A total of 114 foreigners and 74 Thai civilians who were involved in the operations to rescue the 12 Wild Boars boys and their football coach from Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai province will be presented with Royal decorations from His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn, said Prime Minister’s Office Minister Suwaphan Tanyuwattana on Thursday.

Also, 184 civil servants, military and police personnel who took part in the rescue operations will be presented with commemorative pins marking the 5^th cycle anniversary of HM the King, he added.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will chair the ceremony to receive the Royal decorations and commemorative pins on behalf of all the recipients in front of the Royal portrait of HM the King at the Government House tomorrow afternoon.  The Royal decorations and commemorative pins will then be handed to the recipients by the prime minister.

In his address to some 7,000 participants at the government’s thank-you party held at the Dusit Palace Plaza this evening, the prime minister said that HM the King and the Royal Family closely followed the two-week search and rescue operations and expressed their concern toward all those involved in the operations.

He said HM the King also arranged for equipment and food to support the operations.

The thank-you party, he said, was intended to thank all who were involved in the operations one way or another. He singled out Lt-Commander Samarn Kunan, an ex-SEAL diver who died in the course of the operations, for special praises.

The prime minister also said Thailand would use the operations as a case study to plan public disaster early warning system for the future.