The Boys in the Cave Page 28
Photo Section
The “Wild Boars” soccer team bicycle group. Coach Eakapol is at the far left wearing helmet and sunglasses. From left to right: Eakapol Jantawong (EK) / 24; Chanin Viboonrungruang (TITAN) / 11; Prachak Sutham (NOTE) / 14; Phiphat Phothi (NICK) / 15; Phonchai Khamlu-ang (TEE) / 16; Somphong Jaiwong (PONG) 13; Phanumas Saengdee (MICK) / 12; Natthawut Thakhamsong (Tern) / 14; Adul Samon (ADUL) / 14; Mongkhon Boonpiam (MARK) / 13. Seated left to right: Duangphet Phromthep (DOM) / 13; Ekkarat Wongsukchan (BIW) / 13.
(Courtesy of the Thai government) The mouth of the Tham Luang cave in Mae Sai Thailand. Its first room can fit a Boeing 747.
(Courtesy of Petpom Tolmuang) An image taken from the back end of Chamber One looking toward the mouth of the cave. The flooding has begun. From July through December or January the entirety of the cave is flooded.
(Courtesy of Vernon Unsworth) Mae Sai Prasitsart School. Twenty-eight hundred students attend, including at least six members of the Wild Boars.
(Courtesy of the author) Tham Luang Park Ranger discovers one of the boys’ soccer bags. Inside are some phones, clothes, and Wild Boars jerseys.
(Courtesy of Petpom Tolmuang) Pumping operation at Tham Tsai Tong. Engineers lowered the water table of the entire region in an effort to expedite the draining of floodwaters from the cave.
(Courtesy of Thanet Natisri) The author interviews Governor Naronsak Osatanakorn, the Incident Commander of what would soon become a massive search and rescue operation for the boys.
(Courtesy of ABC News/Robert Zepeda) British caver Vernon Unsworth briefing leading Thai officials including Interior Minister Anupong Poachinda on June 26. It was at this meeting that he warned officials a rescue dive would be necessary to save the boys.
(Courtesy of Vernon Unsworth) From left to right: Caver Rob Harper and rescue divers John Vollanthen and Rick Stanton.
(Courtesy of Vernon Unsworth) A submerged section of the cave between Chambers One and Two.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) The muddy, hose-crowded steps leading up to the mouth of the cave. In the green hut at the top right corner of the picture is one of the Spirit Temples of the Sleeping Princess.
(Courtesy of Asaf Zmirly) USAF 353 Special Operations Group Major Charles Hodges shaking hands with Maj Gen Bancha Duriyaphan, commander of the 37th Military District who led efforts to find alternate ways of extracting the boys, such as drilling an escape shaft or discovering an unknown entrance to the cave.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force/Captain Jessica Tait) Thai troops carrying supplies to the mouth of the cave, past a giant mobile generator.
(Courtesy of Asaf Zmirly) USAF Special Tactics operator at a helicopter landing zone being cleared from the jungle above the cave. It was part of an unsuccessful effort to drill rescue tunnels to the boys.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) USAF Special Tactics operator Master Sergeant Derek Anderson (with pen) and Major Hodges, going over a hand-drawn map of the cave.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force/Captain Jessica Tait) Thanet Natisri explaining his water drilling efforts to Colonel Singhanat Losuya of the Thai 37th Military District based out of Chiang Rai. Col. Losuya would later play a critical role in advocating for a rescue dive.
(Courtesy of Thanet Natisri) Members of the Chiang Mai climbing team taking a break from scoping out possible alternative entrances to the cave. From right to left, Josh Morris is third in. Mario Wild (glasses and hat) is eighth in from right to left.
(Courtesy of Chiang Mai Rock Climbing Adventures—CRMCA) USAF Special Tactics Captain Mitch Torrel speaks to members of the Thai Navy. Torrel was ultimately tasked with commanding U.S. operations in Chamber Three, including removing the boys from the water and assessing their medical condition.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force/Captain Jessica Tait) Ben Reymenants pointing at a map of the cave route with Australian and American troops, including USAF Special Tactics captain Mitch Torrel, looking on.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force/Captain Jessica Tait) The only way to ferry equipment into the cave is on the shoulders of soldiers or rescue workers. It would typically take rescuers carrying gear ninety minutes to walk, crawl and wade from the mouth of the cave to the end of Chamber Three.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) Monk Boonchum Nanasamavara, of the “Thai Forest Tradition,” is particularly revered in the north of Thailand, parts of Laos, and Burma. The monk (with maroon head covering) and his followers walk barefoot in the ankle-deep mud. He prophesied that all of the boys would be found and rescued.
