Thailand's rescued cave boys woke up in their own homes for the first time in more than three weeks this morning, with many rising at dawn to take part in a religious ceremony.
The 12 boys, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach were discharged from a hospital in the northern province of Chiang Rai yesterday and later made their first public appearance.
During a national TV broadcast they smiled, joked and showed solidarity with one another, as they shared details of their traumatic experience inside the flooded Tham Luang cave complex.
Many of the boys hail from the district of Mae Sai, near the border with Myanmar.
Some were greeted with hugs, tears and smiles from waiting relatives and friends when they returned home.
Others were blessed with water as they entered their homes.
This morning, some of the boys and their relatives took part in religious ceremonies at Mae Sai's Wat Pha That Doi Wao temple, an ancient temple with scenic views of the surrounding countryside.
Read More:
Thai cave boys and football coach discharged from hospital
Thai cave rescue: How it unfolded
Rescue diver says Thai boys were passed 'sleeping' through cave
Reporters were not allowed close to the boys and their families at the temple to give them privacy.
The last of the group of 13 were brought out of the cave last Tuesday, ending a gruelling 18-day ordeal that claimed the life of Saman Kunan, a volunteer diver and former Thai Navy SEAL who came to help with the rescue mission.
Saman died on 6 July after losing consciousness during a mission to place oxygen tanks deep inside the cave, just two days before the first boys were brought to safety.
Wearing threads of white string tied around their wrists and holding hands together in prayer, the boys sat together in the temple while chants of Buddhist monks filled the room.
Officials have advised families of the youngsters to avoid interviews with the media for one month to let them settle back into their normal routines.
"They will live with their families first," Punnawitch Thepsurin, the director of a school in the area, said, adding that they will not resume their studies immediately.
But cameras flashed away as the now-famous Wild Boars entered the temple, in a sign of the ongoing interest in the story.
Film production houses have said they are looking into a Hollywood-style treatment of the harrowing ordeal, which captivated people around the world as the risky operation to extract the team unfolded.
During their TV news conference the boys said when they entered the cave on 23 June they had planned to only be inside the cave for about an hour after soccer practice. But a rainy season downpour flooded the tunnels, trapping them.
The boys had no food and survived only on water. They took turns digging at the cave walls, hoping to find a way out.
"We drank water from stalactites. On the first day we were okay, but after two days we started feeling tired," said Pornchai Kamluang, 16, adding that their coach, Ekapol Chanthawong, told them to stay still when possible to preserve energy.
"This experience made me stronger and taught me not to give up," said the team’s youngest member, who goes by the name Titan.
Foreign divers and Thai Navy SEALs spent three days bringing the boys out by diving and carrying them through the waterlogged corridors of Tham Luang.
The youngsters wore full-face oxygen masks and were sedated to keep them calm during the high-stakes operation.
Later rescuers marvelled that nothing had gone wrong in the extraction, which ended on 10 July when the last five were pulled out.
The boys will eventually spend time as novice Buddhist monks to honour the dead diver's memory, their coach said.
