The cave where 12 young Thai soccer players and their coach were trapped for over two weeks — is set to become a museum, forever preserving the incredible mission to rescue them, an official said.
“This area will become a living museum, to show how the operation unfolded,” the head of rescue mission, Narongsak Osottanakorn, told a news conference on Wednesday.
“An interactive data base will be set up” he said. “It will become another major attraction for Thailand.”
But Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha warned previously that precautions will have to be taken to make sure visitors are safe — including adding lights and signs to the Tham Luang cave network.
Villagers have long said the cave is prone to flooding and urged authorities to post clearer warnings.
Not much is known about the future tourist hub.
A guide book describe the Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park cave has having an “impressive entrance chamber” leading to a marked path and then a series of chambers and boulders.
Superstitious locals have long told of a legend about the cave — involving a beautiful princess who ran away there to be with her commoner lover — and then committed suicide when her father had him killed. The cave, Tham Luang Nang Non, is named for her and means “cave of the reclining lady.”
Officials said the plight of the stranded boys and the heroic and successful multi-national efforts to free them has put the relatively unexplored cave squarely on the map.
“The cave has become of interest for both local and foreign travelers,” Tourism Authority of Thailand official Karuna Dechatiwong said last week.
Chongklai Worapongsathorn, deputy director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, said the cave would be closed from Thursday but not for how long.
For now the plan is to “revive” an adjacent national park where hundreds of rescue workers and military personnel set up camp during the search and rescue.
With Post wires