Duangpetch’s family will bring his ashes back to their hometown in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand.
“Phra That Doi Wao Temple, where he was ordained, will hold a praying ceremony for three days and two nights. We will then scatter his ashes in the Mekong River in Chiang Saen,” said Duangpetch’s mother Thanaporn Promthep.
“Every day, I think of Dom and how he had always been a good boy,” she added. “I can survive.”
Duangpetch was the former captain of a Thai junior football team – the Wild Boar Academy. He was one of the 12 schoolboys rescued from the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in the northern province of Chiang Rai in 2018.
The boys went to explore the cave with their football coach before it was flooded, blocking their way out.
The search and rescue operation involved thousands of volunteers, officials, cave divers and experts from around the world. It ended successfully with all 13 brought to safety.
