Today, it was reported that the 17-year-old former squad captain of the Wild Boars football team, 12 members of which got notoriously trapped in a cave in Thailand in 2018, has passed away.
Duangpetch ‘Dom’ Promthep arrived to Leicestershire in late 2022 after receiving a scholarship to attend the elite Brooke House College Football Academy.
Uncertainty surrounded the reason of his death, however sources indicated he sustained a head injury.
After the cave they were investigating flooded, the twelve teenage football players and their coach became stranded for two weeks. Nearly 100 divers were involved in their struggle and eventual rescue, which dominated global headlines for weeks.
Since their escape from the Tham Luang cave, however, surprisingly little has been heard publicly from the boys and their instructor despite their global celebrity. As they mourn the loss of their friend, MailOnline examines the current status of the Wold Boars.
At the time of their rescue, the boys ranged in age from 11 to 17, although their coach, Ekkaphon Kanthawong (also known as Eak), was 25.
Four years later, some of them are now adults, and the minimal information available indicates that they all did their best to return to normalcy after their tragedy.
Some of their social media sites indicate that some of them continued to pursue their passion for football after returning to school, either in Thailand or overseas.
According to online reports, a number of the lads continue to dwell in their native region of Chiang Rai. This includes hanin ‘Titan’ Viboonrungruang, who was 11 years old at the time, as well as Panumart ‘Mix’ Saengdee and Mongkhon ‘Mark’ Bunpiam, who are now 17 years old.
Somphong ‘Pong’ Jaiwong was reportedly enrolled at Chiang Mai Technical College in the Thai cultural capital of Si Phum subdistrict in 2022.
Mark, Adul Sam-on (Dul), and coach Eak, in addition to one of the youngsters, were all stateless when they became stranded in the caves. The government of Thailand gave formal Thai citizenship to all four in September 2018.
The government has pledged to eliminate statelessness by 2024.
Dul, who was the only English-speaker in the group and the first to communicate with the British rescue divers who discovered them in the cave, has now traveled to the United States to study.
In 2022, according to social media posts, he attended a summer program at Cornell University and is currently enrolled in The Master’s School in New York. He is scheduled to graduate in 2023.
Photos on his Facebook page reveal that he still frequents football fields and the gym, and that he looks to be enjoying life on campus.
The New York Times reports that Dul is fluent in five languages. While he had aspirations of becoming a local physician, his rescue and the international attention it garnered pushed him to consider other options.
Now, according to the article, he intends to work for humanitarian causes, potentially for the United Nations.
It is believed that Ekkarat ‘Biw’ Wongsukchan and Phonchai ‘Tee’ Khamluangare are still committed to football, while Phiphat ‘Nick’ Phothi is engaged and works at a rescue center, according to sources in Thailand.
On his Facebook profile are photographs of him posing with ambulances and working in an emergency response center.
Phiphat tweeted a photograph of a smiling Dom in the countryside upon learning of his friend’s passing. ‘RIP. Your future is on an exciting path, Dom. You will forever be in our minds,’ he wrote.
Nattawut ‘Tle’ Takamrong (then 14) or Phiraphat ‘Night’ Somphiangchai (who turned 17 while he was in the cave) or Prachak ‘Note’ Sutham, who was 15 when he became stranded, had little information accessible.
In the little village of Mae Sai, it is said that Coach Eak developed his own football training facility called Eakapol Academy.
Duangpetch ‘Dom’ Promthep, like Dul, moved abroad for school. It is believed that he moved to Leicester, United Kingdom, where he tragically passed away this week.
After receiving a scholarship from the Thai organization Zico Foundation, he enrolled in the famed Brooke House College football academy in the English county of Leicestershire.
Promthep shared various photographs of his new life at the Leicester football academy upon his arrival in the United Kingdom.
His social media accounts contain images of him and his friends playing football, as well as images of him celebrating his “very chilly first Christmas in the United Kingdom.”
Other photographs depict the adolescent playing with his buddies outside of class and visiting London attractions such as the Tower Bridge.
In a photograph taken immediately after earning his scholarship, the boy thanked his father for his support and reassured him, “Don’t worry Dad, I’ll work hard in school.”
Dul’s great-uncle Go Shin Maung told The New York Times in late 2022 that the lads are “going their own paths.”
Some will pursue their academics, while others will focus on football. They continue to communicate via chat and text, discussing their experiences,’ he said.
The newspaper provides an explanation for the minimal information available about the twelve boys’ life since their recovery.
The New York Times says that the boys and their families sold the rights to their story to a government-affiliated company. Then, this was sold to Netflix.
Under the terms of the agreement, the boys and their coach cannot publicly discuss their experiences for years.
The Times said that when approached, several of the boys and their families declined to comment.
According to the Eastern Mirror, a firm founded by the boys’ parents and named 13 Tham Luang (after the cave) manages their image rights.
In 2019, it was claimed that each of the lads earned £72,000 from the contract.
Following their rescue, the lads were invited to visit a Manchester United football match in the United Kingdom, participated in the Summer Youth Olympics, and even featured on the American talk show Ellen with Ellen DeGeneres.
At least six novels have been written about their amazing narrative, and seven film or television adaptations have either been produced or commissioned.
Thai Cave Rescue, a limited series aired on Netflix in 2022, is the only dramatic production permitted access to the Wild Boars.
The streaming giant also produced ‘The Trapped 13: How We Survived the Thai Cave’ in October of 2017, which includes interviews with some of the youngsters.
In 2022, Amazon produced another dramatization titled Thirteen Lives. Ron Howard directed the film, which was released in 2022.
»Wild boars team captain dies few years after being trapped in a cave in Thailand«