Rescue volunteers involved in the dramatic and complex rescue operation to extract 12 boys and their football coach trapped deep inside the Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district have been named among Time magazine’s heroes of the year 2018.
Time’s other heroes of the year include a group of journalists whose work has landed them in jail or cost them their lives, namely Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered for his criticism of Saudi government; Maria Ressa, editor of Philippine news website Rappler for its critical coverage of President Duterte’s violent war on drugs; Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe who were arrested by Myanmar authorities while investigating alleged massacre of Rohingya Muslims and the Capital Gazette of Annapolis, a paper attacked by a gunman who opened fire into the newsroom, killing four journalists and a sales assistant
The Thai Navy SEAL webpage said Time magazine’s persons of the year 2018 listing was divided into two categories – one chosen by the magazine editorial board and the other voted by its readers.
South Korean boy band BTS came first in the second category garnering nine percent of the online votes via Time website from November to December followed by Planet Earth and the Thai Cave Rescuers.
