13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

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Gaybutton
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Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

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See several more photos and article: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/ ... l/30350171
fountainhall

Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

Post by fountainhall »

There are calls in the UK for their cave divers to be awarded the George Cross or the George Medal. Others suggest they should be offered knighthoods.
Writing on Twitter, former Tory Party treasurer Lord Ashcroft said the divers should be awarded the George Cross or George Medal – the highest civilian honour in the UK and Commonwealth.

Businesswoman Tracey Follows tweeted: “Knighthoods for the British divers involved please. True bravery and superhero status.”

Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan added: “Proud of the England football team. But that’s just sport. More proud of the seven British divers that have helped save all those boys’ lives.”
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/98758 ... -proud-mum
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Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

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fountainhall wrote:There are calls in the UK for their cave divers to be awarded the George Cross or the George Medal. Others suggest they should be offered knighthoods.
They certainly deserve far more than a 'thanks a lot and see ya later.'
fountainhall

Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

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There is another perceptive opinion piece in The Guardian following publication of the solemn photo of the boys with the print of the Navy SEAL who died.

Image
Where are the fists raised in triumph? Where are the big front-page grins? A photograph released by the Thai health ministry of the 12 boys rescued against all odds from the depths of the flooded Tham Luang cave is a picture editor’s nightmare and a human marvel. Instead of raucous celebration, this is a picture about memory and mourning. In an age with the attention span of a US president, these boys can see beyond the amnesia of happy endings.

They are gathered with respect around a portrait of Saman Kunan, who died in the otherwise successsful effort to save them. Kunan, a former navy Seal, was placing spare oxygen in underwater passages when his own air ran out. In the photograph, the children and teenagers he died for show their unfeigned understanding of the scale of his sacrifice. Not a single face reveals a hint of a false note. Amid the relief and joy of a rescue beyond what seemed possible, here is an image of absolute truth. Yes, it was a success, but a man is dead. His portrait is cherished by those he helped to save with a sincerity that cuts through the routine dishonesty of our time.

For the gravity in these young faces is surely not only a moment of remembrance. It is the truth about their ordeal. There will be smiles, of course, and so there should be. Hopefully, they will be laughing soon as if the whole thing never happened. Yet that is their business. It is not their job to smile for the world when they have just been to hell and back. How did they manage to keep sane and calm for nine days underground? How did the rescuers maintain their hope that somehow the lost football team were still alive?

Perhaps because human beings are at their best when they are truly tested. Perhaps also because the darkness and isolation of being far underground in a rocky world forces a sense of our shared existence as a species. Only the courage and love of strangers who stopped being strangers could light up that darkness. It is recognition of this overwhelming spirit of altruism that makes for such a powerful moment. The respect the saved show for Kunan is one more layer of human goodness in this adventure that reminds us how much better we could all be.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/shortc ... aman-kunan
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Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

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They should be honoured officially of course. After all they honoured half the England cricket team for winning a couple of cricket matches against Australia a few years back. I know which I rate the more substantive feat.
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Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

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BANGKOK (Reuters) - The 12 Thai boys and soccer coach who were rescued from a flooded cave will be discharged from hospital on Wednesday and hold a news conference the same day to satisfy huge media interest in their story, a government official said.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/thailands-re ... 30730.html

I hope this part turns out to be true:

"The authorities have been concerned about the impact of sudden fame and media attention on the boys' mental health, so Wednesday's news conference will be carefully controlled.

Journalists will submit questions in advance which will be vetted by a psychologist. Approved questions will be put to the boys by a moderator.

"We arrange it so that, after that, the boys can go back to their regular lives," Sansern said".

This is encouraging:

"Passakorn Bunyalak, deputy governor of the province of Chiang Rai, said the boys would be sent home after the news conference and he was requesting their parents and journalists to hold off interviews for about 30 days.

"At this early stage, we are trying to get media not to bother the boys," he told Reuters, adding that they were protected by Thailand's Child Protection Act.

An article in the act protects those under 18 from media coverage that would cause emotional and reputational injury."
fountainhall

Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

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For info, the media conference is scheduled for 6:00 pm this evening and will be broadcast locally through the governmental TV Pool programme “Thailand Move Forward”.
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Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

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fountainhall wrote:For info, the media conference is scheduled for 6:00 pm this evening and will be broadcast locally through the governmental TV Pool programme “Thailand Move Forward”.
Maybe within the next few days a video of the conference will be available with translations and/or subtitles.
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Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

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I am guessing, but since taking charge the present Thai government has had a shortish daily programme at 6:00 pm which interrupts regular programming on many channels, including many True-Visions channels. I suspect this media conference will be shown in its place. As with other hospital updates on the boys condition, I expect there will be English translation. I'll be watching and report back.

We know that questions have to be submitted in advance and many - as for example those about of their experience in the cave - will be vetoed as the psychiatrists do not want the boys to re-live bad memories at this earlier stage.
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Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

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This is the Australian documentary we've been seeing quotes from for the last day or so. I think it's extraordinary.

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