating from the bank of the stream they were traversing. They had discovered the boys and their coach, perched on a ledge in a small, dark, and damp recess in the cave that had not yet been submerged by the gushing waters. The group was found over 3.2 km from the mouth of the cave, and a kilometer from the largest part of the cave, Pattaya Beach. The ledge was over a kilometer underground.
In the recorded conversation (As reported in https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/02/asia/thai-cave-rescue-intl/index.html and https://www.mamamia.com.au/thai-cave-diver/), the first words from the startled boys were, “Thank you, thank you.” The British divers asked, in English, “How many of you?” “Thirteen”, was the response from the boys; to which the British divers exclaimed, “Thirteen, Brilliant.” Unaware of how long they had been trapped underground, the dazed boys asked, “What day?” “It’s Monday. You have been here 10 days, 10 days,” the divers replied. “Many people are coming, many people, we are the first,” said the divers, trying to reassure the boys that help was imminent. The most communicative in the group, and the one who could converse in English, was the 14-year-old, Adul Sam-on. The boys repeatedly told the divers that they were very hungry and needed food. The divers found the group in surprisingly good condition, despite the ordeal they had been through. As they took leave of the group, the divers reassured the group that help with food, medicines, and clothing would reach them very soon. The departing words from the divers were, “You are very strong, very strong. We come, ok, we come.”
Stranded Underground
There were several versions of why the team went into the cave on that fateful Saturday evening of June 23. It appears that the team frequently did that as an adventurous ritual. Reports (As reported in https://www.thestatesman.com/world/tham-luang-rescue-everything-about-the-thai-cave-system-1502659513.html) however suggested that the group entered the cave to celebrate the birthday of the oldest boy in the group, who had turned seventeen. The boy’s mother had instructed him to be home early, with his friends from the team, immediately after the game was over. The group had therefore planned to spend just an hour inside the cave. The monsoon rains had filled parts of the cave and streams of water were flowing through the cave. However, as the group was used to being inside the cave, it did not notice that the water level was rising faster than usual. By the time they decided to turn back, they found the exit from the cave blocked by water. Rather than go back to the route they had traversed, they decided to continue further into the cave, looking for another exit from the cave. As the level of water kept rising, they were forced to seek shelter from the rising water level on the ledge in the small recess in the cave. They had not realized how far they had been pushed inside the cave, as they avoided the rising level of water.
Initially, they believed that they would be able to get out of the cave the next morning once the rains subsided. However, the incessant rains ensured that the water level did not recede. In the first few days, the group resorted to digging with stones and hands, to tunnel their way out of the cave. Realizing that the attempt was futile, the coach asked them to stop digging, to conserve their energy. The group started using the bare minimum number of torches to get through the daily chores to conserve the light available to them. As the days went by, they lost sense of time. The hunger was satisfied by drinking drops of water that percolated from the roof over the ledge. The young coach who had been inducted into monkhood at a monastery, kept them calm and hopeful. He asked them to meditate and take their mind away from the situation they were in. He kept telling them that they would be rescued as the families would figure out that they were trapped inside the cave from their bicycles and football gear left at the entrance of the cave. Little did the group know about the huge challenge being faced by the rescuers, as the underground streams had turned into swollen rivers, fed by the heavy downpour.
The Rescue Plan
Food, medicines, clothes, and blankets were delivered to the group. Handwritten notes from the boys to their parents and family members were delivered to the relieved family members waiting outside the cave. On the recommendation of Osatanakorn, the government ordered four Thai SEALs to be with the boys, while the rescue plan was being worked out.
The initial thinking was to let the boys remain inside the cave till either a shaft could be drilled to reach them so that they could be hauled up the shaft or let the monsoon fury subside so that the boys could walk out of the cave. The plan meant that the group may be incarcerated for up to four months inside the cave, till the end of the monsoon. Besides, digging a shaft in the slush created by excessive rains could trigger a landslide inside the cave and block the exit from the cave.
