Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn criticizes director Tom Waller for ‘wrong information’ in The Cave
The governor or Lampang, Narongsak Osottanakorn, who along with some members of the team involved in the rescue of the young footballers and their coach from Tham Luang cave last year attended the premiere of Tom Waller’s movie “The Cave” on Monday night, has expressed disappointment that the film does not reflect all the details of the real-life drama and is wrong in some places. Narongsak, who was the commander of the Joint Administration Centre for Rescue Operations at Tham Luang, praised Wa
“I really appreciate the film. It shows how difficult was it to bring children and their coach out of the cave. Like everyone else, I really didn’t think it would be that hard at the beginning but it was only when I was there, in front of the cave, that I fully appreciated the difficulties involved. And the thousands of people who amassed in the area certainly didn’t make it any easier. But the movie does not mention our four-part action plan, namely to pump out as much water as a diver needs to help the children out; to explore the top of the hill to find an alternative entrance; to find the path of the water that flows into the cave; and identify the thinnest part of the cave wall to find where the children were and then drill,” he said. He also felt uneasy about the assault on the Thai government officers shown in the movie.
Waller said the film shows the rescue of the children from the cave by the team who participated in the real event. “I wasn’t there so my information comes from those who had interesting stories including one about a person who wanted to help but didn’t know who to contact and someone else who had to submit the ID card to receive a visitor’s pass. I wanted a balanced movie, not one that is biased. There were many elements in this movie”
Waller later posted on his Facebook page: “Last night, I went to the premiere of The Cave and fortunately met the governor. In the first 20 minutes, he told me off for using false information in the trailer. He said it shouldn’t be claimed as being based on a true story. He was so busy that he didn’t introduce himself to Jim Warny. I don’t want him to criticise the movie for the wrong information since he didn’t even watch the whole film. I admit there were changes but it’s a film.”
