“The Rescue” – What really happened inside Tham Luang caves?

 

We all followed the events of the cave rescue. We think we know what happened. But we don’t.

“The Rescue”, by directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, has peered behind the heroic narrative that was cultivated at the time of the Chiang Rai Tham Luang cave rescue in July 2018.

13 young men – 12 teenagers and their 24 year old soccer coach – rode their bikes to the Tham Luang Caves in Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand, for a quick excursion following training of the Mu Pa (wild boars) team. It was Saturday, June 23, 2018. Following torrential monsoonal rain, trapping the team inside, they wouldn’t be seen for a harrowing 9 days, until a team of volunteer cave divers happened upon them. This film explains how improbable finding them was.

It would be another 8 days before an unlikely, and totally implausible, rescue mission eventually brought them all out. Alive.

“The Rescue” shows that this first happenstance, finding the young men, and then actually getting them out alive, was much, much more tenuous and complicated than anyone wanted to admit at the time. The world media gravitated to the compelling human stories – the lost boys, the international co-operation, the worried families, the personalities – to weave and broadcast daily 3 minute grabs about heroism, Thai culture and hope.

We now know the reality was very different. Touched on in the film “The Cave”, the whole search, and then rescue, was a mess of Thai politics, misplaced pride and incompetence. Not a popular conclusion to come to, but without the international volunteer cave divers that were flown in (reluctantly by many of the Thais leading the mission), the 12 teenagers and their coach would have surely perished. Even the valiant and well-trained Thai Navy Seals were completely unprepared for a mission so fraught with danger and outside of their standard training.

“The Rescue” has been skilfully crafted and co-directed by Academy Award winners Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (“Free Solo”) to authentically recreate the situation inside the caves, then use interviews with the cave divers to retell the story. The recreated scenes are seamlessly interwoven with real video at the time.

And you will learn things you never knew about the mission, particularly about the almost impossible method of extraction that, even by their best estimates, had a minuscule chance of success. But, in the end, it was the only chance they had.

Rick Stanton was a retired British firefighter who had spent 40 years diving deep into lonely, claustrophobic caves around the world. Fortuitously, his girlfriend was a resident of Chiang Rai, so he heard about the search situation early on. Rick teamed with another cave diving mate, John Volanthen, to fly to northern Thailand to see if they could help.

There are also never-before-seen conversations between the divers, that chanced upon the team on Day 9 of the search, totally different and revealing compared to the short snippets we saw at the time.

The clips, from Rick’s phone camera, tell us a lot more about the divers and their fears. And the calmness and composure of the trapped young men. We see his attempt to rally the spirits of the 13 team members before saying goodbye with a promise of imminent rescue.

In one of the interviews Rick Stanton, slowly swimming back through the maze of jagged rocks, mud and swirling waters to the cave mouth, realised, having found them, that it would be virtually impossible to get them out.

“Looking into their faces I realised we might be the only ones that ever see them. What in earth are we going to do now?”

Another revelation is the rescue, a few days before the effort to extract the team began, of a smaller rescue of four adults stuck inside the cave. They would have to swum out where they would be immersed in the caves muddy waters for 30-40 seconds. Some of the adults, even after the process was thoroughly explained, panicked, ripping off their face mask. If not for the brevity of the dive, and the professionalism of the divers, they would have drowned.

For the 13 soccer team members trapped 2 kilometres inside the cave, they were a lot younger and they would be underwater for up to 2 to 3 hours! How could this even be possible?

“We were brutally honest, we promised multiple fatalities.”

For the re-enactments, Vasarhelyi and Chin used Rick, John and other divers who were involved in the rescue – the actors playing themselves and their frightening predicament. It also follows the completely outrageous idea from 2 Australian doctors (also cave divers) who came up with an implausible solution to extract the young men.

It’s visceral, raw and real. Highly recommended.

Source - The Thaiger

Our VISA AGENT

VIDEO

Tiger Woods says travel concerns led him to skip Saudi event

Tiger Woods's decision not to play the European Tour's inaugural Saudi International was based on a desire to limit his travel, the 14-time major champion said Wednesday.

"I haven't really played a lot overseas and I turned the opportunity to go to Saudi Arabia down last summer," Woods told reporters on the eve of the US PGA Tour's Genesis Open.

The tournament and players who opted to go to came in for criticism because of the country's human rights record, and especially the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate in June.

Woods indicated his decision had nothing to do with politics, saying it was made "well before anything had transpired".

"I just think, I'm trying to keep the traveling down to a minimum and just focus on our tour," Woods said.

