Thai cave rescue: Official hailed as hero of cave rescue dies

A Thai official who oversaw the dramatic rescue of 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded cave in 2018 has died of cancer.

Narongsak Osottanakorn died on Wednesday in a week that marks the fifth anniversary of the cave rescue. He was 58.

He is beloved in Thailand as the “Wild Boar Governor”, named after the football team he helped save.

Mr Narongsak is survived by his wife and two daughters.

HIs death comes just four months after the Wild Boars’ 17-year-old captain, Duangphet Phromthep, died in the UK. Thai media reported that he had succumbed to a head injury.

Mr Narongsak was the governor of the Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand where the the boys and their coach were trapped deep inside the Tham Luang cave for 18 days.

During that time Mr Narongsak coordinated the rescue mission, involving teams from several countries, including the UK, US and China. He was often seen near the site supervising what was happening, and held daily press briefings.

He drew widespread praise in Thailand for his work in the cave rescue – a mission that, in his words, had “united humanity as a whole”.

“With over 10,000 people involved, even if one function was missing, we would not have been able to do it,” he said in New York in 2018 after receiving an award from the non-profit, Asia Society.

When news of Mr Narongsak’s death broke, two of the cave survivors – one of whom was the coach – stopped football practice to offer prayers. “Thank you for saving the lives of all 13 of us. May your soul rest in a better place,” the teen said in a video later shared on Facebook.

There were also tributes on Twitter. One user shared an illustration showing Mr Narongsak as an elephant with eyeglasses, leading a pack of wild boars out of a cave, while tossing a football with his trunk.

“We will always remember his goodness forever,” another Twitter user wrote, while a third one praised him for displaying “leadership in a critical moment”.

Mr Narongsak was last seen in public at his daughter’s wedding, six days before his death. Thai media published pictures showing the frail governor, masked and in a wheelchair, as he took part in the ceremony. He had been battling cancer for five years.

His funeral is being held at a temple in Bangkok, and the Thai royal family is reported to have sent wreaths and holy water to perform the bathing rites. Some of the boys from the Wild Boars will take part in a Buddhist ritual in his honour, Thai media reported.

Born in 1965, Mr Narongsak was a veteran bureaucrat who had served multiple roles in public service, including a stint in the Ministry of Interior.

He was appointed governor of Chiang Rai in 2017, a post he held for 15 months. The province in northern Thailand is known for its verdant trails.

He was due to be transferred to Phayao, a smaller province, when the football team became trapped in the cave. But the government postponed his move so he could oversee the rescue mission.

He had a master’s degree in Geodetic Science, the study of properly measuring the size and shape of the earth.

When he died, Mr Narongsak had been serving as governor of Pathum Thani province since 2021. He was reportedly asked to run for governor of Bangkok, but declined for health reasons.