# Tham Luang, Drawn · ถ้ำหลวง วาดด้วยคณิต

The 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue drawn with math: the Sleeping Lady mountain, the flooded way in, the 38 × 72 cm squeeze, a billion litres of water, the thinning air, the way out, the ten thousand people, and those we remember, including diver Erik Brown.

English: https://nanobotco.github.io/tham-luang/
Thai: https://nanobotco.github.io/tham-luang/th/

## Eighteen days

- 23 Jun 2018: After practice the Wild Boars ride their bicycles to the cave. Twelve boys aged 11 to 16 and their 25-year-old assistant coach go in. Rain starts, and the passages fill behind them.
- 24 Jun 2018: Their bicycles and bags are found at the mouth. Inside, rescuers find handprints and footprints.
- 25 Jun 2018: Thai Navy SEAL divers start searching. The water is so murky that even with lights they cannot see.
- 26 Jun 2018: Divers reach the T-junction and floodwater pushes them back.
- 27 Jun 2018: Three British Cave Rescue Council divers arrive. Rain floods the passages again.
- 28 Jun 2018: A US Air Force team joins. Heavy rain stops the search. Pumps arrive, and hundreds of people search the mountain for another way in.
- 29 Jun 2018: Australian Federal Police divers arrive. The prime minister visits and tells the families not to give up.
- 30 Jun 2018: A break in the rain. Divers push further in.
- 1 Jul 2018: Chamber 3 becomes the base: a store of air cylinders inside the mountain.
- 2 Jul 2018: Late at night John Volanthen and Rick Stanton surface into an air pocket and find all thirteen alive on a ledge about 400 m past Pattaya Beach. They smelled them before they saw them.
- 3 Jul 2018: Thai Navy SEALs and an army doctor reach the boys with food and medicine. Four of them stay with the team until the end.
- 4 Jul 2018: The boys try full-face masks. Pumps pull 1.6 million litres an hour out of the cave.
- 5 Jul 2018: A dry spell. The water drops about 1.5 cm an hour, and rescuers can walk 1.5 km in.
- 6 Jul 2018: About 1 a.m., Saman Kunan, a former Navy SEAL, dies on his way back from leaving air tanks near the T-junction. Oxygen in the boys' chamber is falling.
- 7 Jul 2018: Rain is forecast. The plan is set: the divers will carry the boys out asleep.
- 8 Jul 2018: Day one. Eighteen divers go in. By evening four boys are out and on their way to hospital in Chiang Rai.
- 9 Jul 2018: Day two. Four more boys come out.
- 10 Jul 2018: Day three. The last four boys and their coach, then the three SEALs and the doctor. A pump fails behind them and the water rises 50 cm every ten minutes as the last rescuers hurry out.

## The thirteen, in the order they came out

- 1. Note (โน้ต), Prachak Sutham (ประจักษ์ สุธรรม), age 15, day 1
- 2. Tern (เติ้ล), Natthawut Thakhamsong (ณัฐวุฒิ ทาคำทรง), age 14, day 1
- 3. Nick (นิค), Phiphat Phothi (พิพัฒน์ โพธิ), age 15, day 1
- 4. Night (ไนท์), Phiraphat Somphiangchai (พีรภัทร สมเพียงใจ), age 16, day 1
- 5. Mick (มิกซ์), Phanumat Saengdi (ภาณุมาศ แสงดี), age 13, day 2
- 6. Dul (ดุล), Adul Sam-on (อดุลย์ สามอ่อน), age 14, day 2
- 7. Biw (บิว), Ekkarat Wongsukchan (เอกรัฐ วงค์สุขจันทร์), age 14, day 2
- 8. Dom (ดอม), Duangphet Phromthep (ดวงเพชร พรหมเทพ), age 13, day 2
- 9. Ekk (เอก), Ekkaphon Kanthawong (เอกพล จันทะวงษ์), age 25, day 3
- 10. Tee (ตี๋), Phonchai Khamluang (พรชัย คำหลวง), age 16, day 3
- 11. Titan (ไตตั้น), Chanin Wibunrungrueang (ชนินท์ วิบูลย์รุ่งเรือง), age 11, day 3
- 12. Pong (พงศ์), Somphong Chaiwong (สมพงศ์ ใจวงศ์), age 13, day 3
- 13. Mark (มาร์ค), Mongkhon Bunpiam (มงคล บุญเปี่ยม), age 13, day 3

## Remembered

- Saman Kunan (น.ต. สมาน กุนัน · 1980–2018): A former Navy SEAL, 37, who had left the service in 2006 and worked in security at Suvarnabhumi Airport. He volunteered. On the night of 5 July he dived from Chamber 3 toward the T-junction to leave three air tanks, lost consciousness on the way back, and was pronounced dead about 1 a.m. on 6 July. A bronze statue by Chalermchai Kositpipat, twice life size, stands at the cave with thirteen wild boars at his feet.
- Beirut Pakbara (ร.ท. เบรุต ปากบารา · died 2019): A Navy SEAL diver in the rescue. He died in December 2019 of a blood infection he caught during the operation.
- Duangphet “Dom” Phromthep (ดวงเพชร (ดอม) พรหมเทพ · 2005–2023): The team captain, rescued eighth, on day two. He died in England in February 2023, aged 17.
- Erik Brown (เอริก บราวน์ · died 2026): A Canadian cave diver and instructor. He carried air cylinders and gear through the flooded passages, laid and kept up the guidelines, and spent 63 hours inside the cave over nine days and seven missions. Canada gave him the Medal of Bravery in 2019. Friends and family announced his death, at 44, in late September 2026. The cause has not been made public.

## Sources

- Tham Luang cave rescue, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tham_Luang_cave_rescue
- ปฏิบัติการค้นหาและกู้ภัยถ้ำหลวง, Thai Wikipedia: https://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%8F%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%84%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%B2%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B9%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%A0%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%96%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%B3%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%87
- Tham Luang Nang Non, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tham_Luang_Nang_Non
- Saman Kunan, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saman_Kunan
- Canadian diver who helped rescue Wild Boars dies at 44, Khaosod English, 1 Oct 2026: https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/2026/10/01/canadian-diver-who-helped-rescue-wild-boars-dies-at-44/
- Reports emerge of Tham Luang rescue diver Erik Brown's death, The Scuba News, 25 Sep 2026: https://www.thescubanews.com/2026/09/25/erik-brown-tham-luang-cave-rescue-diver-death/
- Canadian diver who helped save trapped Thai football team dies at 44, Malay Mail, 3 Oct 2026: https://www.malaymail.com/news/life/2026/10/03/canadian-diver-who-helped-save-trapped-thai-football-team-in-chiang-rai-cave-dies-at-44/237502
- Tham Luang rescue map, Per Meistrup, CC0 (the trace): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2018_Tham-Luang-cave-map-cropped.png
- Tham Luang 2018 rescue map after Martin Ellis's survey (distances): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tham_Luang_2018_Cave_Rescue_Map.png
- Laws of the Game, Law 2: the ball, IFAB: https://www.theifab.com/laws/latest/the-ball/

## Licence

Text CC BY 4.0, NaNoBotCo. Code MIT. Photographs keep their own licences, listed on the page.