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Twelve Thai boys rescued from a flooded cave in northern Thailand will be discharged from hospital next week, health minister Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn said on Saturday.
The last group of the 12-member "Wild Boars" soccer team and their coach was brought out of the Tham Luang cave, near the border with Myanmar, on Tuesday night, safely ending a dangerous rescue and evoking international relief and joy.
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The 12 and their coach are recovering both physically and mentally and will be discharged from hospital on Thursday, July 19, Piyasakol told reporters.
"We need to prepare both the children and their families for the attention they will receive when they come out," he said.
British divers involved in the "unprecedented" rescue of 12 schoolboys from a flooded cave in Thailand said on Friday they were not heroes, but were just happy their specialised skills could be of help.All 12 of the boys and their 25-year-old soccer coach were brought to safety over the course of a three-day rescue organised by Thai navy SEALs and an international team of diving and caving experts, including 11 from Britain, that ended on Tuesday."Are we heroes? No," said Rick Stanton, one of the two British divers who found the boys.Video: Heartstopping footage emerges of schoolboys' rescue from Thai cave"We're just using a very unique skill set, which we normally use for our own interest and sometimes we're able to use that to give something back to the community," Stanton, from Coventry, central England, told reporters at London Heathrow Airport.The boys and their coach had gone into the Tham Luang cave in the northern province of Chiang Rai on June 23, for a quick excursion after soccer practice, when a rainy season downpour flooded the tunnels.Stanton and John Volanthen found the boys on July 2, squatting on a muddy mound in a flooded chamber 4 km (two and a half miles) inside the complex, nine days after they went in.Thai soccer team planned to be inside the cave for only an hour"That was a massive, massive relief. Initially we weren't certain they were all alive and as they were coming down I was counting them until I got to 13," said Stanton."All we could think about was how we were going to get them out, so there was relief tempered with uncertainty," he said.“This is completely uncharted, unprecedented territory. nothing like this has been done before, so of course there were doubts, but I knew that we had a good team.”The boys, aged 11 to 16, had to dive for part of their journey out before they were put on plastic toboggan-like stretchers and carried, at times through steep, rocky tunnels, with ropes strung overhead."Diving conditions were extremely challenging," said cave diver Chris Jewell."We are delighted with (the) successful outcome."Peter Dennis, chairman of the British Cave Rescue Council, said the operation was "one of the most extraordinary cave rescues we have seen."He paid tribute to Samarn Poonan, a former Thai navy diver who died during the operation."We must remember the tragedy of Samarn," Dennis said.
British divers not heroes, just relieved, after Thai cave rescue
A soccer coach rescued with a 12-member squad of boys this week from a flooded cave in Thailand is a kind and humble young man who loves sports and hopes to become a Thai citizen, a relative and friend said on Thursday.The coach, Ekkapol Chantawong, or Ek as he is known, has come under scrutiny as the only adult in the group of 13 who got trapped in the cave in the northern province of Chiang Rai on June 23 during an expedition.All 13 were finally brought out after a dramatic rescue through flooded tunnels this week.Ek, 25, along with the 12 boys, has been in hospital since being extracted and has not spoken publicly about the ordeal, or about how the group got trapped by flood waters after a rainy season downpour.Make the most of your lives, rescued Thai cave boys toldHe showed remorse in a note to the boys' parents that rescuers brought out of the cave, apologising and vowing to take "the very best care" of the boys."Ek is a kind and humble man," said one of his relatives, Charoenpol Rattanaweerachon, 52. "He loves sports, cycling and football since he was young.""He's a country boy so he enjoys nature."Attention has also focused on Ek's status in Thailand.'You are my very heart': Wife of diver who died in Thai cave mourns a heroHe is a member of the Tai Lue minority, one of several groups whose people have over generations moved around the region, across open borders in remote hills between southern China, Myanmar and Laos, and into northern Thailand's ethnic patchwork of communities.Many such people do not have Thai citizenship papers and are officially stateless.Weenat Seesuk, an interior ministry official in Bangkok, said Ek and three of the rescued boys from the "Wild Boars" soccer team were stateless."They are not Thai citizens," Weenat told Reuters, adding that officials were checking to see if they qualified for citizenship.'LIKE A FATHER'Many Thais on social media say the boys and their coach should be given citizenship following their ordeal."He would love to become a Thai citizen," said Charoenpol.Recounting Ek's life, Charoenpol said he ordained as a novice Buddhist monk at the age of 10, after his father died.He stayed at a temple in Chiang Mai province until he was 20, when he left the monkhood to take care of his grandmother.Ek did odd jobs and lived a simple life, often sleeping at a monastery high on a hill or with friends in the town of Mae Sai on the Myanmar border, not far from the cave complex.Some people have wondered whether Ek's background as a Buddhist monk had helped him stay calm, and help the children, during their ordeal in the flooded Tham Luang cave."I think he helped the children a lot, being a novice monk for 10 years," said Charoenpol.Chanta Chaichim, the mother of Duangpetch Promthep, 13, the rescued captain of the "Wild Boars", said the young coach was like a father to her son."He even washes his clothes after practice," Chanta told Reuters.Ek's Facebook page is full of photographs of him with the boys playing sports.Hours before he and the boys became trapped, he posted a last video of the "Wild Boars" practising under a cloudy sky.Charoenpol said Ek would be warmly welcomed back into the community when he left hospital."He must be feeling guilty right now but I would say he has nothing fear. His goodness will shine through," he said. 
Coach of rescued Thai soccer team a 'country boy' longing for citizehship