Eleven football players and a coach were believed to be trapped in Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai as a search and rescue effort attempted to locate them Sunday.
Eleven boys have their photo taken before they entered the cave in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district on Saturday and disappeared. Photo by Facebook Page: Love Mae Sai
The cave is in the Tham Luang-Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in tambon Pong Pha of Mae Sai district, about one kilometre from Mae Sai-Chiang Rai road.
The cave is famous for its stalactites and stalagmites.
Tourists must walk down and cross a small creek before they can enter the cave, which is closed to visitors when the water level is high enough to cause run-off.
Kamolchai Kotcha, chief of Protected Areas Regional Office 15 in Chiang Rai, said police were alerted to the group's disappearance at about 10pm on Saturday.
Police were sent to the scene and parents gathered soon after.
The group played football at a sports facility in tambon Pong Pha around noon on Saturday, he said, citing one of the parents.
After training, they cycled together to the forest park for a trek to the cave.
Mr Kamolchai said park officials noticed bicycles parked at the mouth of the cave around 3pm, the park's closing time.
About 1am Sunday, rescue workers used oxygen tanks and ropes to walk into the cave, he said, adding 12 pairs of sandals and some bags were found inside.
Local officials, police, soldiers and rescuers discussed ways to rescue the missing people at 3.30am Sunday. However, they decided to call off the search as rescuers became exhausted and water levels kept rising, Mr Kamolchai said.
Rescuers resumed their search Sunday morning and went about 3 kilometres into the cave but could not locate the missing people. They were unable to reach deeper as the area was flooded under five metres of water.
