The Naval Special Warfare Command, commonly known as the Royal Thai Navy SEALs, is the special operations force of the Royal Thai Navy.
Doi Nang Non is a mountain range in the Thai highlands in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand. It is a karstic formation with numerous waterfalls and caves rising at the southern end of the Daen Lao Range. Part of its area is managed as the Tham Luang–Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park.
Matt Gutman is an American author and reporter for ABC News. As the network's Chief National Correspondent, he appears on various programs for the network and has been recognized with multiple awards from organizations including The Emmys, RTDNA and the Society of Professional Journalists. He is also the author of the books No Time to Panic: How I Curbed My Anxiety and Conquered a Lifetime of Panic Attacks (2023) and The Boys in the Cave: Deep Inside the Impossible Rescue in Thailand (2018) about the international rescue of a boys soccer team from a cave in Thailand in July 2018. He was the host of the U.S. weekly TV series Sea Rescue when it ended in September 2018 and won an Emmy for Outstanding Children's Series in 2016.
Kwame Alexander is an American writer of poetry and children's fiction.
In June and July 2018, a junior association football team was rescued from Tham Luang Nang Non, a cave system in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. Twelve members of the team, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old assistant coach entered the cave on 23 June after a practice session. Shortly after they entered, heavy rainfall began and partially flooded the cave system, blocking their way out and trapping them deep within.
Tham Luang Nang Non is a karstic cave system in the Tham Luang–Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park, near the village of Pong Pha, in northern Thailand. It lies beneath Doi Nang Non, a mountain range on the border with Myanmar.
John Paul Volanthen, is a British cave diver who undertakes cave rescues through the Cave Rescue Organisation, South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue, and the British Caving Association. In 2018, he played a leading role in the Tham Luang cave rescue. He cave-dives as a hobby and conducts rescues as a volunteer. He works as an IT consultant in Bristol.
Richard William Stanton, is a British civilian cave diver who specialises in rescues through the Cave Rescue Organisation and the British Cave Rescue Council. He has been called "one of the world's most accomplished cave-divers", "the face of British cave diving," and "the best cave diver in Europe". Stanton has lived in Coventry for many years, and was formerly a firefighter with the West Midlands Fire Service for 25 years prior to his retirement. In 2018 he played a leading role in the Tham Luang cave rescue and was awarded the George Medal in the Civilian Gallantry List.
Saman Kunan was a Thai Navy SEAL. After leaving the Navy, he worked as a security guard at Suvarnabhumi Airport. He died during the Tham Luang cave rescue operation, earning him the title of 'Tham Luang Hero'. Saman was posthumously awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant, one of the country's highest honors, by King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Richard Harris SC,, is an Australian anaesthetist and cave diver who is currently the Lieutenant Governor of South Australia. Harris is best known for having played a crucial role in the Tham Luang cave rescue. He and Craig Challen were jointly awarded 2019 Australian of the Year as a result of that rescue. Harris was appointed as South Australia's Lieutenant-Governor in 2024, and was sworn in on 9 February 2024.
The Cave is a 2019 Thai action-drama film about the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand, written and directed by Tom Waller and co-produced by Waller and Allen Liu. The story is written from the points of view of several individuals involved in the rescue operation, and features cave diver Jim Warny and others as themselves. The film premiered at the 2019 Busan International Film Festival, and was released in Thailand on 21 November. It had a re-edited release in 2022 as Cave Rescue.
Grand Theft Horse is a 2018 graphic novel written by Greg Neri and illustrated by Corban Wilkin. The book is published by Lee & Low and is a biography of the horse trainer, Gail Ruffu.
Thirteen Lives is a 2022 biographical survival film, based on the Tham Luang cave rescue, directed and produced by Ron Howard and written by William Nicholson. The film stars Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, Joel Edgerton, and Tom Bateman.
We Are Water Protectors is a 2020 picture book written by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade. Written in response to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, the book tells the story of an Ojibwe girl who fights against an oil pipeline in an effort to protect the water supply of her people. It was published by Roaring Brook Press on March 17, 2020. The book was well received. Critics praised its message of environmental justice, its depiction of diversity, and the watercolor illustrations, for which Goade won the 2021 Caldecott Medal, becoming the first Indigenous recipient of the award. The book also received the 2021 Jane Addams Children's Book Award winner in the Books for Younger Children category.
Christina Soontornvat is an American author, educator, and mechanical engineer. She won two Newbery Honors in 2021 for the children's books A Wish in the Dark and All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team, and another Newbery Honor in 2023 for the middle grade novel "The Last Mapmaker".
A Wish in the Dark is a 2020 children's fantasy novel by American author Christina Soontornvat. It is a retelling of the 1862 novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, and contains elements inspired by Thai culture. The book received positive reviews from critics and won a Newbery Honor and a Jane Addams Children's Book Award.
Blackout is a young adult novel written by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon. The book contains six interlinked stories about Black teen love during a power outage in New York City. The book was released on June 22, 2021.
Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks is a young adult novel written by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Alexander Nabaum, and published October 8, 2019 by Atheneum Books. The book is a New York Times best seller, National Book Award for Young People's Literature finalist (2019), Coretta Scott King Award honor book (2020), and Carnegie Medal recipient (2021).
Thai Cave Rescue is a 6-part limited series produced by Netflix, directed by Kevin Tancharoen and Nattawut Poonpiriya. It was released on September 22, 2022.
The Trapped 13: How We Survived The Thai Cave is a 2022 documentary film directed by Pailin Wedel and produced by Netflix. It follows the Tham Luang cave rescue, a 2018 mission that saved a junior association football team from a flooded cave.
