THAI BOYS’ NOTES TO PARENTS POIGNANT, HUMOROUS
The 12 boys trapped in a Thailand cave — now eight, along with their coach, after four were rescued Sunday — sounded calm and reassuring in handwritten notes to their families made public Saturday. The notes were sent out with divers.
One of the boys, identified as Tun, wrote: “Mom and Dad, please don’t worry, I am fine. I’ve told Yod to get ready to take me out for fried chicken. With love.”
“Don’t be worried,” wrote another boy, Mick. “I miss everyone. Grandpa, Uncle, Mom, Dad and siblings, I love you all. I’m happy being here inside, the navy SEALS have taken good care. Love you all.”
One particularly touching note from another boy said: “I’m doing fine, but the air is a little cold, but don’t worry. Although, don’t forget to set up my birthday party.”
Coach Ekapol Chanthawong apologized to the boys’ parents for the ordeal.
“To the parents of all the kids, right now the kids are all fine, the crew are taking good care. I promise I will care for the kids as best as possible. I want to say thanks for all the support and I want to apologize to the parents,” he wrote.
THAI CULTURE HELPFUL IN CRISIS, EXPERTS SAY
Mental health and medical experts have warned that even if the whole team gets out safely, they are likely to battle weeks, if not months, of mental and physical traumas. Officials had said earlier that three in the group, including the coach, were weak and malnourished. Mental health effects could include depression, anxiety, anger and an inability to adjust to normal sleep patterns, said Jacob Hyde, an assistant professor of military psychology at the University of Denver who studies reactions to isolated, confined environments.
The group’s camaraderie and Thailand’s cultural context, however, would probably help them after the ordeal, he said.
“Cultural factors have and will continue to come into play here,” Hyde said. “If this were a group of boys who didn’t know each other and were trapped in this cave, the process and outcomes would likely be quite a bit different.”
The assistant coach has been using his experience as a novice monk to help the team stay calm through meditation, officials and parents have said.
MUSK PROPOSES ‘KID-SIZE’ SUBMARINE FOR RESCUE
The California tunnel company run by Elon Musk is continuing to maintain a presence at the cave.
Sam Teller, spokesman for Boring Co., said Sunday that the company has four engineers who are “offering support in any way the government deems useful.”
On Saturday, Musk suggested a rescue employing “a tiny, kid-size submarine using the liquid oxygen transfer tube of (a) Falcon rocket as hull. Light enough to be carried by 2 divers, small enough to get through narrow gaps. Extremely robust.”
But Saturday night, he tweeted that the cave was now closed for the rescue by divers.
“Will continue testing in LA in case needed later or somewhere else in the future,” he wrote.