(Courtesy of Asaf Zmirly) Petty Officer Saman Gunan. The ex–Navy Seal died during a diving operation in the cave late on July 5.
(Courtesy of Noppera Bosri) The author reporting for ABC News outside of the cave.
(Courtesy of ABC News/Chris Geerdes) On the night of July 2, after Vollanthen and Stanton found the boys in Chamber Nine, the Seals, the Brits, European divers and American representatives met to discuss rescue options. At that point Vollanthen and Stanton considered a rescue dive impossible.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) Stanton’s girlfriend, Amp, and Stanton prepare a map for a presentation with Thai leaders.
(Courtesy of Rick Stanton) USAF Sergeant Major Derek Anderson briefing Thailand’s Interior Minister, members of the Royal Guards, Thai military leaders, Governor Narongsak, and others about a possible rescue plan on the night of Friday, July 6, 2018.
(Courtesy of CMRCA) Hodges fits a young local boy with a positive pressure mask. Since the rescuers couldn’t try the masks on the boys trapped in the cave, they had to test the masks on local boys of a similar age.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) Saturday, July 7, divers practice the rescue dives with local boys at a Mae Sai pool. Note the large dive tank attached to the boy’s chest.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) Divers with scuba gear at Chamber Three.
(Courtesy of Asaf Zmirly) Rehearsal of Concept (ROC) Drill. Those water bottles represent air tanks, and the chairs represent chambers along the rescue route. Rescuers walked through multiple times on Saturday, July 7, to rehearse the choreography.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) Stanton preparing to dive food to the boys. The Thai officers with rocks in their hands are helping him make the tube neutrally buoyant by weighing it down.
(Courtesy of Rick Stanton) USAF Special Tactics Sergeant Sean Hopper briefs members of the Chiang Mai ropes and climbing team.
(Courtesy of CMRCA) Some of the hundreds of air tanks and compressors at camp.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) Map of dive route and distances between chambers.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) Thai diver at the bottom of the first chamber. Note: one of the very few benefits of all that mud was that it made it easier to keep air tanks upright.
(Courtesy of Asaf Zmirly) Rescuers in waist-high water near Chamber Two.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) Part of the elaborate rope systems set up in Chamber Two operated by USAF Special Tactics operators and members of the CMRCA.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) A boy being lowered on one of the rope systems in Chamber Two. This image shows the difficulty of the terrain, especially in this part of the boulder field in Chamber Two.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) One of the boys placed on a floating litter and taken over a partially flooded area.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) USAF Special Tactics operators carrying a boy in a Skedco through part of Chamber Two. Note the sharp decline on the right side of the picture.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) Rope system lowering a boy in a Skedco to a Thai SEAL.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) Close-up of a boy in a Skedco. Note the air tank filled with oxygen near his left leg. The positive pressure mask was left on the boys and coach during the entirety of the rescue.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) Thai rescuers bringing a Skedco down stairs near Chamber One.
(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) Author reporting as the fir
st ambulance, carrying fifteen-year-old Note, leaves the cave site.
(Courtesy of ABC News/ Robert Zepeda) Thanet tinkering with Elon Musk’s escape pod. While rescuers said it was impractical for the Thai cave rescue, Stanton believes it could be used in future rescues.
(Courtesy of Thanet Natisri) The boys’ families thank rescuers after the rescue on July 10, 2018. Josh Morris, with hand on heart, translates.
(Courtesy of CMRCA) The author interviewing Master Sergeant Anderson at Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan.
(Courtesy of ABC News /Robert Zepeda) Chiang Mai climbing team and rescue divers pose for a post-rescue picture. Back row, from left to right: Connor Roe, Jim Branchley, Chris Jewell, John Vollanthen, Craig Challen, Dr. Richard Harris, Sirachet “Add” Kongsingh (Chiang Mai climbing), Gary Mitchell (BCRC), Rick Stanton, Vernon Unsworth, Martin Ellis, Mike Clayton (BCRC), (on the far right in green shirt) Josh Morris. Bottom row, from left to right: Adithep Khamsri (Thep), Jason Mallinson, Jim Warny, Nappadon Uppakham (Taw), Archan Nawakul (Toto), Jarundech Tongnak (Jojo) Mario Wild, and Corporal Phanlop Boonkham.
