October 30, 2023
BANGKOK – Duangphet Phromthep, 18, captain of the Wild Boar football team, was found unconscious at Brooke House College in Leicestershire on February 12.
He died two days later at Kettering General Hospital.
Following an inquest into the teen’s death, a senior coroner concluded it was a suicide, the BBC reported.
In the record of the inquest, Prof Catherine Mason said: “Mr Phromthep was not known to mental health services, and it is not known why he took the actions that he did.
“It could not have been foreseen or prevented.
“The police investigation has found no evidence of third-party involvement or suspicious circumstances.”
Thai-language media had previously reported that the 18-year-old had died from a head injury sustained in a fall.
Duangphet, also known by his nickname “Dom”, was one of the 12 members of the Wild Boar football team trapped in Tham Luang Cave by flooding in June 2018.
The world was transfixed for 17 days as an elaborate international mission unfolded to rescue the young footballers and their coach after they were trapped by rising water in the Chiang Rai cave system.
The 200-metre-deep Chamber 1, which visitors use to enter the cave complex, was the command centre for a rescue operation led by Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn and Thai Navy Seals. Duangphet was among the second group of boys carried out of the cave on July 9.
The Wild Boars have since become celebrities, depicted in a series of films and documentaries about their ordeal.
After being rescued from the cave, Duangphet went to Chiang Mai to study sports and later received a scholarship to study at Brooke House Academy, located about 150 kilometres north of London, in August last year, and subsequently flew to England in September.