Source - TheJakartaPost

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#Thailand - Princess is Thai Raksa Chart’s sole candidate for Prime Minister

Princess Ubolratana, who relinquished her royal status in 1972, was named on Friday by the Thai Raksa Chart Party, a major ally of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, as its sole candidate to be the next Prime Minister.

While the constitution allows parties to include a maximum of three people in their list of PM candidates, Thai Raksa Chart submitted a list containing only the princess’s name to the Election Commission. 

Party leader Preechaphol Pongpanit said that everything was in accordance with the Constitution - the fact that an immediate member of the royal family was now Thai Raksa Chart’s candidate for Prime Minister would not give it any advantage over its rivals, he said.

Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi is the eldest daughter of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej and older sister of HM King Maha Vajiralongkorn. 

Her candidacy will only become official after the EC has verified and approved her eligibility to stand for PM, according to Preechaphol.

“One of the party members proposed her name during an executive meeting,” he said. “And she was kind and accepted our invitation.”

Princess Ubolratana posted details of her recent work in the north to her Instagram account on Friday morning. The post included the message: “We’ll walk together.”

It is the first time in recent Thai political history that an immediate member of the Royal Family has taken part in parliamentary politics but Ubolratana has shown a strong connection with the Shinawatra clan for a long time. 

Thaksin was toppled from the premiership by a military coup in 2006, while his sister Yingluck Shinawatra was ousted by another coup in 2014.

That coup was led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, who has also been listed by the Phalang Pracharat Party as its PM candidate in the March 24 election.

Source - TheNation 

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#Thailand - Prayut ignored report on Yingluck’s UK asylum bid

PRIME MINISTER General Prayut Chan-o-cha did not pay attention to report that former premier Yingluck Shinawatra would seek asylum overseas because it was a personal matter, Government spokesperson Lt-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said yesterday.

Sansern said Prayut showed no interest in the matter because he was focused on his obligation to legal enforcement, which in this case involved attempts to have the fugitive ex-leader extradited to serve her prison time under the Thai justice system. Concerned agencies, Sansern added, have been working within local and international law to proceed with the case.

Sansern confirmed that the Foreign Affairs Ministry had unofficially acknowledged that Yingluck had travelled to the United Kingdom, but whether she would seek asylum there was her personal business. 

Criteria for asylum seeking in the destination country would be taken into consideration in her case, the spokesperson said.

Yingluck was sentenced in absentia on Wednesday to five years’ imprisonment for malfeasance involving her administration’s fraudulent government-to-government rice deals. 

She disappeared from public view in the days before August 25, when the verdict in her case was first due to be read.

On Thursday, Prayut said that Yingluck was in Dubai, where her brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, has reportedly been living in self-exile.

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Some international news outlets, including CNN, said she was in London and seeking political asylum in the UK, citing their source as her Pheu Thai Party.

The British Embassy in Thailand, told The Nation that “the [UK] Home Office does not comment on whether an individual is in the UK or not”. 

Thaksin and his family are said to be staying in London in a house worth Bt260-million. None of the family has so far have indicated whether Yingluck is also in the UK capital. 

A legal source had told The Nation that an individual has full rights to seek political asylum in a destination country with which he or she has some connection. The host country might take diplomatic relations into consideration, he said, noting that it has the full authority to grant or reject any application. 

Thaksin’s eldest daughter Pintongta on Friday posted on her Instagram account, showing her twin daughters asking her why they never met their grandpa Thaksin in Thailand. She was apparently posting from London, saying she had made the right decision to make a trip to be with her father at a difficult time.

Thaksin’s daughters have been posting family photos along with morale-booting messages since mid-September before the court verdict was eventually issued against Yingluck.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry has received a letter from the Royal Thai Police requesting it to revoke Yingluck’s passport.

The ministry is now considering the matter following its regulations concerning passport issuance, according to Busadee Santipitaks, the ministry’s spokesperson and chief of the Department of Information.

Meanwhile, the Suan Dusit Poll has surveyed opinions of around 1,000 respondents nationwide on the impacts of the court verdict on Thai politics and reconciliation.

Around 33 per cent, the highest share, said the verdict had quite an effect on reconciliation efforts as major parties and their members would not give their cooperation in future political activities. About 24 per cent viewed that it would greatly affect reconciliation efforts, as the rift among groups would be widened. Around 21 percent viewed that it would not have much impact because the government could control the situation and this was a personal matter, while the people just wanted to see peace and order.

Around 37 per cent viewed that the verdict would have quite an effect on politics because different groups would use the issue to attack one another. Around 27 per cent viewed that it would greatly affect politics as it has directly impacted on politicians’ credibility, and politics from now on would be under close watch. Only 19 per cent viewed that it would not affect politics much and the government could control the situation.

