# Missing Soccer Team Found Alive in Cave **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 2, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173 "2018-07-02T17:03:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/401 "2018-07-11T01:10:30Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Regarding the coach’s culpability one way or the other … [here’s an article someone linked to on another board](https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/world/thai-cave-rescue-how-the-cave-nightmare-began-ng-b88889337z). Can any Australian Dopers vouch for for the journalistic integrity of the Perth Sunday Times tabloid? 20/20 just showed a video of the coach riding his bike with the boys on the way to the cave that day. It was a regular thing the team would do. So, that report isn’t accurate that he went there later. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/402 "2018-07-11T02:01:36Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Regarding the coach’s culpability one way or the other … [here’s an article someone linked to on another board](https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/world/thai-cave-rescue-how-the-cave-nightmare-began-ng-b88889337z). Can any Australian Dopers vouch for for the journalistic integrity of the Perth Sunday Times tabloid? They got it wrong, the Assistant Coach, Ekapol, went in with them; it was the Coach who was called to look for the kids and found the bicycles at the cave’s entrance. As I mentioned before, the quality of news about Thailand reported from the outside is abysmal. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/403 "2018-07-11T02:03:01Z")
Paul Pogba is a midfielder for France; he [tweeted this](https://twitter.com/paulpogba/status/1016787181044629505) right after France beat Belgium today: > [@Paul Pogba](#): > > This victory goes to the heroes of the day, well done boys, you are so strong [praying hands] #thaicaverescue #chiangrai ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/404 "2018-07-11T02:37:24Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > As I mentioned before, the quality of news about Thailand reported from the outside is abysmal. > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Apart from the uncertainty of whether the coach led them in or went in after them, it seems unlikely they chose of their own free well to travel a whopping 2.5 miles into the cave. In Aus, that number is reported as Km. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/405 "2018-07-11T03:32:19Z")
Even if you really do think the coach is at fault: do you really think that any further punishment is necessary to prevent him from doing it again? Nature itself punished him. Unless he’s a complete moron, he’s not going to take kids into caves during the rainy season ever again. Same for deterrence: there was just a big news story about the terrible thing that can happen. Restitution is unnecessary, as that’s to the victims, who don’t want it. I can think of nothing that would be served by further punishment. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/406 "2018-07-11T03:36:06Z")
A nearby rice farmer whose paddies were ruined by the rescue efforts said, “Children are more important than rice. We can regrow rice but we can’t regrow children.” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/407 "2018-07-11T04:57:05Z")
I am glad they all made it out safely, but happy endings don’t turn me into an apologist. It is too bad teat bastard coach is not going to be punished for his irresponsible behavior that got them into the situation in the first place, not to mention one man killed. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/408 "2018-07-11T05:02:44Z")
> [@](#): > > The rescue operation to free the last of the 12 boys and their football coach from a Thailand cave could have been a disaster, with water pumps draining the area failing just hours after the last boy had been evacuated. > > Divers and rescue workers were still more than 1.5km inside the cave clearing up equipment when the main pump failed, leading water levels to rapidly increase, three Australian divers involved in the operation told the Guardian on Wednesday. > > The divers, stationed at “chamber three”, a base inside the cave, said they heard screaming and saw a rush of head torches from deeper inside the cave as workers scrambled to reach dry ground. > > Everyone, including the last three Thai navy Seals and medic who had spent much of the past week keeping vigil with the trapped boys, was out of the cave a short time later. > **[Thai cave rescue: water pumps failed just after last boy escaped](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jul/11/thailand-cave-rescue-water-pumps-failed-just-after-last-boy-escaped)** > > In the first detailed account of the mission to be published, rescuers say they heard screaming and a scramble for dry ground ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/409 "2018-07-11T07:12:29Z")
[Dr Richard Harris, an Aus anaesthestist who was reportedly the last one to exit the cave is mourning the loss of his father now.](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-11/australians-involved-with-thai-cave-rescue-dr-richard-harris/9978700) ☹ ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/410 "2018-07-11T08:25:34Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I am glad they all made it out safely, but happy endings don’t turn me into an apologist. It is too bad teat bastard coach is not going to be punished for his irresponsible behavior that got them into the situation in the first place, not to mention one man killed. . Right-o. We heard you the first time **Siam Sam**. Y’know, sometimes we just need to be thankful that all turned out well without apportioning blame? Sometimes shit happens, and thank goodness that the Assistant Coach was there to keep those kids alive for TEN DAYS. Yeah, he might have fucked up taking them IN to the cave (the jury is still out on that) but he kept them alive and well for all that time. What sort of punishment do you propose? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/411 "2018-07-11T10:51:28Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > . > > What sort of punishment do you propose? :dubious: Something worse than three weeks underground with a bunch of hungry teenagers under constant threat of drowning, starving or suffocating to death? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/412 "2018-07-11T13:46:01Z")
