Duangpetch Promthep (first row, second from left) was on a football scholarship in Leicester. The cause of his death is unclear. -GETTY IMAGES
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): One of the 12 boys rescued from a flooded cave in Thailand during a dramatic operation in 2018 has died in Britain.
Seventeen-year-old Duangpetch Promthep, who was better known as Dom, was the captain of the Wild Boars football team that was stranded in Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province for more than two weeks.
The cause of his death is unclear. He was on a football scholarship in Leicester.
Non-profit organisation Zico Foundation, which was founded by Thai football manager Kiatisuk “Zico” Senamuang, confirmed the death and expressed its condolences in a Facebook post on Wednesday (Feb 15).
In August 2022, the foundation helped Dom secure the scholarship to Brooke House College Football Academy.
Buddhist monk Supatpong Methigo, the teenager’s former teacher, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that the latter’s grandmother had informed the monks at the temple of his death.
“Nong Dom was a good kid who studied hard and wrote well. He could chant Buddhist prayers extremely well and received our praises often,” said the monk.
“May the soul of Duangpetch ‘Dom’ Promthep rest in a good world. A world that you desire.”
On June 23, 2018, the junior football team, comprising 12 players aged 11 to 16, and their assistant coach, explored the Tham Luang cave after a training session.
They were trapped inside for 18 days after monsoon rain filled up the cave rapidly, blocking their way out.
Military personnel, police officers, diving experts and volunteers from all over the world came together to help with the round-the-clock rescue efforts.
The boys and the assistant coach were rescued in three groups from July 8 to 10.
They were fitted with full-face breathing masks and sedated before being pulled to safety underwater.
Thai Navy Seal diver Saman Gunan died during the operation, the only fatality of the ordeal.
The Straits Times has contacted Zico Foundation and Brooke House College for comment.