Source - TheNation

#Thailand - Will Shinawatras stir the political pot from abroad?

SIBLINGS Thaksin and Yingluck, fugitives from justice, will reunite somewhere abroad. But will they join hands to turn the world against Thailand, or emerge as a threat to the junta? Jintana Panyaarvudh and Kasamakorn Chanwanpen analyse the possibilities.

THE DUST has yet to settle on the dramatic escape of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra late last month and the whole speculation about her whereabouts. All leads point to the former PM joining her brother in exile in either Dubai or London.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha revealed on Thursday that according to information he had received Yingluck was in Dubai. 

Dubbed “The City of Superlatives”, Dubai was not a surprise choice for Yingluck to escape the Thai justice system. Her brother, former PM Thaksin, has a villa in the Gulf city whose stunning growth from a sleepy port to a world-famous business crossroads within a single generation has been a spectacular success story.

Thaksin chose Dubai as his home base in 2008 because of its convenience, Isra News Agency quoted from “Conversations with Thaksin”, a book written by American Tom Plate, who interviewed him in 2010.

Thaksin was sentenced in absentia to two years in jail in 2008 for conflict of interest during his five years in office. 

 The residence is located in the exclusive Emirates Hills, a gated community in Dubai named after Beverly Hills. Emirates Hills is largely home to the expatriate community of Dubai, as it consists of the first freehold properties that were sold in the city.

 

The 68-year-old former PM told the author he likes Dubai as he feel like he is at the centre of the world. From there, he can travel around the world and as it is not too far from Thailand, his families and friends can also visit him.

The book described his house as a seven-bedroom, two-storey-plus-basement villa with adequate room to accommodate the occasional visiting relative.

During the past decade, Thaksin has always welcomed visits from his family, many of his former MPs and supporters at his villa. 

If government information is to be believed, this is the second time the Shinawatra siblings had reunited after his sister was toppled by the coup in May 2014.

The elder brother and sister reunited in July 2014 for the first time in Paris for Thaksin’s 65th birthday celebrations. Yingluck was permitted by the junta to go on a 20-day trip to Europe. 

But it is believed Thailand’s first female prime minister may not be too comfortable in the heat of the Gulf country where temperatures fluctuate between 10 degrees Celsius in winter to 48 degrees in the scorching summer. Yingluck may prefer to spend her time in London, which has a climate very different from Dubai.

CNN and Reuters reported that Yingluck is now in London and seeking asylum there, although the government contradicted that report. Speculation that Yingluck may choose the UK for life in exile makes sense, as Thaksin owns a manor in Surrey, near London, worth more than Bt260 million.

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Recently, Thaksin’s daughters Pintongta and Paetongtarn posted their photos with their father in London since September 15 on social media. However, there is still no sign of Yingluck.

Irrespective of which city the two siblings set up their base in, their political future appears dim. 

The door for a political comeback seems to have been almost shut on the two siblings after a new organic law on the criminal procedures for political office holders came into effect last Friday.

If the 50-year-old Yingluck wants to appeal against her five-year imprisonment sentence for negligence in preventing corruption and irregularities in her government rice-pledging scheme, she will be required to appear in court in person. An arrest warrant has been issued for her after her conviction.

The law also affects Thaksin as it allows the prosecution to ask the court to bring four cases related to him for trial in the court in absentia and there would also be no statute of limitations for the cases.

Irrespective of whether they choose Dubai or London, the real question is whether the Shinawatra siblings, who lie at the centre of Thailand’s political conflict, would together make active political moves from abroad. Thaksin used the strategy of “turning the world against Thailand” in his initial years in self-exile.

Critics believe the two siblings have limitations in making moves to attack the junta.

Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the Faculty of Political Science at Ubon Ratchathani University, said that the recent remarks of Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan seemed to suggest there was a deal between the Shinawatras and the military under which Yingluck would not to make any political moves.

“In the current political circumstances, the power and influence of the Shinawatras are limited by the military and the ongoing anti-Shinawatra sentiment, especially among the Thai middle class,” Titipol said.

Chamnan Chanruang, a Chiang-Mai-based political scientist, said Yingluck may avoid being as direct and hard as her brother, as she might be seeking asylum.

Usually, the country providing political asylum would bar involvement in political activity during stay in that country.

“Yingluck has been very much loved thanks to her sweetness and humility,” he said.

Only a slight move on the social network could draw a lot of sympathy for her, which would be uncomfortable for the coup-installed regime, Chamnan added.

