A drilling machine accompanied by mechanics and engineers was this afternoon airlifted by an army MI-17 transport helicopter to Doi Pha Mee to carry out drilling of a cavity in an attempt to find an alternative route into the Tham Luang cave.
According to Police Thailand webpage, the cavity on Doi Pha Mee to be drilled was believed to be close to the so-called Pattaya Beach where the 12 footballers and their coach were believed to have taken refuge to escape cave flooding. Another point to be drilled today was being considered.
Meanwhile, army special force, troops from the 7th infantry division and other rescuers today resumed their search for more cavities or shafts on the mountain top as alternative routes into the cave.
Mr Sutthisak Sornlump, chief of the soil engineering development and research centre of Kasetsart University and one of the survey team members, explained that the drilling machine would initially bore a hole of 5-6 inches wide so that a miniature camera would be inserted into the shaft for a survey inside the cave.
He also said that the sound from the drilling machine at work might be heard by the trapped boys because the point chosen to be drilled was believed to be closest to Pattaya Beach.
