A religious ceremony was held on Friday at a temple and at the entrance of Tham Luang cave in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai to mark the 100^th day of the passing of Samarn Kunan, alias “Ja Sam”‘, a former SEAL member who died during the dramatic rescue operation to save the trapped Wild Boars soccer team.

The religious ceremony was organized by the Mae Sai district office, the Chiang Rai cultural office and the provincial office of social development and human security.  Among the participants were 13 Wild Boar boys and their coach, Aekkapol Chanthawong, and their parents.

The religious ceremony started at Wat Phra That Doi Wa in Mae Sai district, after which Phra Khru Prayut, the temple’s abbot, led the Wild Boar boys and their coach to the entrance of Tham Luang cave where the 13 were trapped for more than two weeks from June 23 to July 11 before they were rescued by Thai and foreign rescuers in the rescue operation that captured global attention.

Tham Luang park officials opened the gate at the cave entrance to allow all the ceremony participants into the first cavern to pay respect in remembrance of Ja Sam and all the other people involved in the search and rescue operations.

After that, another religious ceremony was held at the nearby museum where a huge painting depicting the rescuers and telling a story of the rescue mission was put on display in honor of all those involved.

The painting was painted by national artist Chalermchai Kositpipat and several Chiang Rai artists.