Thais bid farewell to boy who survived 2018 cave flooding

BenarNews staff
2023.03.06
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Family members sit in front of a portrait of Duangpetch Promthep during his funeral at Wat Phra That Doi Wao temple in Chiang Rai province, Thailand, March 5, 2023. The ashes of Duangpetch, one of the 12 boys rescued from a flooded cave in 2018, arrived in the far northern Thai province on Saturday where final Buddhist rites were held after his death in the United Kingdom. [Sakchai Lalit/AP]

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Thanaporn Promthep, the mother of Duangpetch Promthep, prays after offering food to a Buddhist monk in front of her house in Chiang Rai province, Thailand, March 5, 2023. [Sakchai Lalit/AP]

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Thai Buddhist monks pray during a funeral ceremony for Duangpetch Promthep, at Wat Phra That Doi Wao temple in Chiang Rai province, Thailand, March 5, 2023. [Sakchai Lalit/AP]

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A family member cries during a funeral for Duangpetch Promthep, at Wat Phra That Doi Wao temple in Chiang Rai province, Thailand, March 5, 2023. [Sakchai Lalit/AP]

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Thanaporn Promthep, prays during a funeral ceremony for her son, Duangpetch Promthep, at Wat Phra That Doi Wao temple in Chiang Rai, Thailand, March 5, 2023. [Sakchai Lalit/AP]

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Family members and mourners pray during a funeral ceremony for Duangpetch Promthep, at Wat Phra That Doi Wao temple in Chiang Rai province, Thailand, March 5, 2023. [Sakchai Lalit/AP]

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Former soccer coach Ekkapol Chanthavong (second from right) prays during a funeral ceremony for Duangpetch Promthep at Wat Phra That Doi Wao temple in Chiang Rai province, Thailand, March 4, 2023. [Sakchai Lalit/AP]

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Family members touch a portrait of a younger Duangpetch Promthep during his funeral at Wat Phra That Doi Wao temple in Chiang Rai province, Thailand, March 5, 2023. [Sakchai Lalit/AP]

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Relatives of Duangpetch Promthep, one of the boys rescued from the flooded cave in northern Thailand, greet him as he arrives home in the Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand, July 18, 2018. [Sakchai Lalit/AP]

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Family members, monks and fellow mourners release a makeshift boat containing the ashes of Duangpetch Promthep, along with soccer balls and prized possessions, into the Mekong River in Chiang Rai province, Thailand, March 6, 2023. [Sakchai Lalit/AP]

Updated at 6 p.m. ET on 2023-03-06

The ashes of Duangpetch Promthep, 17, were scattered in the Mekong River on Monday following two days of funeral rites, in a heartbreaking epilogue to one of the world’s best good-news stories from recent years.

The boy who miraculously escaped death in a flooded cave in 2018 could not evade it 4½ years later. He died two days after being found unconscious at a school in England where he was pursuing dreams of being a professional footballer, on scholarship.

Mourners had gathered Saturday and Sunday at northern Chiang Rai’s Wat Phra That Doi Wao temple, which is a short distance from the Tham Luang Cave, where Duangpetch, 11 “Wild Boars” teammates and their coach were trapped for several days by monsoon flooding in June 2018.

Rescue workers from several countries completed a nail-biting, three-day process of bringing the boys and their coach out of the cave on July 10, 2018, with the whole world watching and cheering. Divers had discovered the team huddling in a flooded chamber three miles from the cave’s opening about a week earlier.

Upon hearing that the team members were alive, Duangpetch’s father, Kham Promthep, traveled to the site from his home.

“I heard from the news the governor who said the boys are found after 9 p.m., so I rode a bike here. I’m so overwhelmingly happy. I don’t need to sleep. I would like to see my boy,” Kham told BenarNews at the time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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