Thai cave boys to leave hospital, speak to media

Local government workers use a laptop to project released video footage of the 12 rescued “Wild Boars” by Thai government public relations department (PRD) during a press conference in Mae Sai in Chiang Rai district on July 11, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / YE AUNG THU

CHIANG RAI, Thailand – Twelve boys and their football coach rescued from a cave in Thailand will leave hospital Wednesday and speak to the media for the first time, a government spokesman said.

The “Wild Boars” football team are being discharged a day earlier than announced and authorities hope that by holding the question and answer session before they head home it will satisfy the huge interest in their story.

“The reason to hold this evening press conference is so media can ask them questions and after that they can go back to live their normal lives without media bothering them,” Thailand’s chief government spokesman Sunsern Kaewkumnerd told AFP.

But with experts warning of possible long-term distress from the ordeal inside the Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand, this will be no ordinary briefing.

The public relations department in Chiang Rai province solicited questions from news outlets ahead of time and they will be forwarded to psychiatrists for screening.

Called “Sending the Wild Boars Home” and broadcast on major television channels, the session will last for about 45 minutes, Sunsern said, adding that it would be conducted in an informal style with a moderator.

“They are likely to return home immediately after the press conference,” he said.

Doctors have advised families of the boys, aged 11 to 16, that they should avoid letting them have contact with journalists for at least one month after they are discharged.

Though they and their coach are all said to be in good mental and physical health, health officials say that additional psychological monitoring will be provided to detect lingering trauma.

The daring Thai-led international effort to rescue the “Wild Boars” captivated the world after they walked into the cave on June 23 and were trapped by rising floodwaters.

After nine days without a steady supply of food or water they were found emaciated and huddled in a group on a muddy ledge by British divers several kilometers inside Tham Luang.

Rescuers debated on the best plan to bring them out but ultimately decided on a risky operation that involved diving them through waterlogged passages while they were sedated to keep them calm and carrying them out in military-grade stretchers.

Not even the foreign cave diving specialists who took part were sure the mission would work and many expressed relief when it was all over after the final five were rescued on July 10.