SOCCER PRACTICE FOR the Moo Pa (Wild Boars) soccer team had just ended when assistant coach Ekkapol Chantawong or “Ek"-suggested that he and the players take refuge from the simmering midafternoon heat by exploring the Tham Luang cave. Ek, a boyish 25 and more big brother to the kids than drill sergeant, heard no complaints. The cave, at the base of a mountain in northern Thailand, was a favorite hangout.
So that Saturday, June 23, 2018, at noon, the Moo Pa jumped on their bikes and rode the half-hour to Tham Luang. Parking their bikes outside, they entered the cave, passing a sign that warned in large red letters in Thai and English that from July to November was flooding season for the cave.
Coach Ek wasn't worried; it was June and the monsoon rains that could flood the cave's channels were still weeks away. Behind him were 12 players who, like many Thais, went by nicknames: Night, 17; Tee, 16; Note and Nick, 15; Bew, Adul, and Tern, 14; Dom, Pong, Mark, and Mick, 13; and Titan, 11.
The mouth of the cave was large enough to fit the Taj Mahal. Mud stains 20 feet up showed the highwater mark of previous years' floods. Walking farther into the cave-their way lit by flashlights-the team climbed over boulders, slid down steep slopes, walked through puddles, and ducked at those points when the ceiling was only a few feet high. About a mile in, they turned left at a T-junction and climbed down into a bowl-shaped recess. Their destination: Pattaya Beach, a sandbar named after a Thai resort area, more than a third of a mile farther in.
About 15 minutes later, they reached Pattaya Beach and stopped for a break. Titan, experiencing the cave for the first time, was creeped out by the dark and the spooky shadows cast by their flashlights. But he didn't dare tell the older boys.
Coach Ek checked his watch; they'd been in the cave about an hour. It was time to head back.
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