(Courtesy of CRMCA) Some of the boys at the Wat Doi Wao temple in the weeks after the rescue. After their rescue, the twelve boys became apprentice monks for nine days as a way to honor ex–Navy SEAL Saman Gunan.
(Courtesy of the author)
About the Author
MATT GUTMAN is the Chief National Correspondent for ABC News, and the host of the Saturday morning show Sea Rescue. A veteran journalist once held captive on the job, he has spent part of his career researching and reporting on human survival against impossible odds. He lives in Los Angeles with his family. The Boys in the Cave is his first book.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Copyright
Original survey of Tham Luang by Association Pyrénéenne de Spéléologie (1987). Surveys of Monk’s Series, Tham Nang Non series, and Main Cave extensions by Vern Unsworth, Rob Harper, and Phil Collett (2014–2016). Composite survey of cave system by Martin Ellis (2018).
THE BOYS IN THE CAVE. Copyright © 2018 Matt Gutman. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
Cover design by Mumtaz Mustafa
Cover photograph © xinhua Xinhua / eyevine/Redux
Digital Edition NOVEMBER 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-290993-0
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-290991-6
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* Most of the boys also spoke the local Thai dialect, which is as distinct from the Thai spoken in Bangkok as Portuguese is to Spanish. In fact, partly due to its proximity to Laos and Myanmar, there are seven languages spoken in Chiang Rai province.
* Not to be confused with Chiang Rai. The confusion is so widespread that a leading American broadcaster mistakenly sent its lead engineer to the wrong city. Nobody could figure out why they couldn’t find him at the airport. Eventually he took a four-hour van ride to the right city.
* He did not take a picture of the arrow, and in retrospect it makes little sense that the boys would have drawn it as a distress signal at the T-junction: on the way in they would not have been under duress, and had they made it there on the return trip they could have just walked out of the cave.
* Some of the foreign teams that would later arrive at the search-and-rescue dispute that they ever made it that far.
* “Cockwomble” is a Britishism for a fool.
* The most likely answer to Fox’s question is that the soldiers, from various branches of the British military, wanted to go caving and maybe do a little training, but wanted to avoid the red tape of going through official channels.
* Later Reymenants would say, “I had no idea I had gotten within several hundred meters of the boys!” Several officials, divers, and others indecently offered the same retort: “Bullshit, he didn’t get that far.”
* There were reports that divers managed to get them sticky rice, pork, and milk—just one of dozens of false reports about the boys’ time in the cave.
* Small manufacturers give their inventions creative names. Take, for instance, Doctor Duncan’s Decidedly Dodgy Diving Device—or D6—a chest-mounted rebreather.
* The amount of runoff produced by the few tiny communities atop the mountain was likely negligible.
* For an entertaining read and a good primer on Australian cave diving and Wet Mule antics, check it out for yourself: www.wetmules.com.
* Sinkholes are often formed on the surface when a cave ceiling collapses from gravity as acidic water eats away at the limestone above it. They are often excellent indicators of a possible cave shaft.
* I am confident the source was speaking in good faith and was not attempting an elaborate misdirection.
* It was actually the generic form of Xanax, called alprazolam, but for the sake of simplicity, let’s just call it Xanax.
* The full face mask acted like a breathing tube, but it was so bulky it made putting a helmet on the boys impractical. There was also a concern that if the helmet knocked against a rock it would break the mask’s seal.
* Unlike Mallinson and the other divers, the boys would not be able to equalize their air pressure.
* Harris said this at the Swan Trauma 2018 Conference.
* Rasmussen likely knew this only intuitively, but studies have shown that patients in narcosis—or even in comas—can hear. Hearing is the last sense to go when the body shuts down, whether from induced narcosis, injury, illness, or medical procedure. And while it may only be a one-way conversation, those who have emerged from these near-vegetative states say they definitely heard conversation. In addition, ketamine sedation is sometimes used for auditory tests on young children who might not be able to communicate or are too jumpy for conventional tests.
* The Israeli phone system was returned to the company after the boys were found on July 2.
* Musk’s representatives say he was “encouraged by army and navy leaders on site” to go in.
* A Wi-Fi router had been set up in Chamber Three, allowing the rescue teams to communicate with headquarters. It apparently also made it possible for some of the workers or rescuers to leak real-time information about the rescue’s progress.
* The artist’s color version of the portrait appears in the photo insert of this bo
ok.