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Thanks. Good article .

THE football coach trapped with the Thai schoolboys in a flooded cave has cheated death before, aged 10, when a disease swept through his village, sparing only him. Ekkapol Chantawong was the only member of his family who survived the epidemic which overcame his Northern Thailand home town in 2003. The disease killed his seven-year-old brother, then his mother and father. Until he was 12, Mr Ekkapol was looked after by extended family but was a “sad and lonely” little boy, his aunt Umporn Sriwichai told The Australian newspaper.

“Because he had experienced the pain of losing loved ones since he was very young … we cannot stand such tragedies anymore.” But Mr Ekkapol is now reportedly suffering from malnutrition, after giving too much of the available food in the cave to the boys.

The boys became trapped when they entered the cave system, leaving their shoes and bags near the mouth of the cave to write their names on the wall. Dutch cave diver Ben Raymanents spoke with the trapped boys who told him it was a kind of initiation ritual.

The other article . states: The boys were at risk of suffering medium to long-term mental health issues like depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder

I think this is based on Western culture, with its sensationalist fear mongering and helicopter parenting, whereas these rural Asian kids have likely lived a life showing much self-reliance and doing adventurous things together that at least the liberal elite would never sanction.