Thaksin had once confirmed that he had applied for asylum in Britain, but dropped the plan as it would have restricted his freedom to speak out. Aside from that, Chamnan also pointed to the Krung Thai Bank money laundering case involving Thaksin’s son Panthongtae. The fact that Thaksin’s son was currently being probed could deter the siblings from attacking the junta, he said.

However, Titipol said the Shinawatras would continue to maintain their relations with their international allies in order to pressure Thailand to return to democracy, despite the alteration of US foreign policy stance under the Trump administration.

“I don’t think the Shinawatras will fade away from Thai politics in the long term. Once democracy is resumed, there will be room for the Shinawatras to make their political moves,” Titipol said.

A top Pheu Thai Party figure, who is a close aide of Yingluck, told The Nation that Yingluck could end up anywhere. “International leaders love her. Her image [when she travelled abroad for international meeting] in their eyes is a strong person,” he said.

“There are more people who love PM Yingluck than those who hate her. She does not have to go along with Khun Thaksin. Both can travel separately,” the source said.

Her supporters are waiting for her first remarks. “I think once she settles down, she would explain her decision. She is a former prime minister, so she cannot disappear forever,” the Pheu Thai figure said.

Source - TheNation

#Singapore - Female President Elected without an election. What a joke.

Singapore - An establishment stalwart was named Singapore's first female president Wednesday but the milestone was overshadowed by criticism her selection was undemocratic after she was handed the job without a vote.

    Halimah Yacob, a former speaker of parliament from the Muslim Malay minority, did not have to face an election for the largely ceremonial post originally due this month after authorities decided her rivals did not meet strict eligibility criteria.

    It was not the first time in the affluent city-state -- which is tightly controlled and has been ruled by the same party for decades -- that the government has disqualified candidates for the presidency, making an election unnecessary.

    But there was already unease about the process as it was the first time that the presidency had been reserved for a particular ethnic group, in this case the Malay community, and the decision to hand her the job without a vote added to anger.

    Social media was abuzz with criticism as Halimah, a bespectacled 63-year-old who wears a headscarf, was formally announced as the president-elect, with Facebook user Pat Eng writing: "Elected without an election. What a joke."

    "I will call her President Select from now on," said Joel Kong on the networking site, while some posts were marked with the hashtag #NotMyPresident -- echoing the message used by upset Americans after the election of President Donald Trump.

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Halimah, a member of parliament for the ruling People's Action Party for nearly two decades before resigning to contest the presidency, tackled the doubts about the selection process in a speech to a cheering crowd after she was named president-elect.

 

    "I'm a president for everyone. Although there's no election, my commitment to serve you remains the same," she said.

    Authorities had decided to allow only candidates from the Malay community to put themselves forward for the presidency, a bid to foster harmony in the city-state of 5.5 million people which is dominated by ethnic Chinese.

    Singapore's head of state has limited powers, including vetoing senior official appointments, but an establishment figure has always held the role and there are rarely tensions with the government. //AFP

#Thailand - Foreign media probe Tanasak about Yingluck’s passport

Deputy Prime Minister Tanasak Patimapragorn on Tuesday declined to say whether the government will revoke the passport of fugitive former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra after she fled the country days before hearing the court verdict in her negligence case.

Tanasak, in Sydney after overseeing a troupe of 56 Khon mask dancers who performed at the Sydney Opera House, was asked by foreign journalists if the government plans to revoke Yingluck's passport.

Tanasak, who oversees the Foreign Ministry, said: “The Thai government practices the rule of law. As an administration, we can not intervene in the judgment of the court.

"In your country, can you intervene in the court?

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"Thailand is the big country and the government gives freedom to citizens. We don’t follow individuals in terms of where they are going or when they leave the country. So we're following the rule of law. Just as another country."

An arrest warrant was issued for Yingluck by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions last Friday after she failed to turn up for the reading of the verdict.

Her negligence case is linked to her then government’s controversial rice-pledging scheme.

The court postponed the reading of the verdict until September 27 and ordered the seizure of Yingluck’s Bt30-million bail.

Source - TheNation

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Fugitive Thai ex-PM Yingluck in Dubai, aiming for UK

Fugitive former Thai premier Yingluck Shinawatra fled to Dubai and may try to seek asylum in the UK, a junta source told AFP Saturday, after she ducked a legal ruling, wrong-footing the court and her supporters alike.

Yingluck, 50, was due on Friday morning to arrive at the Supreme Court for the ruling in her trial for criminal negligence that could have seen her jailed for 10 years.

But she did not show up, staging a vanishing act that wrote a dramatic closing chapter to the 16-year political saga of her mega-rich Shinawatra family.

