The boys meet 8 hours before the start of the Thai Cave Rescue episode 1. Titan, aged 11, gets up in the Tachileik Province in Myanmar. It is not his home but Coach Eak’s, who makes breakfast for him as he confirms the checklist for football practice. Shinguards, boots, the change of clothes, and the flashlight for the hike after the game. He’s the smallest boy in the group but his size doesn’t deter him. If it didn’t bother him either, Leo Messi, it wouldn’t bother him either. Titan imagines himself running through defenders and scoring like his idol as he crosses the border. Eak isn’t a Thai citizen. Their team is called Wild Boars.
Noon Kitwanichsakul, an intern in the department, noticed something strange. The Himawari-8 satellite was down. It’ll take 15 hrs for the Japanese workers to get it working again. A storm system is coming into Thailand from Myanmar but it is impossible to see. She reports the same to her supervisor. Odd.
Next, we meet Dom, aged 13. He asks his aunt and uncle to come to see him play as his father has just been released from the hospital and needs rest. But they have a shop to run. Phong, aged 13, is worried about the team. He is next in line after his cousin Tee to become one of the team captains alongside Biw. His grandmother says it is different for Biw as his family has considerably more money. She advises him he’ll be better off with his Uncle Chai. He doesn’t want to go but still does on her insistence.
The parents of three young boys in the town of Biw call them to remind them to come to practice and before that, to church. Mix and Boon-naam, both aged 13, warm up before practice. Boon asks Mix to come with him to Pla Cave instead of going to practice but Mix denies his pleas. He is afraid of going to caves as his father’s friend was once stuck there for three hours.
Mix, a 17-year-old high school student, is playing video games with his friends Tee, 16, Nick, 17, and Noon, a 17-year-old high school student when they hear about a storm system in Myanmar. Mix goes to check the weather report and finds out that the storm is actually due in a few days. He then decides to go to the temple to pray for protection. Later that night, Tee tells Mix that he’s going to join them for practice the next day. Odd, the head of their school’s sports department, finds out about Mix’s plan and tells them not to go because it’s too dangerous. However, Mix and his friends decide to go anyway. The next day when they’re practicing outside their school, it starts raining hard. The group runs inside and meets up with Mali who has been waiting for them. The rain continues falling outside so they all go back outside to continue practicing. Later that night it starts raining even harder so they all go back inside again. This time they meet up with Rain who has been waiting for them. They all stay inside until morning when it stops raining and they all go back outside to practice again. The next day when it starts raining again while they’re practicing outside their school, Odd comes out and tells them not to come out because of the stormy conditions. However, Mix and his friends decide to stay put and practice until it stops raining later that night. The next day when it starts raining again while they’re practicing outside their school yet again, this time Tee comes out and tells them not to come out because he’s getting sick from staying inside too long during the previous two days’ rainstorms combined with the cold weather outdoors (it was around freezing at this point). So instead of continuing practicing like before where only Mix stayed behind due to being responsible for watching over Noon (who was still sick), now ..
The Thai national football team is in danger of losing their home match against Myanmar because of the heavy rain that is forecast for the provinces where it will hit hardest. The head coach, Nop, insists that the players practice as usual, but one player tells him that the Pla Cave, which is normally open for tours during the rainy season, has been closed until next year. Titan reminds Eak that he has a responsibility to be more than just a brother to the players and make tough decisions when no one else will. ..
Governor Narongsak learns that he is being transferred to the Phayao district, something he isn’t happy about. Noon is still trying to figure out a way to track Myanmar’s weather in real-time. Night’s mother drops off his water bottle and tells him that she’s making the now famous SpongeBob cake for him. Titan is upset about the Pla Cave being closed. The blue and red teams play a game of football after which, the friends decide to go to the Tham Luang cave instead. And so they do, except Boon, who goes home to eat the cookies his mother made.
As the boys merrily make their way to the cave, we see a menacing visual of the rain pattering down hard in Tachileik, just 14 km off the cave. Noon gets off the phone with an acquaintance who lives in Pha Mee, a place between the Thai and Myanmar border. He reports that the area got 30mm of rain per hour and it is not stopping anytime soon. The boys and Eak reach the cave. Titan is upset with Eak for inviting his parents to the game when he asked him not to. Eak explains they’re worried about Titan and wanted to know where he was. The coach calls the boys to offer their prayers to Chao Mae Nang Non. ..
Eak tells one of his friends that it is the name of the princess whose spirit is said to still live in the cave. Eak provides clarity. He speaks of the myth of the princess falling for a stable boy. She got pregnant and when the King found out, he wanted the boy dead. They ran together but were cornered by the soldiers. The boy was killed but the princess ran inside the caves, hiding. She killed herself with a pin. The shape of the mountains shows a sleeping princess pregnant with a baby. It is an undying reminder of one’s duty to love their family, Eak explains. He asks the boys to stick around as a family and reveals how he was an orphan when he was their age but didn’t have anybody with him. He touchingly says he will always be there for them no matter what.
The ranger at the Khun Nam National Park is called to a phone call from Noon, who asks if there are any rain clouds. The ranger sees the cover just setting in, concerned. She says the TMD in Bangkok needs to issue a warning and the ranger needs to close the park. It could get very dangerous if the monsoon is hitting them early. We see water has started to seep into the cave, drop by drop. Noon stops Odd from leaving and he agrees to inform the senior officials. Just an hour after they entered the cave, heavy rains make their way to Chiang Rai.
Eak and the boys are stuck in the cave with no way out. They call Tee and their parents for help, but they all seem to be in trouble. The ranger arrives and finds them, but he tells them that there’s no way out and they’re stuck. The boys are worried about their families back home, but the ranger tells them that everything will be okay. He tells them to stay strong and keep going.
The parents find a picture of the bikes being parked outside the cave. They reach the entrance in the pattering rain, calling out for their kids.
The Episode Review
The after-effect of watching this story again is one of awe and horror. The coach who helped the boys survive in the cave and then helped them escape is a remarkable figure. His story is even more amazing because it was retold twice already in the space of three years.
Episode 2 begins with the boys being found by a group of hunters and their dog, who take them in. The boys are initially scared but quickly warm up to the hunters and their dog. They learn about the world outside of the cave and how to survive in it. The narrative is paced well, not considering the odd wayward leaps off track. The creators make good use of the drone shots here, beautifully capturing the serene aesthetic of the mountain range and the bustling town.
The Thai Cave Rescue episode 1 of the show is a well-done dramatization of the events that took place in the cave. However, there are some negative aspects to it. For one, it may not be as authentic as it could be. Secondly, the sensibility of the dramatization may not be what people are expecting it to be.
