BANGKOK, April 19 (TNA) — Australian divers Richard Harris and Craig Challen who took part in the rescue of the Wild Boars young football team from the Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai province last year met Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai who expressed gratitude for their devotion.
The Thai government invited both to pay a visit as it presented Thai tourism privileges to the foreign experts and divers who rescued young footballers and a coach of the Moo Pa (Wild Boars) football team from the flooded cave in June and July 2018.
Mr Challen said he was glad to revisit Thailand and he did not expect the rescue would receive such long international attention.
Mr Harris said they would visit the 13 rescued people in Chiang Rai next week and the rescue gave valuable experiences to divers in case they would have to rescue other people from caves.
He also said that the young footballers and their coach should have a normal and peaceful life and no one should criticize them any longer because they had already suffered great hardships in the flooded cave.
In the afternoon Mr Harris and Mr Challen met Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha at Government House to receive royal decorations.
They will go to Chiang Rai on April 21 to meet the Wild Boars team and visit the Tham Luang cave in the Tham Luang-Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park. Later they will visit Kanchanaburi and Phuket provinces for vacation and join activities of the Australian embassy in Thailand. (TNA)
