Disappearance




Tham Luang Nang Non is a karstic cave complex beneath Doi Nang Non, a mountain range on the border between Thailand and Myanmar. The system is 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) long and has many deep recesses, narrow passages and tunnels winding under hundreds of metres of limestone strata. Since part of the cave system is seasonally flooded, a sign advising against entering the caves during the rainy season (July–November) is posted at the entrance.

On Saturday 23 June 2018, a group of twelve boys aged between 11 and 16 from a local junior football team named the Wild Boars and their 25-year-old assistant coach, Ekkaphon Chanthawong, went missing after setting out to explore the cave. According to early news reports, they planned to have a birthday party in the cave after the football practice, and spent a significant sum of money on food, but they denied this in a news conference after the rescue. The team was stranded in the tunnels by sudden and continuous rainfall after they had entered the cave. They had to leave some food supplies behind when fleeing the rising water.

Around 7 p.m., head coach Nopparat Khanthawong (Thai: นพรัตน์ กัณฑะวงษ์) checked his phone, finding about twenty missed calls from parents worried that their children had not come home. Nopparat dialed assistant coach Chanthawong, followed by a number of the boys in quick succession. Eventually, he reached Songpon Kanthawong, a 13-year-old member of the team who mentioned he was picked up after practice, and that the rest of the boys had gone exploring in the Tham Luang caves. The coach raced up to the caves finding abandoned bicycles and bags near the entrance, with water seeping out of the muddy pathway. He alerted authorities to the missing group after seeing their unclaimed belongings.

The members of the trapped team were as follows:

Name (RTGS) Informal name Age Comments
Chanin Wibunrungrueang Titan 11
Phanumat Saengdi Mig 13
Duangphet Phromthep Dom 13 Team captain.
Somphong Chaiwong Pong 13
Mongkhon Bunpiam Mark 13 Last to be rescued. Stateless.
Natthawut Thakhamsong Tern 14 Rescued in first mission.citation needed
Ekkarat Wongsukchan Bew 14
Adun Sam-on Dul 14 Only English-language speaker; communicated with initial rescue party. Stateless.
Prachak Sutham Note 15 Rescued in first mission.
Phiphat Phothi Nick 15 Rescued in first mission.citation needed
Phonchai Khamluang Tee 16 Stateless.
Phiraphat Somphiangchai Night 16–17 Celebrated his birthday while in the cave.
Ekkaphon Chanthawong Ake 25 Assistant coach and former monk. Stateless. Ninth to be rescued.citation needed

The assistant coach and three of the boys had no nationality. Nopparat Khanthavong, the founder of the Wild Boars team, explained that they are from tribes in an area that extends across Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and China. This region has no clear borders and people are not assigned passports. Their statelessness deprived them of basic benefits and rights, including the possibility to leave the Chiang Rai province. "To get nationality is the biggest hope for the boys", Khanthavong said. "In the past, these boys have problems traveling to play matches outside of Chiang Rai because of their nationless status." Following the team's rescue, Thai officials promised to provide the three boys and the coach with legal assistance in obtaining Thai citizenship, a process which they said could take up to six months. On 26 September, the boys and the coach were granted Thai citizenship.

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