Thailand`s Cave Boys to be Discharged from Hospital Next Week

The last of the 12-member "Wild Boars" soccer team and their coach were brought out of the Tham Luang cave, near the border with Myanmar, on Tuesday night, safely ending a perilous rescue and evoking international relief and joy.

The boys and their coach have been in hospital in the northern town of Chiang Rai since they were brought to safety.

In a video played at a news conference on Saturday, they appeared well, sitting up in bed and thanking their rescuers. Some said they were looking forward to eating their favorite food such as pork fried rice and sushi.

Read: Thai Teenage Soccer Team Saved from Flooded Cave

"I want to have crispy pork rice and barbecue pork rice," PipatPhoti, 15, said in the video.

"I want pork knuckle rice," said Duangpetch Promtep, 13. "Thank you for all the moral support."

Some of the boys lost as much as 5 kg (11 lb) but had started to regain weight in the hospital, Piyasakol told reporters. Those who were suffering pneumonia after the rescue have also recovered and all 13 should leave hospital on Thursday, he said.

"I am in good health now," said one of the boys, a 14-year-old nicknamed Note. "Thanks for saving me."

The boys, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach had planned to explore the cavern complex for about an hour after soccer practice on June 23. But a rainy season downpour flooded the tunnels, trapping them.

Two British divers found them on July 2, squatting on a mound in a flooded chamber several kilometers inside the complex. Rescuers then had to work out how to get them out through the tunnels, some of which were full of fast-flowing floodwater.

REUTERS