CHIANG RAI: Twelve members of the Moo Paa (Wild Boars) football team were welcomed back to school with a good luck ceremony yesterday and promised extra tuition after they were trapped in the flooded Tham Luang cave complex in Mae Sai district for about two weeks.
The special reception at Maesaiprasitsart School was presided over by Chiang Rai deputy governor Somboon Sirivej.
Mr Somboon and other participants tied threads representing morale on the wrists of the 12 boys, who also received new uniforms and learning materials from the school management.
They were also given red Bayern Munich football jerseys by a representative of the German club.
A traditional bai si performance aimed at summoning friendly spirits was conducted to further boost the boys' morale.
Monchai Panthoob, director of the Secondary Educational Service Area Office 36, said the welcoming ceremony was organised because the Education Ministry and workers from the educational office were concerned about the boys and wanted them to catch up with their studies as soon as possible.
"Their school has prepared catch-up lessons and teachers will give them special tuition to make up for the time they lost," he said.
The 12 boys, aged 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach entered the cave complex in Tham Luang-Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park on June 23 and immediately became trapped by rapidly rising floodwater. A hastily assembled team of British, Thai and international rescuers brought them all out safely between July 8-10.
Eleven of the boys were ordained as Buddhist novices on July 25 and returned to normal life on Saturday. Coach Ekapol Chanthawong will remain in the monkhood during Buddhist Lent, which runs from July 28 to Oct 24.
In the province's Muang district, residents and tourists who visited Wat Rong Khun (The White Temple) stopped to admire an unfinished statue of former Navy Seal diver lieutenant commander Saman Gunan, who died during the cave rescue mission.
Sarawut Khummoonchai, who joined the sculpting process, said 60% of the statue has been completed so far and the remaining details would be ironed out soon.
The process began on July 24 and is scheduled for completion by the end of this year. The statue will be erected in front of an under-construction museum to commemorate the incident at Tham Luang cave.