The coach of the young Thai footballers who captured the world’s attention when they spent nearly three weeks trapped in a cave has found himself in another watery predicament – stuck on his roof by flash floods.
Ekkapol Chantawong said he was drawing on his 2018 experience with the Wild Boars team to get through the situation at his home in the northern Thai district of Mae Sai.
Days of torrential rain brought by Typhoon Yagi have triggered deadly flash floods and landslides in northern Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar.
The flood waters rose suddenly in Ekkapol’s village on Tuesday morning, leaving him and his family no time to escape, he said. The waters kept rising, forcing him on to the roof of his house, where he spent Tuesday night with his girlfriend and her aunt.
“I was scared but I told myself I have to be calm. Wait and assess the situation,” he said.
The waters have receded, allowing Ekkapol to reach the ground floor, but they were still unable leave because the current outside was still too strong, he said.
Ekkapol and his Wild Boars team spent nearly three weeks trapped by flash floods in the Tham Luang cave complex, emerging to global acclaim after an international rescue operation.
He said the cave experience had taught him useful lessons. “I do not think it is different. First we have to focus and start solving the problem we are facing,” he said. “I do not feel more pressure with this stranding. I see more of a way out.”
Asked if he could imagine a third such experience, Ekkapol laughed: “It’s hard to say. We can’t say what will be, but I hope I don’t have to go up on the roof again tonight.”