A template for other emergencies in Thailand
Re: “And the lesson is: Together we can overcome anything”, Have Your Say, July 4.
Many years ago the telephone on my desk rang and my landlady told me: “Dirk your daughter [two years old] was taken to hospital [domestic electricity accident] about five minutes ago.” I reached the hospital with tears running down my cheeks, not knowing what to expect. Today, several years and operations later, I can say that she made it.
The uncertainty during the drive to the hospital is a snapshot of what the families of the 13 boys in the cave had been through up to Monday night.
I agree with the sentiment expressed by letter-writer Rajendra Aneja yesterday – that we can overcome anything together. But why always wait for a wake-up call like the cave near-disaster?
The ending of this ordeal should force us to start thinking about saving the lives of about 9,000 young people who are projected to die on Thai roads in the remainder of this year – 2017 saw 24,000-plus traffic victims, 78 per cent of whom were young people.
Cave dramas in Chile (2010) and now in Chiang Rai have produced a template for global togetherness in emergency situations, showing us the immense problem-solving power of international solidarity.
Now we know what’s possible, the challenge is to use that template for other “emergencies” in Thailand.
We could start by putting a collective stop to the wave of juvenile motorbike “suicides”.
Dirk Sumter
