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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World

Site of Thai cave rescue now seeing up to 16,000 tourists a day

The boys inside the Tham Luang cave (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

The site in Thailand where 12 football players and their coach were rescued from a cave has become a major tourist attraction.

The village of Ban Chong is seeing up to 16,000 visitors a day, all hoping to get an insight into the news story that hooked the world earlier this year.

The group spent 17 days trapped in the Tham Luang cave complex in July after rising floodwaters left them stuck underground.

According to the Sunday Times, a museum is currently under development at the site.

A happy family member shows a picture of the missing boys (AFP/Getty Images)

A tourist campsite is also being built to accommodate those travelling to the northern Thai village.

The boys and their coach went exploring in the massive cave on June 23 after football practice, and were cut off when a rainstorm flooded the cave.

A massive international search operation was launched and it took 10 days to locate the boys, who were found hungry and huddled on a dry slope deep in the complex.

The only way to reach them was by navigating dark and tight passageways filled with muddy water and strong currents, as well as oxygen-depleted air.

A rescue diver enters the Thai cave during the rescue operation (AFP/Getty Images)

Getting out via the same route was the only feasible option, but a high-risk one, Thai officials said. Experienced cave rescue experts consider an underwater escape a last resort, especially with people untrained in diving, as the boys were.

The search and rescue operation has riveted people both in Thailand and internationally, with journalists from across the globe travelling to this town along the border with Burma to report on the ordeal.

During the rescue, a former Thai navy seal, Saman Gunan died as he placed air canisters along the passage to where the boys were waiting, necessary to safely travel the five-to-six hour route.

A statue of him was erected nearby the cave earlier this week.

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