Tham Luang Cave reopens for adventure tours

By Hoang Vu December 18, 2023 | 11:22 pm PT

Rescue workers at the Tham Luang cave complex in Thailand on July 10, 2018. Photo by Reuters

Tham Luang Cave in Thailand, which became famous after the successful rescue of 12 boys and a football coach in 2018, has reopened for adventure tourism with a limited number of tourists.

The cave is a part of Tham Luang-Khun Nam Nang Non National Park in Chiang Rai Province, and garnered international media after members of the Wild Boars football team and their coach were trapped for more than two weeks before a rescue mission.

Registration for trips into the cave opened from Dec. 15 and tourists must register at least 15 days before their visit, The Nation Thailand reported.

Eligible tourists can explore the 700-m-deep route, where they will see stalactites, rocks and holes.

The trip costs 950 baht (US$27) per person for Thai tourists and 1,500 baht per person for foreign tourists, not including fees for equipment and accident insurance.

The 12 boys of the Wild Boars football team - aged 11 to 16 - and their 25-year-old coach had biked to the cave in Mae Sai District in June 2018 to explore the 7-km cave complex without knowing a heavy monsoon rain would fall, Reuters reported.

By the time they wanted to leave, water had filled the chambers and blocked their exit.

Their disappearance triggered a search and rescue operation that snowballed into one of the most complex multinational missions worldwide.