Dark clouds drift ominously overhead. Weather forecasters predict heavy rains Saturday evening and throughout the week.
The chamber in which the boys are located is no longer thought safe. Even if they are given enough food to wait out the rainy season, there is no guarantee that the ledge they are sitting on will not be submerged.
There are no easy decisions. But with the flood waters expected to rise in the coming days, a decision will have to be made soon.
"The teams there will have a tipping point where they have to make that call to bring them out. To leave them there would almost certainly result in them drowning," said one British mining engineer and experienced cave diver, who did not wish to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject.
"The tipping point will be related to how much rain is starting to fall, water levels inside, versus how the boys are doing. They'll be looking at flow rates, recorded rain full over the past weeks, months to get a rough indicator of where they're at, they'll have a deadline in mind, and then they'll go for the most unpopular way out," he added.
Each day rescuers at the camp talk of differing strategies. Drilling holes, expanding the tunnels, pumping out water.
Earlier this week, authorities announced that the boys, the youngest of whom is just 11 years old, would undergo a crash course in scuba training in the hopes that they might be able to dive out.
I can’t believe that this is an actual sport
