Wildlife officials have pledged stricter safety measures for caves across Thailand following what they described as a "mistake" at Tham Luang which led to the under-16 Wild Boar football team and their coach becoming trapped.
Ten caves, including Swallows Cave ("World Cup Cave") in Kanchanaburi, have already been closed for the rainy season. Yai, Nam Tok and Swallows, located in Lam Khlong Ngu National Park in Kanchanaburi, will be closed indefinitely while the remaining seven in six provinces have been shut down for five months, National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department chief Thanya Nethithammakul said yesterday.
Swallows Cave is well known for a large stalagmite which resembles the shape of the World Cup trophy.
The department had been aware of possible risks to tourists who visit caves during rainstorms and had announced the temporary closures of seven popular caves in May.
Mr Thanya, however, admitted the lack of strict enforcement of the closures n Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district had been "a mistake" in light of the incident at Tham Luang, a 10-km long cave complex famous for its stalagmites and stalactites.
On June 23, 12 young football players and their 26-year-old coach went missing in Tham Luang after a downpour triggered flash floods that trapped the group inside the complex for about 10 days before they were found by British and Thai rescuers on Monday night.
Mr Thanya said: "We had not expected people would enter [the cave]."
According to media reports, some of the boys had visited before and were familiar with the layout.
However, Mr Thanya insisted, strict measures for safe sightseeing will be drawn up for all sites currently overseen by the department.
The seven other closed caves are Khun Sathan and Doi Phukha in Nan, Pha Daeng in Chiang Mai, Moei in Tak, Lam Khlong Ngu in Kanchanaburi, Khao Sok in Surat Thani and Hat Chao Mai in Trat.
Measures include employing cave experts as tour guides, safety gear for each visitor during the tour as well as a requirement to have names checked when entering and leaving the areas.
Over the past week, about 200 wildlife officials have converged on Tham Luang to assists in the rescue. Many will now stay on after other rescuers finish their jobs to assist with the cleanup operation.
"We have a big job to restore the area," Mr Thanya said.
