Thailand soccer team found alive

Until this incident I had never considered the term "Thai Navy seals".
 
I'm going to assume they are not people to be messed with... and they've done a great job here.
 
However they kids/coach are still stuck in the cave. They are now trying to figure out how to get them out of there safely. The two main options being explored are a) teach the rescuees to learn how to use scuba gear (not ideal as I'm sure they are not in great shape at the moment) or b) waiting until the floodwaters lower a bit and sustain/treat them where they are until a less risky evac can occur.

batsbrew
was this one of the most stupid things humans could do...
 
or what?
 

Not sure what you mean. This was apparently a geological tourist site that was regularly visited by the public. Problem was it got flooded with people inside.
 
That said... spelunking is dangerous.
 
Underwater spelunking (forget the actual term)... is exponentially more dangerous. Actually one of the most lethal hobbies in the world.
 
Now if this was a GCC reference... then yes. I agree.

Beepster
 
Not sure what you mean. 

it's called a 'weather forecast'.

batsbrew

Beepster
 
Not sure what you mean. 

it's called a 'weather forecast'.

Ah. Yes, well I'm sure there is plenty of incompetance at play as well but yanno... hindsight is 20/20.
 
I should read more on this before carrying on too much but I do think it's odd some rando soccer coach had his team in these caves in the first place. IDK... I figured maybe that was the Thai equivelant to a pizza party. I know I appreciated cool nature excursions as a kid... far more than greasy arsed pizza and pitchers of fountain cola.
 
Anyhooooo... here's hoping everyone gets out safe.
 
*mindbeam of positivity*

JohnKenn
Right Beepster,
 
Drama not over yet. Got to get the kids medically stable in that hell hole. If not, we risk killing them in the effort to get them to safety. So many obstacles. Really shows what humans can do when we are at our best.
Thing about this (so far as well) is that there is something on the world news and attention that is good and inspiring. Celebrating this as a win for all of us. Those kids are our kids.

Ya, fer now I just want all those kids safe and outta there.
 
But doog dog that's gonna make one hell of a documentary/movie.
 
Can you imagine the insane cave critters that scurried up to high ground with them?
 
I mean I guess that's some food and whatnot... if you're quick enough to neutralize said critter before it jams you full of poison.
 
I'm guessing the biggest problem was potable water though... as is always the case in survival situations such as this. I am currently "suffering" 88F heat in my unconditioned apt at the moment. I can only imagine the heat in that cave.
 
Then again maybe it's cold as all heckerdoodles.
 
Either way I doubt there was any Goldilocks style "just right" temps in there.

I read the cave was a familiar place to the team. They had made trips there before. What puzzles me is (and will be answered when the coach is properly interviewed):
The group walked to the place they're at now, several kilometres from the mouth of the cave.  How did the situation develop to the present state? It's been said they were there to get temporary shelter from the rain, so they did know how the weather was, and being a local, the coach should have known the rains can collect huge amounts of water in the mountain gulches in a short time. Now the route they used that most likely is quite usable on foot, is deadly dangerous for divers. Some really poor decision made on the way, one can assume.
 
Two finnish cave divers died two years ago in a Norwegian cave, and the bodies we're left there, and diving in the cave was forbidden. International rescue team decided it's too dangerous to try to take the corpses up. A group of finnish divers, friends of the dead ones, made a rescue operation secretly and got the bodies home. The documentary of the operation is breathtaking. I can't but admire the nerves (or the lack of nerves) of those people.
 
Let's hope the end of this story is at least as happy as that of the one in Chile.

Rock and a hard place, no pun intended.
 
Nightmare of under water paths, some about only as big as a human with an oxygen tank can get through. Deadly both for the kid and the rescuer if Murphy's Law takes over somewhere along the long way out.
The overhead drill thing is almost not an option given the depth, but not off the table.
Kids said they could hear chickens and dogs barking, giving hope that there may be another passage into the place where they gathered. Would be better than the underwater drag or the wait 4 months option when waters recede. Given the depth from the surface and extreme physical/mental warp during the ordeal, hope that the kids were not just hallucinating the sounds.
 
Prayers are with everyone involved in this.
 
John
 

Apparently Elon Musk and SpaceX are making a mini kid sub to help get the kids out. They are using a liquid oxygen transfer tube from the Falcon rocket as the base for the sub. Construction expected to take 8 hours and then a 17 hour flight to Thailand.
 
http://nasawatch.com/arch.../elon-musk-will-1.html

It's great they are getting them out.