CHIANG RAI: Twelve Thai boys and their football coach who were rescued by divers after being trapped in a flooded cave for over two weeks spoke publicly on Wednesday of their incredible ordeal.

Appearing at a press conference beamed worldwide, the “Wild Boars” team members appeared healthy and happy despite the nine days they spent in the dark before being found by an international rescue team and extracted days later.

A packed crowd greeted the youngsters after they were discharged from hospital in Chiang Rai, and watched as they played with footballs on a small makeshift pitch before taking their seats.

“It is a miracle,” Adul Sam-on, 14, said of the rescue, as the boys were gently quizzed about their terrifying experience by a moderator before dozens of cameras.

The team had no food at all until they were found deep in the complex, surviving only on water that dripped down the side of the cave. “We drank water that fell from the rocks,” said Pornchai Khamluang, 16.

Coach Ekkapol Chanta­wong told reporters that they prayed before the first night they went to sleep in the cave, and later tried to find a way out by themselves. “We tried to dig out as we thought we cannot only wait for authorities to get us,” he said.

The briefing was tightly controlled, with experts warning of possible long-term distress from their ordeal inside the Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand.

The public relations department in Chiang Rai solicited questions from news outlets in advance, which were forwarded to psychiatrists for screening.

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

The boys announced their plan to temporarily ordain as monks to honour the death of Saman Kunan, a Thai Navy SEAL who died during the rescue.

One of the boys said that after they were found they played games, including checkers, and that a Thai Navy SEAL staying with them won most of the time. “We called him king of the cave,” said 14-year-old Ek­­karat Wongsukchan, known by his nickname Bew.

Towards the end of their introduction to the world the “Wild Boars” were as­­k­ed what they wanted to be when they grew up. Many said they want to be either professional footballers or Thai Navy SEALs. “This is my big experience that makes me stronger,” said 11-year-old Chanin Wiboon­­­run­gru­eang.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2018