The British divers believed the boys would not survive if they were to be left underground long. The condition inside the cave was unhygienic and not conducive for a long stay. The absence of fresh air and incarceration for many days had raised the level of Carbon Dioxide in the air the group was breathing. The air quality in the small recess they occupied had already deteriorated with Oxygen content in the air dropping to 15% (The average Oxygen content in the air is 21%). The addition of four Navy SEALs to the group implied that the air quality would deteriorate faster. They argued that the only realistic plan for saving the boys was to attempt a rescue through the cave. When questioned about the risk of such an attempt succeeding, the British divers assessed the chance at 60-70%. That implied that there was a distinct possibility of casualties, and all the boys might not be saved. Osatanakorn decided that the chance was worth the risk.
A break in rains presented an opportunity to give effect to the plan suggested by the British divers. The water level in the cave was at its lowest in several days. Another bout of heavy downpours was forecast a week or so later. The conditions appeared ‘ideal’ to attempt a rescue by traversing through the cave. The equipment to be used, comprising semi-flexible stretchers, on which the boys will lie face down, with full face masks, was tested in swimming pools. The plan required a second-level decision on how the boys were to be taken out of the cave. Should they be required to dive through the submerged sections of the cave, albeit assisted by the divers, or should they be taken out as ‘packages’ carried by the divers? While all the boys knew swimming, none had experience of diving underwater. While the experiment was being conducted in swimming pools, to decide on the better of the two methods, the boys inside the cave were given instructions and even some basic preliminary experience of diving with full face masks in the murky waters of the cave.
The boys would be loosely tied to the stretcher to ensure that they would not be able to rip off the mask, in case of panic attack at any time during several hours of journey through the cave. Two divers accompanying each boy would shepherd the stretcher through the cave. In addition to carrying their equipment, the divers would also carry the boy’s Oxygen cylinder, as they navigated themselves and the boy through the cave. The divers would monitor the flow of oxygen to the body. Central to the rescue effort would be the guide rope that had been laid from the cave entrance to where the boys were located. The divers would move underwater, with practically zero visibility, holding on to the guide rope. As the movement out of the cave would be in the direction of the flow of water, the loose mud at the bottom of the cave that would be disturbed by the divers, would flow ahead, and make the water turgid. Spare Oxygen cylinders and other equipment that might be needed, should an emergency arise, would be placed along the path.
The first half of the journey would be the most treacherous, as it would require maneuvering through submerged sections of the cave, including submerged S-bends. The openings in the path were small, with the smallest opening at one point in the path being just 38 cm wide. In certain segments, there was practically no headroom. The convoy would have to squeeze through the openings, moving one at a time. The narrow openings were to be tackled with two divers on either side of the opening, and the stretcher carrying the boy being pushed and pulled through the opening. Approximately halfway into the journey (about 1.5 km from the entrance to the cave), was Chamber 3, the hub of all activities. The Chamber would house a larger number of divers, with spare equipment, ready to take over the boys from the divers who had navigated the first half of the journey and carry them out of the cave, to the waiting ambulances and helicopters.
Osatanakorn wondered, ‘Would the boys survive the arduous journey?’ There was a distinct possibility that some of them may not. He banished the negative thoughts. The break in monsoon rains had provided a welcome window of opportunity as the water in the cave had decreased to levels where the suggested rescue could be attempted. The time was just right to take up the fight against nature’s fury.
Mission Impossible
The first step taken by the command center was to clear the area of unnecessary people so that those directly participating in the rescue mission could execute their plans unhindered. The media was asked to keep a distance of at least 500 meters from the cave for quick and easy movement of vehicles and people. Ambulances were kept parked close to the entrance of the cave to carry the boys rescued from the cave to the waiting helicopters some distance away to airlift them to a hospital in Chiang Rai.
