They have not given an interview since
that heart-stopping rescue in July.
But they are all together here for the first time on TV.
Please, welcome the coach and the 12 players
from the Wild Boars soccer team.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC - COLDPLAY, "A SKY FULL OF STARS"]
(SINGING) Cause you're a sky, you're
a sky full of stars, such a heavenly view.
You're such a heavenly view.
Hello, [? Risa. ?] Thank you for helping with this.
You all are amazing, and we're so happy to have you here.
We're going to take a break.
When we come back, we're going to hear all about it
for the first time from you.
Thank you so much.
It's been several months.
How are you all feeling?
[SPEAKING THAI]
Good, like, completely fine?
Completely healthy?
Yes, healthy and fine.
Good.
All right, so let's start at the beginning.
Why did you go into the cave that day?
And how long did you plan on staying in there?
[SPEAKING THAI]
OK, so the cave is usually a tourist attraction anyways.
So some of the boys have never been in,
and they decided to go in just to see what it's like.
They decided to go in for just an hour,
but it took them longer than that.
[LAUGHTER]
Yes, it did.
Had you been in for one hour when the water came in, or were
they in longer than an hour?
[SPEAKING THAI]
So they went in for about an hour, so they came back out.
And at the intersection inside the cave,
they just saw that the water had risen too high.
So they just know then that they wouldn't be able to get out.
OK, and that's when you realized you were in trouble.
And did you think, you just thought
the water would just subside?
Did you start to panic did you do it?
At what point did you think, we may not get out of here?
[SPEAKING THAI]
They weren't scared, and they always had hope.
And they know that if they don't come out, eventually,
someone will have to come in and get them out anyway.
Yes, OK, so that's amazing that you didn't
lose hope and lose faith.
How did you remain calm?
[SPEAKING THAI]
Tee right here said that the coach told them
to pray and meditate so that they can stay calm,
and then they will be conscious.
And that when they are calm, they can figure out
what they want to do next.
The coach added that when they meditate,
they conserve energy so that they're not
using too much energy while in the cave.
Meditation is key.
Meditation is so important and to come into play
at a time like that to keep you calm, that's amazing.
First of all, did you have food with you?
What did you eat?
What did you drink?
[SPEAKING THAI]
So they didn't have any food, because they
left all their belongings outside the cave.
They only brought in torches and their mobile phones.
And then when they realized they were stuck in the cave,
they tried to look for drinking water.
So they only drink water that were clean,
that were flowing down from the cave walls.
Because the water that were flowing inside
the cave were dirty and muddy.
So they wouldn't be able to drink it.
So that was the only water you had from the drops.
From the stalactites.
Wow, and no food.
You could sleep?
Did you sleep, or was it hard to even fall asleep?
[SPEAKING THAI]
It was quite humid and cold, but they fall asleep on and off.
So it's, like, an hour's sleep, and then they wake up.
So it's not the whole night of sleep.
And then three of you had birthdays
while you were in there, right?
Four.
Four people had birthdays?
[SPEAKING THAI]
So four of them had birthdays.
Happy birthday.
[LAUGHTER]
[APPLAUSE]
It was dark the whole time.
How did you know days were changing?
[SPEAKING THAI]
OK, so Tee right here had a watch,
and it tells the time and the date.
So they knew what date was and what time it was.
Oh, so you know every day that passes.
Wow.
And how did you celebrate your birthdays?
Did you celebrate in there?
Did you try?
[SPEAKING THAI]
Said they don't celebrate.
No one sang happy birthday?
[SPEAKING THAI]
No.
Each one of you got out one at a time.
And each rescue took five hours.
Is that correct?
[SPEAKING THAI]
Around eight hours, actually.
Eight hours for each to get out?
Right.
OK.
And I understand that because you didn't know how to swim,
so they were trying to figure out forever how to get you out
of there, number one.
But then they had to sedate you so that you wouldn't panic.
And do you remember any of it since you were sedated?
[SPEAKING THAI]
Nobody remembers what happened.
It was too dark, and they didn't remember anything.
You don't remember anything.
And when you got out, did you realized
the world was watching you?
That everybody was getting up every morning
to see if you were out?
[SPEAKING THAI]
They didn't know.
Inside the cave, they didn't know anything.
But they knew that a lot of people
were watching and supporting them
when they got to the hospital.
Yeah, I mean, the world, not a lot of people, the whole world.
It was a lot of people.
So you're soccer players, and I wanted to give you a gift.
This is a soccer jersey that I think that you're going to--
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
Each one of you.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
So I understand you all have the same goal.
What do you want to do with your lives?
[SPEAKING THAI]
OK, so all of them want to receive a good education
so that they would have good jobs and at the same time,
be a professional soccer player so that they can
take care of their families.
That's a good goal.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
And you have someone that you really admire.
Who's the soccer player that you admire?
Zlatan, right?
[SPEAKING THAI]
Zlatan.
Yeah.
It'd be cool to meet him.
[SPEAKING THAI]
Come on out, Zlatan.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hi.
Nice to meet you.
How's everything?
Good?
Thanks for being here.
Thank you.
Have a seat here.
It's a miracle, isn't it?
They're incredible.
It is.
I thought I was brave, but these kids, this team
is more braver than me.
And they show their collective teamwork,
and had patience, faith, and believe in other hands also.
So this is probably the best team in the world.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
[SPEAKING THAI]
And you have something for them.
Yes.
So explain what you're going to do.
So we have gifts, presents for all of you.
And hopefully, you'll get happy.
We can make an exchange.
You get my shirt.
I get your shirt.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
So you're all going to go see the game.
You're going to get to go see the game.
We'll take a break.
We'll be back.
Hi, I'm Andy.
Ellen asked me to remind you to subscribe to her channel,
so you can see more awesome videos, like videos
of me getting scared or saying embarrassing things,
like ball peen hammer, and also some videos
of Ellen and other celebrities if you're
into that sort of thing.
Ha!
[ANDY SCREAMS]
God [BLEEP]!