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This series originally aired in

2021.

It's 7 p.m. on June 27th, 2018.

Rick Stanton sits in a Toyota minibus outside my side village in Thailand,

watching the lush jungle and misty hills roll by.

It's been five days since 12 boys and their teacher went missing inside the Tom and Wong cave,

and still no one knows where they are,

which is why he and his diving partner, John Phalanth, and are here, along with the coordinator for the British Cave Rescue Council, Rob Harper.

They're exhausted. The flight to Bangkok was 11 hours, and then another flight to Chiang Rai, and now an hour on a rickety bus.

As they sneak up the mountain, Rick stairs out the window. He can't believe the long line of cars.

It's as far as the eye can see.

Rick leans forward and asks the driver, how many people are actually up there?

The driver looks back to him proudly. Thousands of people from all over Thailand have volunteered to rescue our boys.

It's incredible. It is actually incredible, but it's also causing an unforeseen side effect.

Ridlock. Rick turns to John. You said it was going to be a big operation, but I never imagined this.

The van stops at the bottom of the hill.

The driver jumps out and opens the back door. We can't go any farther. Rick looks at John, who shrugs.

Wait, listen, just one more thing. Can I get a picture?

In a flash, the driver unfurls a large printed banner in front of the men that reads,

world's best cave divers. Rick should feel flattered, but instead, he feels vaguely embarrassed.

I, we don't normally do that. He's surprised when the driver grabs a quick selfie anyway.

...