Reading the paper this morning led me to a "Could it be?" moment.

The headline stated "Briton survives, 8 others die in Thai cavern."

Bear and I went caving in Thailand in January, but how likely are the chances this weekend's tragedy happened in the same cavern? I also worried if our charismatic guide, "Big Man," was involved.

After I found a Phuket Gazette story online, I confirmed it was the cave I knew, Tham-nam Thalu, or Namtaloo, from Khao Sok National Park. In that cave, we saw bats, frogs, gargantuan stalactites and stalacmitesand sometimes had to swim in waters deeper than our 6-foot-5 inch fellow tourist.

The report says two guides died in the flash flood, one 30 years old, the other 25. I remember that "Big Man"--unfortunately I don't know his real name--had several children, two on our trip, so I want to think he wasn't involved.

Six tourists died as well, leaving one survivor, a woman whose fiancé slipped under the water after they'd found a ledge.

Survivor Helena Carroll, 21, told the Phuket paper:

"We had got halfway through the cave (when) I heard this sudden roar. I looked behind and saw this rush of water coming towards us," she said.

"John and I started climbing. The first thing we saw was the tour guide and a 10-year-old German boy being dragged away, then the Swiss couple and their two lovely girls.

"As we climbed I lost my grip and slipped down but John grabbed me and pulled me up.

"We kept climbing higher and found a ledge. We were all alone in the dark. We could not see anything as all the torches had gone.

"John said, 'If we stay here we are going to die'. But I said we should stay. At least we were safe where we were.

"But he decided that he would get into the current and flow with it. He thought the current would take him out, then he could bring help to rescue me.

"He slipped into the water and that's the last I ever saw of him. He let go and he was just gone. I was alone in the dark. All I could see was insects that light up like fireflies and hear the rumbling of the water. I sat there shivering all night. I had no idea what the time was.

A Tourism Authority of Thailand office reports that the governor of the Surat Thani province issued a warning to cave guides about avoiding the caverns during the current rainy season. The report says the guides ignored the notice because there had been no rain earlier Sunday.

Khao Sok is the oldest rainforest in the world.