After an hour-long Q&A session at Siam Paragon Shopping mall on Wednesday, the 12 boys of the “Wild Boar” soccer team re-entered the cave in an interactive exhibition to reenact their experience for the crowd — to the criticism of numerous netizens and psychologists who express deep concern for the boys’ mental health.
On Wednesday, around 2:00 p.m., several hours before the “United As One” party, the 12 boys and their young coach — who traveled to the capital for the ceremony, received a tour of the interactive “Tham Luang Incredible Mission: The Global Agenda” showcase in Siam Paragon’s Lifestyle Hall that’s running until this Sunday.
The exhibition include “power gels” eaten by the boys whilst trapped, a model of the stretcher that carried the boys out of the cave, oxygen face masks modeled on mannequins and of course, Elon Musk’s rocket-parts submarine.
The tour ended with the team entering the 10-meter-long recreation of cave’s insides, as urged by the crowd, reported BBC Thailand.
Director of the Department of Mental Health Epidemiology and spokesperson for the Department of Mental Health Dr. Dusadee Sirakulwit told BBC Thailand, that the public needs to be careful of of the soccer team’s mental health for they have experienced extreme psychological stress.
“The 13 don’t need to experience this fake cave. They have already learned more than enough from the real deal,” she said.
She urges citizens to put themselves in the cave survivors’ shoes to avoid unintentionally pressuring them into anything like — oh, we don’t know — re-enacting something traumatizing.
While, Dr. Yongyuth Wongpiromsan, Head of the Department of Mental Health, admits that the boys don’t exhibit behavior which indicates post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) he agrees that the re-enactment was wildly inappropriate.
“These kids are survivors, they’re not celebrities.” he stated, “You can’t just make them do whatever you want.”
All photos courtesy of Sapparot
