Looking back at the whole Tham Luang Cave episode, one thought struck me deeply.
What if these 13 were rich Bangkok city kids -- mummy's sweet darlings who, born with a silver spoon in their mouths, untouched by the seasons and sheltered from the falling rains, never face hardship in their lives ? Whose favourite pastime is frequenting malls, eating in fine restaurants, and chauffeur-driven to schools in Jaguars or Bentleys. How would they react to the situation?
The answer is plain and simple: They'd panic uncontrollably, scream their lungs out for dear mummy, finish their rations in two days, have no idea how to look for water from the stalactites. Not to mention how to keep calm through meditation.
That's the stuff Bangkok kids are made of. And in no more than three days they would meet their fate in this watery grave. Amen.
Norman Sr
Rescue changed a nation
Re: "Amazing 'Wild Boars' ", PostBag, July 13.
Gerry Christmas' reading was right on the dot and so mesmerising. It brought out my reaction to the clip when John Volanthen found the 13 lost souls. Somewhat like the New York Herald journalist, H M Stanley addressing Dr Livingston when he found him in East Africa: Dr Livingston, I presume?
John Volanthen admitted that the rescue was the high point of his hobby and helps answer the persistent question of why bother with caving.
Our good Australian doctor, Richard Harris, was one important factor of this perfect rescue when attempting to take them which seemed to be impossible as opined by one foreign diver to the New York Times.
The mission turned out possible with the dynamic governor Narongsak who managed the mission brilliantly and thanks to his team and the divers, without whom the infrastructure could never have been installed in time. Also many thanks to many other unsung Thai heroes, least of all not forgetting international the media for joining with us in this traumatic and joyous time.
Yes, Thailand will never be the same after this -- more liberal, kind to foreigners, and best of all, less selfish and damning of others.
Songdej Praditsmanont
Overlooked malady
Daily, about 3,000 children die worldwide of diarrhoea simply because they have no access to clean water.
There is no worldwide media hysteria about it, there are no frenetic efforts to save their lives, there are no photo-ops for "important" persons joining to save them, there are no choruses of self-aggrandisement.
There is only miserable dying in obscurity.
Karl Reichstetter
Big job goes begging
I notice one title still being optimistically attached to President Trump in coverage of recent Nato discussions is that of "leader odf the Free World". In my opinion, this is now looking increasingly inappropriate and ridiculous.
The expression "free world" was first coined during the Cold War to describe collectively the non-communist, democratic and benevolent nations of the time. The US, as the then dominant military power, quickly named itself leader of this Free World. However, since then, things have dramatically changed; we are now living in a multi-polar world where the right of the USA to claim such leadership has become highly questionable because of its government's morality.
Empires fall because of crises in morality, and watching this happening with the USA's empire of influence is distressing, for the USA is, at heart, a benevolent nation made up of kind people.
However, since the My Lai Massacre defined the ethical morass the USA fell into in Vietnam, we have since witnessed Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, extra-ordinary rendition, water-boarding, endemic police racism, refugee children separated from their mothers, and so on. There is surely a moral dimension to such Free World leadership -- it can never be just about who has the most tanks or nuclear weapons.
We have also witnessed US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Change accord, which the rest of the world continues to honour. The US also pulled out of the Iranian nuclear deal which has seen the UK, Germany and France working together to prevent its collapse.
Finally, Mr Trump now threatens to withdraw the USA from Nato. This all now begs the question, "Who now really leads the Free World?"
In 2015, Time magazine in the USA boldly declared Angela Merkel to be the "Chancellor of the Free World." Perhaps this showed that the US relalised even then that Mr Trump was not to become de facto leader of the Free World simply by becoming US president.
That is because the focus of such leadership moved quickly to somewhere else in a more civilised and less chaotically-governed Europe, whether Mr Trump in his parallel universe realises it or not.
Andy Phillips
Stateless conundrum
As three Wild Boars and the assistant coach are stateless, they cannot obtain Thai passports, without which they won't be able to leave the country and take up FIFA's offer to attend the Football World Cup final, or accept any of the generous offers made by Barcelona and other football clubs.
According to the UNHCR and other agencies, there are currently over 487,000 stateless people in Thailand, of whom over 146,000 are under 18 years of age.
Not only does statelessness limit travel, but, more importantly, it also restricts the rights of the children when it comes to accessing basic services, including healthcare.
Amid the relief and celebrations that have come with the rescue of the Wild Boars, it is important that publicity be given to the issue of stateless children in Thailand and that the government take measures to ensure that all children in the country enjoy equal rights.
N Parker
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