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Can anyone explain how the heck they found the children in the first place? Seriously, I can't wrap my head around it. The kids were stranded 2.5 miles inside

Can anyone explain how the heck they found the children in the first place? Seriously, I can't wrap my head around it. The kids were stranded 2.5 miles inside the cave. All anyone knew was that the kids didn't return form their hike. How does that lead to "Hey, let's dive into the cave and maybe we'll find live children"? I guess they were expecting the worst, but still.

kikowi 8y ago
They found their shoes in front of the cave.
rusk 8y ago
From what I recall, they used knowledge of the caves coupled with predictions of where they might reasonably have gone to escape the rising flood waters. It wasn't so much a stab in the dark, but it was still a very difficult and dangerous search, in the dark.
ltc5505 8y ago
They were signing their names on a wall of the cave, which was stated to be a tradition in the news reports that I read. So I think if was more like "why isn't [child] back from [explicit cave] yet?"
Puer 8y ago
The kids were known to explore that cave regularly. Presumably they had followed a consistent path into the cave (or had a destination in mind) but never got that far. Some caves are also fairly linear, but that may not have been the case here.
- taejo 8y ago
  They actually went much deeper into the cave than they intended, trying to escape the flood waters (which had already blocked their way out).
shawabawa3 8y ago
This article explains it: https://www.mamamia.com.au/how-did-the-thai-boys-get-stuck-in-cave/ https://www.mamamia.com.au/how-did-the-thai-boys-get-stuck-i... One of their class mates knew they'd gone to the cave, apparently as an initiation to the team, writing their names in the wall. Their bags were found outside the entrance They only went into the entrance of the cave but sudden monsoon rains blocked it and forced them further in as the water rose, all the way to 2.5km in to an elevated section
- fatmotherpucker 8y ago
  It was the birthday for one of the team members. To celebrate this day, the coach brought them to the cave(which was not the first time that they've been there), and they're supposed to race in to write their names at the first wall of the cave. Then heavy rain fell and water started flooding in when they tried to return. To survive, the only way is to go deeper in to the higher platform.
js2 8y ago
Partially dumb luck. - “A ranger of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation alerted authorities to the missing group after seeing their unclaimed belongings at the cave entrance.” - “Volanthen was placing guidelines in the cave to later assist others in navigation. He ran out of line, which led him to swim to the surface—there, he found the missing team and its coach.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tham_Luang_cave_rescue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tham_Luang_cave_rescue
- Waterluvian 8y ago
  Can you imagine being there for days and days and suddenly a diver pops up?
  - danso 8y ago
    9 days in the darkness, with just whatever food they brought in and no way to contact the outside world.
    - rplnt 8y ago
      I've read somewhere they thought it was quite shorter than the 9-10 days. Which is the opposite of what I would have thought.
      - gtirloni 8y ago
        Your circadian cycle gets wacky without sunlight to regulate it. I've talked to cavers that say they need to set alarm clocks otherwise they will be inside the cave for days without noticing (thinking it's hours), which can be quite dangerous if you're not getting hydrated. https://books.google.com.br/books?id=8WrmCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA154&lpg=PA154&dq=isolation+48+hour+sleep+cycle&source=bl&ots=9ZaGwdA2vt&sig=a0ADkx8aqGTKtTEJaFk7ghiR-rI&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=isolation%2048%20hour%20sleep%20cycle&f=false https://books.google.com.br/books?id=8WrmCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA154&l...
        8y ago
sandworm101 8y ago
The cave was well known and documented. They made an educated guess about what happened, where they would have fled, and where the air pockets would be.
- fatmotherpucker 8y ago
  This cave was not new to them and one of the kids didn't go because he didn't have his bike with him after soccer training. Some kids did inform the parents about it too.
stef25 8y ago
They were expecting / hoping the kids to be in this "Pattaya Beach" part of the cave. The cave had been explored before on foot during the dry season.
yani 8y ago
Some of the parents already knew whwre they kids are heading. When they did not hear from them, they alerted the authorities.
eagsalazar2 8y ago
I was surprised to hear that there were long stretches of dry walking between their location in the cave and the cave entrance. In particular there were dry stretches prior to the very nasty tiny hole they all squeezed through. I guess they were panicked and ran further than they needed to just to be extra sure?
- eagsalazar2 8y ago
  Also looking at the side-view diagrams of the cave, if they were running away from the entrance because it was starting to fill up, I'm surprised that very tight hole they crawled through wasn't also underwater at the time since it looks like it is as low or lower than the cave entrance itself. They descended to below the entrance altitude after having gained a lot of altitude. I know there are probably no answers but from the calm, adult, safety of my office I can't wrap my head around the decisions they made at all. Seems like they were running like panicked deer and then stopped because...? They couldn't run any further?
  - muriithi 8y ago
    Also the fact that they kept together. Would be interesting to know if at some point they were separated and if not, how they kept together in the dark.
    - anotheryou 8y ago
      they had a flashlight (but I think just one)
    - pbhjpbhj 8y ago
      The story I read indicated it was a planned "expedition", so presumably they had torches and such? You can't go far in pitch black in a cave and not injure yourself. It doesn't really add up as it's been told. The death of the expert diver too seems very strange.
      - celticninja 8y ago
unixhero 8y ago
Well from the beginning. The bikes were left outside within the entrance of the cave. That's a pretty positive indicator for searchers.
INTPenis 8y ago
It was a ritual for those kids to go into the cave. We're talking about 12 sets of parents and associates that knew this.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

kikowi 8y ago

They found their shoes in front of the cave.

rusk 8y ago

From what I recall, they used knowledge of the caves coupled with predictions of where they might reasonably have gone to escape the rising flood waters. It wasn't so much a stab in the dark, but it was still a very difficult and dangerous search, in the dark.

ltc5505 8y ago

They were signing their names on a wall of the cave, which was stated to be a tradition in the news reports that I read. So I think if was more like "why isn't [child] back from [explicit cave] yet?"

