Wild Boars become a part of history

This time last week the rescue mission of the 12 young Wild Boars and their coach had only been half completed. They had all been found miraculously alive, but the question remained how to get them out. And in all honesty, it didn’t look great. It was a very strange, uncomfortable feeling. With heavy rains forecast, the initial joy of finding them transformed into the real fear that they could not escape what had become their watery dungeon. It was a race against time.

The fact that one brave volunteer — former navy Seal Saman Gunan — tragically died in the rescue attempt added to the growing gloom. He will long be remembered for his sacrifice.

But then after many increasingly tense days, news filtered through that one by one the boys were being carried to safety in the most treacherous conditions.

I happened to be in a Northeastern village at the time and the spontaneous cheers and applause from villagers which greeted each successful rescue really warmed the heart.

It was a wonderful example of international co-operation at a very human level, without the red tape and politics. Everyone in the rescue operation, from all countries involved, displayed calm professionalism and cannot be praised enough. In addition to the Thai Navy Seals, there were divers from Britain, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Sweden and Australia. All of them put their lives on the line. The three Thai Navy Seals and Army medic who stayed with the children once they had been found and were the last to come out deserve special mention.

For two weeks the boys’ plight had captured global attention and when the news finally broke on Tuesday evening that all of them were safe the whole world celebrated along with Thailand. The Canberra Times called it “The Great Escape’’. In Britain, where there was a lot of competing news, the rescue still made front page headlines of the Times, “Jubilation”, the Guardian, “Celebration”, while the Metro took a slightly different tack with “Lucky 13”. Who knows, maybe 13 will no longer be regarded as an unlucky number.

Word of honour

The plight of the Wild Boars also captured the imagination of the football world. Manchester United have invited them to Old Trafford, while Paul Pogba dedicated France’s World Cup win over Belgium to the Thai boys saying “this victory goes to the heroes of the day, well done boys, you are so strong”.

Many of us without a naval background also learnt a new word from the Thai Navy Seals, “Hooyah!” an expression adopted from the US Navy to build morale and confirm a job well done. This word is now definitely instilled in the Thai lexicon and may even find its way onto Scrabble boards.

One important matter which has emerged is that Coach Ek (Ekaphol Chantawong) and three of the boys — Dul, Mark and Tee — are “stateless” refugees from Myanmar, with no nationality. Hopefully that will be quickly resolved. The coach played a key role in the survival of his team.

Beware the bandwagon

It’s impossible to really appreciate what these kids have been through. There they were trapped in the cave, but they had no way of knowing if anyone was looking for them. Just imagine yourself in the same situation. What a terrible experience. And yet the whole world was waiting, watching and praying.

The hard part now is for the kids to return to a normal life. It is going to be extremely difficult. They will be in huge demand to appear on such things as TV shows and there is a danger people will want to jump on the publicity bandwagon. There needs to be close supervision in the weeks to come to ensure their mental health is not compromised.

Bang bang fever

I’ve only been to Mae Sai on one occasion and definitely did not go anywhere near Tham Luang cave. It was in the mid 1970s and although I didn’t go caving I did experience a rather unnerving incident. I had joined a couple of hundred people in a large field watching an outdoor movie, nang klang plaeng (movie in the middle of a field).

It was great fun until there was suddenly a loud bang and everybody around me fled the scene, while the giant screen was hastily dismantled. I didn’t realise what was going on until I saw this body lying nearby, the victim of a gunman. Upon hastily returning to my hotel I remember the concerned lady receptionist telling me “We have bang! bang! You no go outside.” I took her advice.

Here, there, everywhere

The purpose of my visit to Mae Sai was primarily to reach the northernmost spot in Thailand, having been to the southernmost point, Betong, 1,260 km away a couple of years before.

This is sounding a bit like the old novelty song, I’ve Been Everywhere. Originally recorded by Australian Lucky Starr in 1962 it concerned a traveller singing about all the places he had visited — “Wollongong, Geelong, Kurrajong, Mullumbimby, Mittagong, Cooranbong, Grong Grong” and so on. There were 94 towns in all, and to be frank, the song gets rather monotonous after about the 53rd town.

I don’t know if there’s ever been a Thai version but I’m sure it would be a hit if Mae Sai got a mention.