A religious ceremony was held on Monday in front of Tham Luang cave, in the Tham Luang-Khun Nam Nang Non National Park in Chiang Rai province, to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the dramatic search and rescue mission for 13 members of the “Wild Boar” school footballer team and their coach, trapped inside the flooded cave from June 23 to July 10, 2018.
The ceremony was also held to pay respects to two members of the Thai Navy SEAL team who died during the rescue, Saman Kunan and Beirut Pakbara, the late Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osottanakorn, who supervised the search and rescue operations, and Duangphet Promthep, one of the footballers who died in February this year while studying in Britain.
The sombre ceremony was attended by 39 Buddhist monks and residents of Mae Sai district, as well as some members of the “Wild Boar” football team.
The plight of the 12 footballers, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach, attracted worldwide attention and the involvement of rescue teams from many countries in one of the world’s biggest and riskiest rescue operations, which was broadcast worldwide.
The Tham Luang-Khun Nam Nang Non National Park remains open to the public until this Saturday, after which it will be closed until September 30th for the rainy season.