With redundancy built into the plan, more than 20 tons of equipment was lined up along the route inside the cave. Tragedy struck on July 6, as the preparations for the rescue were underway. The much experienced, 38-year-old Sgt. Saman Kunan, a former Thai SEAL, died while positioning equipment inside the cave. He died of asphyxiation as he ran out of Oxygen and could not surface due to the absence of headroom. Recalling the episode, one of Kunan’s longtime friends, Sgt. Kaewchano told CNN, “I can’t believe this happened. He was very fit, he exercised every day, and he was a triathlete.” While the death cast a pall of gloom on the rescue efforts and brought home the danger the mission entailed, it also instilled greater determination in the group to accomplish the mission, without any further loss of life.
The essential items were being supplied to the group as they waited to make the first attempt to get out of the cave. The food, clothing, and medicines, and more importantly, the company of divers, had already revived the spirits of the group. The quality of air was monitored continually to ensure the adequacy of Oxygen in the air. An Australian cave diver, Dr. Harris, an anesthesiologist by profession, joined the four Thai Navy SEALs who were already with the group. The doctor examined the boys and treated their minor cuts and bruises. He certified them to be in a fit condition for the rescue plan. The divers had put the group through some basic training of being underwater, with full face masks. And yet, the nagging doubt remained about how the boys would react when they had to stay submerged underwater for several hours. After several rounds of discussions, it was finally decided that Dr. Harris would administer ketamine injection to the boys to sedate them, implying that they would be taken out as ‘packages’, to ensure that they would not panic during the journey. However, as they would be knocked out, it meant that the boys would be in no position to communicate with the accompanying divers, in case of any emergency. The Australian government sought and obtained immunity from prosecution for Dr. Harris, from the Thai government, should there be any death that could be ascribed to the boys being sedated.
As the boys were to be evacuated in small batches, over three days, a key decision to be taken by the command center was who would comprise the first batch to be evacuated. Within the first batch, who would be the first boy to be evacuated? There was debate about whether the relatively stronger (in better physical condition) or the relatively weaker should be evacuated first. The first batch would face the maximum risk as the outcome of the attempted rescue was still unknown. The subsequent batches would benefit from the fine-tuning of the rescue effort based on the experience of rescuing the first batch. The subsequent batches might face the risk of a rise in the level of water. The decision on the sequence in which the group was to be rescued was left to the group. The set of boys who volunteered to be the first to be evacuated was perhaps the bravest. The coach would be the first in the third group of five (and ninth in the entire group) to be evacuated on the third day of rescue. Dr. Harris and the four Thai Navy SEALs would be the last to leave the temporary abode they shared with the boys.
While awaiting rescue, the boys had sent handwritten notes to their families. All expressed their deepest regret for behaving the way they had, without keeping their parents informed and getting their permission to go into the cave. All of them desired to eat their favorite meal on reaching home. Some wanted their teachers to go easy on the homework they might assign, as they had missed school for several weeks. Taking full responsibility for his error of judgment, the coach sought pardon from the parents of the boys, for putting his wards in danger and causing such immense anguish to all concerned. Some interesting facts came to light after the rescue operations had begun. The 14-year-old, Adul Sam-On, the only boy who spoke English fluently, had no citizenship. He had come as an orphan to Thailand from Myanmar and was being raised by a church. His foster mother told the media that Adul was a bright kid who excelled in studies and everything else he did. The 25-year-old coach, Ekkapol Chanthawong, too had no citizenship. Orphaned as a child, he had come to Thailand as a refugee from Myanmar. He had been inducted into monkhood at a monastery in Chiang Rai.
By the end of July 7, 2018, the preparations for rescue were complete. The first batch of four boys were rescued on July 8. Addressing the Press (As reported in https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/08/thailand-cave-rescue-first-two-boys-brought-out) in the evening, Osatanakorn said, “Today was the best situation – in terms of kids’ health, water, and our rescue readiness. The operation had been launched at 10 a.m. and the first boy emerged at 5:40 p.m.; the second boy came out about ten minutes after the first; the third and the fourth boy came out at 7:40 and 7:50 p.m. The boys had safely reached the hospital at Chiang Rai.” He refused to identify the four boys who had been rescued. He also said that “Air tanks and systems have to be put in place again. I can’t tell you exact timing of the next operation, but I can say it will be more than 10 … [but] not be more than 20 hours. I must check all factors are stable. The operation then will be carried out.” There was jubilation all around. The global media went crazy describing the audacious rescue that had been completed. A total of 90 divers were involved in the operation; of these, 50 were foreign divers.
