Thailand cave rescue: the Wild Boar left behind

Songpol Kanthawong didn’t join his teammates at the Tham Luang caves due to intervention from his mother.

Songpol Kanthawong was one of only two members of the Wild Boars football team who didn't go to the caves. Picture: Amanda Hodge

For two agonising weeks Songpol Kanthawong has sat glued to the television watching hour after hour of news at a time of day he would normally be out with his best friends playing soccer.

The 13-year-old boy from Mae Sai, the northern Thai border town at one corner of the infamous Golden Triangle with Laos and Myanmar, was one of only two members of the Wild Boars football team who didn’t go to the Tham Luang caves on June 23 after the team’s regular Saturday football game.

His mother had asked him not to go because she had overheard Songpol’s little brother asking if he could come too and she didn’t want the 11-year-old going into a 10km cave complex that most locals consider a dangerous and highly spiritual place.

Songpol told The Australian he didn’t argue with her because he had already heard that many people had been lost there over the years.

But every day since June 23, when the rest of his team and their coach found themselves trapped on a sandy slope 3.2km inside the cave, has been an anxious and solitary wait.

“I have felt so lonely since the day they got lost because every day after school we play soccer together,” Songpol said. “Since then I have had no one to play with and really miss my friends.”

With the rescue effort now well underway he told The Australian tonight he was concerned for his friends.

“I feel glad that they are coming out but I’m very worried that my friends are diving,” he said.

Contrary to widespread media reports over the past few weeks, Songpol said most of the boys in his team could actually swim, though with carrying degrees of proficiency.

Despite his fears for their safety in the difficult dive ahead, he said he believed they were all capable of diving their way out of the cave and that their rescuers were “well-prepared for every plan”.