Pathum Thani governor Narongsak Osottanakorn has died at 58 from cancer.
The news was confirmed by Rachapon Ngamkrabuan, assistant PR official of Chiang Rai Public Relations Office, who said Narongsak was pronounced dead at Siriraj Hospital at 5.40pm yesterday.
Narongsak oversaw the planning of the 2018 rescue operation for the kids from the Moo Pa or Wild Boars football team trapped in a flooded Tham Luang cave in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai, where he formerly served as governor.
Narongsak earned praise for being a man of his word and sacrificing his time and energy throughout the crisis after saying he treated the missing 13 people as if they were his own family, and pledging to do whatever it took to find them.