Puer 8y ago

The kids were known to explore that cave regularly. Presumably they had followed a consistent path into the cave (or had a destination in mind) but never got that far. Some caves are also fairly linear, but that may not have been the case here.

taejo 8y ago
They actually went much deeper into the cave than they intended, trying to escape the flood waters (which had already blocked their way out).

shawabawa3 8y ago

This article explains it: https://www.mamamia.com.au/how-did-the-thai-boys-get-stuck-in-cave/ https://www.mamamia.com.au/how-did-the-thai-boys-get-stuck-i... One of their class mates knew they'd gone to the cave, apparently as an initiation to the team, writing their names in the wall. Their bags were found outside the entrance They only went into the entrance of the cave but sudden monsoon rains blocked it and forced them further in as the water rose, all the way to 2.5km in to an elevated section

fatmotherpucker 8y ago
It was the birthday for one of the team members. To celebrate this day, the coach brought them to the cave(which was not the first time that they've been there), and they're supposed to race in to write their names at the first wall of the cave. Then heavy rain fell and water started flooding in when they tried to return. To survive, the only way is to go deeper in to the higher platform.

js2 8y ago

Partially dumb luck. - “A ranger of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation alerted authorities to the missing group after seeing their unclaimed belongings at the cave entrance.” - “Volanthen was placing guidelines in the cave to later assist others in navigation. He ran out of line, which led him to swim to the surface—there, he found the missing team and its coach.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tham_Luang_cave_rescue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tham_Luang_cave_rescue

Waterluvian 8y ago
Can you imagine being there for days and days and suddenly a diver pops up?
- danso 8y ago
  9 days in the darkness, with just whatever food they brought in and no way to contact the outside world.
  - rplnt 8y ago
    I've read somewhere they thought it was quite shorter than the 9-10 days. Which is the opposite of what I would have thought.
    - gtirloni 8y ago
      Your circadian cycle gets wacky without sunlight to regulate it. I've talked to cavers that say they need to set alarm clocks otherwise they will be inside the cave for days without noticing (thinking it's hours), which can be quite dangerous if you're not getting hydrated. https://books.google.com.br/books?id=8WrmCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA154&lpg=PA154&dq=isolation+48+hour+sleep+cycle&source=bl&ots=9ZaGwdA2vt&sig=a0ADkx8aqGTKtTEJaFk7ghiR-rI&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=isolation%2048%20hour%20sleep%20cycle&f=false https://books.google.com.br/books?id=8WrmCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA154&l...
      - 8y ago

sandworm101 8y ago

The cave was well known and documented. They made an educated guess about what happened, where they would have fled, and where the air pockets would be.

fatmotherpucker 8y ago
This cave was not new to them and one of the kids didn't go because he didn't have his bike with him after soccer training. Some kids did inform the parents about it too.

stef25 8y ago

They were expecting / hoping the kids to be in this "Pattaya Beach" part of the cave. The cave had been explored before on foot during the dry season.

yani 8y ago

Some of the parents already knew whwre they kids are heading. When they did not hear from them, they alerted the authorities.

eagsalazar2 8y ago

I was surprised to hear that there were long stretches of dry walking between their location in the cave and the cave entrance. In particular there were dry stretches prior to the very nasty tiny hole they all squeezed through. I guess they were panicked and ran further than they needed to just to be extra sure?

eagsalazar2 8y ago
Also looking at the side-view diagrams of the cave, if they were running away from the entrance because it was starting to fill up, I'm surprised that very tight hole they crawled through wasn't also underwater at the time since it looks like it is as low or lower than the cave entrance itself. They descended to below the entrance altitude after having gained a lot of altitude. I know there are probably no answers but from the calm, adult, safety of my office I can't wrap my head around the decisions they made at all. Seems like they were running like panicked deer and then stopped because...? They couldn't run any further?
- muriithi 8y ago
  Also the fact that they kept together. Would be interesting to know if at some point they were separated and if not, how they kept together in the dark.
  - anotheryou 8y ago
    they had a flashlight (but I think just one)
  - pbhjpbhj 8y ago
    The story I read indicated it was a planned "expedition", so presumably they had torches and such? You can't go far in pitch black in a cave and not injure yourself. It doesn't really add up as it's been told. The death of the expert diver too seems very strange.
    - celticninja 8y ago

unixhero 8y ago

Well from the beginning. The bikes were left outside within the entrance of the cave. That's a pretty positive indicator for searchers.

INTPenis 8y ago

It was a ritual for those kids to go into the cave. We're talking about 12 sets of parents and associates that knew this.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]