There is no shortage of heroes involved in this rescue, not just front line people but literally hundreds of support people. Soldiers doing the hard, slogging, dirty work. A thousand volunteers bringing food, cleaning clothes, and many more things. Down to the farmers who’s fields were flooded and crops destroyed. But I truly believe some very serious props go to the guy who coordinated the whole thing. I realize he had enormous support, but he was no doubt getting a lot of conflicting advice, pretty much continuously. There were no easy or safe choices to make, the pressure never let up, the whole world was watching. He coordinated forces from numerous countries, kept everything moving forward. There were so many ways it could have gone wrong, but he managed all that risk. Magnificently. He performed a remarkable feat under circumstance most did not believe could be overcome. My respect for him is boundless. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/413 "2018-07-11T14:44:40Z")
Who exactly was the coordinator? [Probably some of the government officials speaking were just there for the PR] ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/414 "2018-07-11T15:13:43Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Who exactly was the coordinator? [Probably some of the government officials speaking were just there for the PR] If you mean the people coordinating the actual diving missions on the scene, that was [Richard Stanton and John Volanthen](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/03/british-divers-at-heart-of-thai-cave-rescue-among-best-in-world). ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/415 "2018-07-11T15:21:26Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I am glad they all made it out safely, but happy endings don’t turn me into an apologist. It is too bad teat bastard coach is not going to be punished for his irresponsible behavior that got them into the situation in the first place, not to mention one man killed. Your continued insistence on the coach’s guilt and how deserving he is to be punished is beginning to affect my opinion of you. Unless you have a whole lot more information than the rest of us, somehow, you are basing your comments on the same information which most of us conclude isn’t enough yet to know what actually happened. As such, your posts are coming across poorly. By all means, if you have more information, please share it. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/416 "2018-07-11T15:23:09Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > There is no shortage of heroes involved in this rescue, not just front line people but literally hundreds of support people. Soldiers doing the hard, slogging, dirty work. A thousand volunteers bringing food, cleaning clothes, and many more things. Down to the farmers who’s fields were flooded and crops destroyed. > > But I truly believe some very serious props go to the guy who coordinated the whole thing. I realize he had enormous support, but he was no doubt getting a lot of conflicting advice, pretty much continuously. There were no easy or safe choices to make, the pressure never let up, the whole world was watching. He coordinated forces from numerous countries, kept everything moving forward. There were so many ways it could have gone wrong, but he managed all that risk. Magnificently. > > He performed a remarkable feat under circumstance most did not believe could be overcome. My respect for him is boundless. Very well said, **elbows** ; I concur. > [@PastTense](#): > > Who exactly was the coordinator? [Probably some of the government officials speaking were just there for the PR] [An AP article](https://apnews.com/adcc59fb17d8486180dc46b89ca6883d/The-Latest:-Medic,-divers-who-stayed-with-boys-leave-cave) mentioned > [@](#): > > The official who led the Thai cave rescue says the medic and three Thai navy SEAL divers who stayed with the trapped boys after they were found have left the flooded cave. > > He says they are all in strong condition. > > A daring rescue mission in the treacherous confines of the flooded cave in northern Thailand saved all 12 boys and their soccer coach who were trapped deep inside, ending an 18-day ordeal on Tuesday. > > **The leader of the operation, Chiang Rai acting Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn** , said, “We did something nobody thought possible.” ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/417 "2018-07-11T16:06:08Z")
When he spoke at the press conference yesterday he spent close to twenty minutes just thanking various government branches, international assistance, volunteers, farmers etc, etc. He was quite humble about his own role. But no one could look at the logistics involved and not be stunned at his achievement, I should think. I can only imagine how many opinions there must have been on every decision. His nation is currently deeply divided politically, and he just kept stressing that success lay in coming together, uniting. He was kinda awesome. Those are some broad f\*\*\*\*\*\*g shoulders. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/418 "2018-07-11T17:22:06Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Your continued insistence on the coach’s guilt and how deserving he is to be punished is beginning to affect my opinion of you. Unless you have a whole lot more information than the rest of us, somehow, you are basing your comments on the same information which most of us conclude isn’t enough yet to know what actually happened. As such, your posts are coming across poorly. > > By all means, if you have more information, please share it. Agreed. According to various accounts, the cave was not yet closed, the boys had explored the cave before and it was familiar, and the parents had given permission for the field trip. Bad luck happens. I think that the kids would be far more traumatized by something bad happening to the coach, or him being punished for keeping them alive, than by the whole cave ordeal. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/419 "2018-07-12T00:03:48Z")
I was surprised to hear that the boys were sedated and in something like a stretcher while they were pulled out. Apparently no swimming required of them. [BBC report via YT](https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=770lsq5t5_A) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173/420 "2018-07-12T00:39:36Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Your continued insistence on the coach’s guilt and how deserving he is to be punished is beginning to affect my opinion of you. Unless you have a whole lot more information than the rest of us, somehow, you are basing your comments on the same information which most of us conclude isn’t enough yet to know what actually happened. As such, your posts are coming across poorly. > > By all means, if you have more information, please share it. I also agree with you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-soccer-team-found-alive-in-cave/817173.md?page=22)