Speculation swirled on Saturday on the whereabouts of Thailand's first female prime minister -- and her possible escape route.

The junta source, who is well-placed in the security hierarchy, gave a detailed description of her escape, saying she took a private jet from Thailand to Singapore and onto Dubai, the base of Shinawatra family patriarch Thaksin, who is Yingluck's older brother.

"Thaksin has long prepared escape plan for his sister... he would not allow his sister to spend even a single day in prison," the source added, requesting anonymity.

"But Dubai is not Yingluck's final destination," the source said, adding she may be aiming "to claim asylum in Britain".

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Thaksin, who once owned Manchester City football club, owns property in London and spends significant amounts of time in the city.

The Shinawatra's political network remained tight-lipped on Saturday in a media blackout that only served to heighten speculation over her dash from Thailand and the likelihood of a possible deal with the junta to allow her to leave.

A senior source inside the family's Pheu Thai party, also requesting anonymity, on Saturday told AFP Yingluck had fled the country for Dubai a few days before the ruling.

The Shinawatra political dynasty emerged in 2001 with a series of groundbreaking welfare schemes that won them votes and the loyalty of the rural poor.

But their popularity rattled Thailand's royalist, army-aligned elite, who battered successive governments linked to the clan with coups, court cases and protests.

Yingluck's government was toppled by a coup in 2014 and she was put on trial over negligence linked to a costly rice subsidy that propped up her rural political base. 

Source - The Jakarta Post

Yingluck's Judgement Day (Live updates)

(Click on link ) LIVE UPDATES

 

Please stay tuned for our live update throughout the day.

9:45 am: Nation TV reports the Supreme Court issues an arrest warrant against Yingluck. The court postponed the verdict reading to September 27. Her lawyers told the court at 9:37 am that Yingluck is  not well and cannot come to the court but the court does not believe the claim at is not backed by a medical certificate. The court ordered the seizure of the bail guarantee of Bt30 million.

 

9.40 am: if Yingluck is in the court room right now here are what she will be heard  

 

10:00 am: Nation TV reports that the Supreme Court has started reading the verdict in the case against Boonsong.

 

10:35 am: Nation TV reports most supporters of Yingluck remain at the Government Complex. The supporters say they would stay put until police are witndrawn from the court because they believe Yingluck might later show up. The people remain calm and peaceful.

 

Nobody can confirm the whereabouts of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra since 9 am so we decided to suspend our live update for now. If there is an urgent movement, the live report will be resumed.

China opens first overseas military base in Africa

China has officially opened its first overseas naval base in Djibouti, state media said Tuesday, a major step for the country's expansion of its military presence abroad.

Chinese military personnel, officials and guests attended a flag-raising ceremony and military parade to mark the occasion, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The event was timed to coincide with the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the establishment of China's military, the People's Liberation Army, on August 1.

Officers and troops paraded for an audience that included Djibouti's defence minister, Xinhua said. 

The logistics base is the first of its kind for Beijing, which will use it to support "naval escorts in Africa and southwest Asia, (UN) peacekeeping and for humanitarian support," according to a previous China defence ministry statement.

China sent its first deployment of troops to the facility on July 11, marking the occasion with a ceremony in the southern province of Guangdong.

China has described the base as "defensive in nature", saying it will provide support for naval escorts, UN peacekeeping, anti-piracy and evacuating Chinese nationals from the region in case of emergency.

The Chinese navy has long assisted anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden, as well as UN peacekeeping efforts throughout Africa.

China started building the base in February 2016 in the entrepot on the Horn of Africa, where it will be stationed just a few miles from Camp Lemonnier, the United States' only permanent base in Africa.

Beijing has made extensive infrastructure investments throughout the African continent as it seeks to gain access to natural resources and new markets.

Chinese banks have been major funders of at least 14 such projects in Djibouti, valued at 14.4 billion dollars in total, including a railway line that will halve transit times from Djibouti to Ethiopia's Addis Ababa.

Home to only around 800,000 people, Djibouti also hosts troops from France and Japan.

Source - TheJakartaPost

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#Thailand shouldn’t follow Donald Trump’s lead on #Qatar

The “temporary” president of the United States is getting it wrong again. His misguided views on climate change, immigrants, healthcare and Barack Obama have been extended to Qatar.

With contracts for billions of dollars from a state that has been carrying out terrorist activities in the Yemen, he joins Saudi Arabia in attacking Qatar on the basis that Qatar has a more enlightened view of Iran, a trait it shares with Barack Obama.

I hope Thailand will not be foolish enough to reject Qatar. Qatar Airways has been increasing the number of tourists it ferries to Thailand every year for the last 10 years.

Source - TheNation

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