Ashes of Thailand boy rescued from flooded cave released on Mekong River

Family members, monks and friends watch from a boat on Monday as the ashes of one of 12 boys rescued from a flooded cave in northern Thailand in 2018 are released into the Mekong River. Seventeen-year-old Duangphet Phromthep died last month while attending a sports academy in England.

Duangphaet’s ashes, along with soccer balls and some of his prized possessions, were floated in a makeshift vessel in an area of ​​the river in the country’s northernmost province of Chiang Rai, where the borders of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand are known as the Golden Triangle. ,

His body was cremated in a Buddhist ceremony in England as per his family’s wishes.

Boys’ soccer team captain rescued in Thailand cave in 2018, 17 dead

Phra Khru Prayut Chetianukaran, abbot of the province’s Wat Phra That Doi Wo temple, who led the Buddhist funeral procession, said the site is where people often scatter the ashes of their family members. He added that the golden triangle “is believed to contain a naga that helps protect us and take care of (the dead).”

Nagas are serpent-like mystical beings revered according to Thai Buddhist beliefs. The Mekong River is the longest river in Asia, spanning approximately 3,100 miles, and passing through several countries including China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos.

Family members, accompanied by monks and fellow mourners, release Duangphet Phromthep’s ashes into the Mekong River in Thailand in a makeshift boat along with soccer balls and some of his prized possessions, on March 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Sachai Lalit)

Duangphaet, better known as Dom, was found unconscious in his room at Brook House College Football Academy in Leicestershire, central England, on 12 February. He died two days later in a hospital.

The cause of death has not been made public by coroners, but police said it was not being treated as suspicious.

Buddhist prayer sessions for Duangphaet took place over the weekend at Wat Phra That Doi Wo in his hometown of Chiang Rai after his ashes arrived from Britain on Sunday.

Thai cave boy rescued one year after ordeal: ‘God answered me’

The temple is less than 6 miles from Tham Luang Cave, where Duangphet and 11 of his “Wild Boar” soccer teammates and their coach were trapped for more than two weeks after a miraculous effort by expert cave divers Safely ejected, which took over the world. Interest.

Adul Sam-on, a former teammate who stuck with him in 2018, arrived in Chiang Rai on Monday from New York, where he was studying, to say a final goodbye to Duangphaet, one of his closest friends.

Click here to get the Fox News app

Adul said, “Even though today was the last day of the ceremony, I am happy that I completed it.” “We were so close. We were like brothers.”

Duangphaet was described by his friends and coaches as a talented and determined football player.

“He was very good at football, technically and mentally,” said 17-year-old Anucha Ratchakote, Duangphat’s former teammate at Wachirlai B School in Chiang Mai. “He wanted to play for the national team and I think he was good enough.”