Aussie journalist claims boys in Thai cave rescue were drugged with ketamine & handcuffed in his new book

How exactly he attained such information however, is not clear.

Matthias Ang | January 16, 2019, 12:40 PM

The 12 boys at the heart of the Thai cave rescue operation, the Wild Boars Football team, were drugged with ketamine and handcuffed on their journey out of the cave.

These were the claims made by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Southeast Asia correspondent, Liam Cochrane, in his new book titled The Cave

Cochrane's claims have since been reproduced internationally with media outlets such as the New York Post, the Daily Mail and news.com.au picking it up.

However, none of the articles have mentioned how Cochrane came across such information.

Neither have the articles addressed how Cochrane's claims run counter to the statement by Thai Prime Minister and junta leader Prayut Chan-o-cha, who said in July 2018 that a "minor tranquiliser" had been administered to the boys to prevent anxiety during their rescue, the Straits Times (ST) reported.

Prayut had also denied that the boys had been knocked out for the operation.

What exactly does Cochrane say?

Here's a summary of how the procedures in rescuing the boys supposedly went down, according to the book:

  • Contrary to reports last year that they had been mildly sedated, the boys were given stronger drugs and handcuffed behind their backs, to stop them from ripping off their face masks should they wake up during the operation.
  • This was to stop the boys from endangering their own lives and that of their rescuers.
  • The boys would first be given a sedative to swallow, then injected in each leg with ketamine until they fell into unconsciousness
  • They would then be placed into a diving suit, have an air tank strapped to their chest and fitted with a full-face mask with silicone seals.
  • Once the boys' breathing was normalised, their hands would be tied behind their backs with cable ties around their wrists.
  • A harness strap would then be used to hold the boys against one of the divers in the same position as a tandem skydiver and instructor, as the diver made his way out of the cave.

Cochrane further added that the narrative of the boys being taught how to dive and that they would swim out of the cave, tethered to an air hose, with one diver in front and one diver behind, was an "untrue" story aimed at calming the nerves of their parents.

Supposedly spent over two weeks in Mae Sai covering the cave rescue operation

In any case, it is not clear how Cochrane knew what happened during the rescue operation.

While a line in his biography on Amazon states that he "spent more than two weeks in Mae Sai covering the cave rescue, one of those weeks stationed outside the cave entrance in the mud", there are no specific details of how he gained such information, such as whether he was in touch with the rescuers.

Perhaps it would be best to take it with a pinch of salt for now.

When fake news of the operation spread:

Top image collage left screenshot from Amazon and right image from Thai Navy Seal Facebook