A NEW rescue plan has emerged for the 12 boys and their soccer coach who are trapped inside a Thai cave, which could get underway this weekend.

Thai officials have been briefed on proposed operation to evacuate the team alongside experienced divers in what is being called a “buddy dive.”

The proposed rescue could begin as soon as this weekend, according to internal US government report obtained by ABC News America.

The document shows the Royal Thai Navy, supported by divers from the United Kingdom, the United States and other nations, has briefed Thai military leadership, interior ministry officials and the provincial governor on a proposed operation to evacuate the boys and their coach.

Thailand’s prime minister will be briefed on the proposal Saturday morning local time.

Four expert cave divers from the UK including Rick Stanton and John Volanthen, will guide boys and their soccer coach out of the flooded Thai cave they are trapped in, with support from Thai Navy Seals.

But authorities are waiting as long as possible for the boys to regain their strength and learn to use scuba diving gear.

However, if heavy rain forecast for northern Thailand hits, authorities may have to switch plans and attempt an urgent extraction, Chiang Rai province governor Narongsak Osottanakorn said.

Narongsak hoped the rains will hold off for a few more days so rescuers can keep pumping water out of the cave system. He said a war room had been set up near the site.

GRIM NEWS FROM THAI CAVE
The Thai boys trapped inside a flooded cave with their soccer coach for two weeks are not yet ready to attempt a dangerous dive to freedom, after the death of a military diver underscored the huge risks they face.

Addressing journalists near the Tham Luang cave complex, the governor of the Chiang Rai province, Narongsak Osottanakorn, was not confident that an extraction attempt would be safe at the moment.

There were unconfirmed reports circulating earlier that the authorities may begin the rescue mission overnight due to fears that forecast torrential rains would further endanger the trapped football team.

“We [will] try to set the best plan. If the risk is minimal, we will try. We are afraid of the weather and the oxygen in the cave. We have to try to set the plan and find which plan is the best,” Mr Osottanakorn said, The Guardian reports.

He added that the boys have “already learned” to dive but that the rescue mission had to be delayed further to “test the plan” and ensure there would be “minimum risk” in the increasingly risky conditions.

However, he assured that the British diver who came out of the cave at 9pm (Midnight AEST), reported that the boys were fine.

He said the boys’ parents had written their sons letters which had been delivered 3.2km inside the cave, where the group have been sheltering on a high ledge for two weeks.

When asked if the rescue plan would be expedited if the rain begins to fall again, Mr Osottanakorn said it couldn’t.

“They cannot dive at this time,” he told journalists.

But he indicated that further downpours might force their hand and speed up attempts to extract them despite the dangers of carrying out such a gargantuan effort.

The 12 boys, who all play in a local football team called “Wild Boars”, entered the cave with their coach on June 23 but were cut off by a sudden downpour.

They were found by British cave diving specialists nine days later, dishevelled and hungry but alive, on a ledge several kilometres inside the cave.

A daunting task now awaits both the boys — aged between 11 to 16 — and their rescuers.

A round trip to the boys and back is taking some of the world’s most experienced cave divers up to 11 hours to complete, through cramped passageways and fast flowing muddy waters where visibility is highly restricted.

HOLES DRILLED IN TOP OF CAVE
The death of an experienced former Thai Navy Seal, who died after running out of oxygen on Friday while assisting with the rescue, has raised concerns about how safe it would be for the boys who have no scuba diving experience to attempt to swim out of the flooded cave.

The round trip in and out of the cave to reach the boys can take a highly skilled diver about 11 hours, it has been estimated.

Rescue alternatives would be for the children to remain in the cave until the wet season ends and flood waters recede — which could take months — or drilling a shaft into the cave from the forest above.

According to Channel News Asia, Mr Osottanakorn said more than 100 air holes have been found above the cave complex, with 18 of them likely to be further explored.

One hole even stretches down 400m, he added, but drilling can be extremely time-consuming.

HOW THEY’RE HOPING TO GET THEM OUT
If they can swim out of the cave, this is the plan for the boys and their soccer coach. It has now been suggested they may “buddy dive” with them as they are led out of the cave.

HARROWING FOOTAGE INSIDE CAVE
Footage released before the press conference shows the challenging conditions rescuers face as they attempt to extract the young boys and their soccer coach.

Sporting hard hats and headlights, the rescuers are seen wading through narrow passageways in the video posted by ITVNews, gripping a rope to help guide them through.

The extreme risks facing the trapped boys and the entire cave rescue operation was played out in tragic circumstances yesterday when a former Thai Navy SEAL ran out of oxygen and died while diving back to his base camp.

Oxygen is becoming the critical issue for the mission and will force desperate measures as the air in the small chamber where the team is trapped runs low.

RESCUE WINDOW GETS SMALLER
Authorities overseeing the rescue operation said they have a “limited amount of time” to get them out, as they raced against worsening weather and lessening oxygen underground.

“We can no longer wait for all conditions (to be ready) because circumstances are pressuring us,” Thai SEAL commander Arpakorn Yookongkaew told an earlier news conference.

“We originally thought the boys can stay safe inside the cave for quite some time, but circumstances have changed.

“We have limited amount of time.”

Rescuers have brought more air cylinders to the ledge where the 12 boys and their coach are waiting anxiously, and plan to run an emergency airline from their base camp to the team — a distance of almost three kilometres.

The 38-year-old retired Navy SEAL, Sarman Kunan, who had volunteered for the rescue, was ferrying air tanks to be placed along the route when he passed out due to lack of oxygen in his tank at around 1am on Friday. He was unable to be revived after his diving partner conducted CPR.

The death has highlighted the dangers of trying to swim the soccer team back to the base camp, which involves passing through narrow tunnels and traversing long distances underwater.

Arpakorn stated upon the death of his comrade: “We are prepared to take risks. We will go on.”

He said Samarn had taken three oxygen tanks to the stranded boys.

“Though it does not look a long distance, a one-way journey through the tough conditions takes about five to six hours,” he said.

“This means we use altogether 12 hours on one trip.”

Even the most experienced divers have battled fast-moving currents to swim from the base camp to the boys, where oxygen levels are reported to be at only 15 per cent.

Rescuers are desperately looking at a second and more attractive option — a fissure that runs down from the mountaintop to a point about 100m beyond where the boys are huddled on a ledge.

The opening was reportedly located by a team of traditional bird’s nest hunters — men who scale sheer rock faces in search of the prized delicacy, and who are currently surveying the tunnel to test its viability for an evacuation.

With the risks of swimming the team out now judged by some to be too great, all options are on the table as imminent torrential rains are expected to flood the cave.

Though pumping has so far removed more than a million litres from the system, there are doubts as to whether the pumps can outpace the coming rains.

BILLIONAIRE LENDS A HELPING HAND
Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has sent engineers from two of his companies to Thailand to see if they can help rescue the stranded soccer team.

Musk tweeted the announcement after another Twitter user pleaded for him to help the 12 boys and their coach, who have been underground for almost two weeks.

In a series of tweets, Musk said his Boring Co, which digs tunnels for advanced transport systems, has advanced ground penetrating radar, and brainstormed that an air tunnel constructed with soft tubing like a Bouncy Castle could provide flexible passage out.

He said engineers from his Boring Co and SpaceX companies needed to be on site to appreciate the complexities of evacuation.

There has been no immediate official reaction to his plans.