‘We must not forget’: 5 years since Thailand’s dramatic cave rescue that saved lives of 12 boys
- The Wild Boars football team was on a day trip when heavy rains flooded the caves and the boys were feared dead, until a daring rescue operation freed them
- The boys revisited the Tham Luang cave complex to pay tribute to the thousands of people who worked for 18 days and nights to get them out five years ago
Hundreds of people gathered on Monday to mark the five-year anniversary of the dramatic rescue against impossible odds of 12 young footballers from a flooded cave in northern Thailand.
Now in their late teens, the boys and their coach, Ekkapol Chantawong, descended into the spotlit chambers of the Tham Luang cave complex to pay tribute to the thousands of people who worked for 18 days and nights to get them out.
The Wild Boars team had entered the caves in June 2018 and were trapped when rains flooded the complex, emerging after a daring international rescue operation to global acclaim.
“If it weren’t for these people we wouldn’t have survived, and wouldn’t have been alive this day”, Ekkapol said. “I’d like to say thank you to all of you from the bottom of my heart”.
But the joyful anniversary was tinged with sadness following the death of 17-year-old captain Duangpetch Promthep, who passed away while on a football scholarship in Britain earlier this year.
His former teammates each laid white flowers at a memorial image of him outside the caves, surrounded by crowds in the bright sunlight and vivid jungle flora.
A video tribute was also played inside the cave for ex-Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osatanakorn, who won plaudits for his handling of the incident, and who died last month.