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## The First Response: Local and National
The initial response to the missing team was local. Police and rescue units from Chiang Rai Province arrived at the cave on the evening of June 23 and the morning of June 24. They found the team’s bicycles and shoes at the entrance — confirmation that the team had gone in. The entrance to the cave was accessible; rescuers could move through the first chambers without difficulty.
The obstacle was Sam Yaek. The junction that the team had been unable to pass on their way out had also flooded from the rescuers’ side. Thai Navy divers, mobilized quickly as the most capable government asset for underwater work in caves, arrived and attempted to push through the flooded section. They could not. The sump at Sam Yaek was not simply a flooded passage; it was a flooded passage with strong currents, zero visibility, and no line to follow. Even experienced military divers, trained for open-water work, found it impassable.
Governor Narongsak Osatanakorn of Chiang Rai Province took command of the rescue operation. The resources mobilized were substantial: Thai Navy SEALs, provincial rescue teams, local volunteers, and an expanding array of equipment brought to the cave entrance. By June 24 and 25, the operation at the cave mouth was already large. It was also largely stalled. The water inside the cave was not retreating; it was rising.
The heavy rains continued. By June 26 and 27, flooding had pushed rescuers back further — not just past Sam Yaek but back toward Chamber 3, the large area approximately 800 meters from the entrance that would become the primary staging base for the entire operation. Chamber 3 had the advantage of being relatively dry and large enough to store equipment; it became the operational hub for everything that followed.