The next batch of four boys were rescued the next day, on July 9. The last batch comprising the remaining four boys and the coach was rescued on July 10. There was a scare towards the end of the mission. The pumps failed and the water level started rising at a fast pace. There was a scramble as all the rescuers inside the cave headed for the exit. Fortunately, there were no mishaps and even the four divers from Thai Navy SEAL and Dr. Richard Harris, who were with the boys got out safely. They were the last to get out of the cave. It was a miraculous achievement, as the rescue was achieved with no further loss of life.
After The Rescue
The boys and the coach were kept in the hospital for a week after the rescue, where their recovery from bruises and infections was carefully monitored and treated. The families were allowed to ‘meet’ them from a distance, through a glass partition to avoid any further infection to the boys. After spending a few days with their families, the boys spent nine days as novice monks in a monastery, praying to Buddha. With shaven heads and wearing saffron robes of Buddhist monks, the boys lived off alms from people. The entire rehabilitation process was over only by the first week of August 2018. In a ceremony organized on August 8, 2018, the coach and three other boys in the group were granted Thai citizenship that in addition to freedom of movement, provided access to all the services offered by the government.
While initially the plan was to shield the boys from the media for six months to help them recover, seeing the continued frenzy in the international media, the military junta that ruled Thailand, allowed almost unfettered access to the local and international media to the boys. In October 2018, about three months after the rescue, the group was on a 17-day international tour, organized by the Thai government. The government described the purpose of the trip as a chance to “show the world how our kids are”. The first stop of the trip was at Buenos Aires in Argentina where the group took part in the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics opening ceremony. The group was invited to a meal with the International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach. In addition to watching the games, the boys played a friendly football match against a local youth team. (As reported in https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/45737808 downloaded on August 28, 2021). On their way back, they visited New York and Los Angeles. Documentary and movie deals on their ordeal were under discussion. They were hailed as heroes at home and wherever else they went.
Osatanakorn was not forgotten. He was awarded the 2018 Asia Game Changer Award, which was launched by the Asia Society in 2014, to identify and honor true leaders who made a positive contribution to the future of Asia. Speaking at the presentation ceremony on October 10, 2018, Osatanakorn said, “The mission (was conducted without regard) for race or nationality, and it united humanity. With over 10,000 people involved, even if one function was missing, we would not have been able to do it.” He concluded by saying, “I hope the experience inspires people to start living for others. That would be a game changer for the world.” (As reported in https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1555562/cave-rescue-chief-wins-us-bravery-award).
Exhibit 1 The Wild Boars Football Team
Ekkapol Chanthawong, 25 years old, coach
Adul Sam-On, 14 years old, 8th grade student at Mae Sai district’s Ban Wiang Phan school
Prajak Sutham, 14 years old, 8th grade student at Mae Sai Prasitthisart school
Natthawut Thakhamsai, 14 years old, 8th grade student at Mae Sai Prasitthisart school
Pipat Phothi, 15 years old, student at Ban San Sai school
Panumas Saeng-Dee, 13 years old, student at Mae Sai Prasitthisart school
Duangphet Promthep, 13 years old, student at Mae Sai Prasitthisart school
Chanin Viboonrungruang, 11 years old, student at Mae Sai Kindergarten school
Akarat Wongsukchan, 14 years old, student at Darunratwitthaya school
Peerapat Somphiangjai, 16 years old, student at Mae Sai Prasitthisart school
Ponchai Khamluang, 16 years old, student at Ban Pa Yang school
Somjai Jaiwong, 13 years old, student at Mae Sai Prasitthisart school
Mongkol Boonpiam, 13 years old, 7th grade student at Ban Pa Muat school
Source: Several websites [the spelling of names varies from site to site]
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