'Cave boys set to fly to Argentina, US

'Cave boys set to fly to Argentina, US

Thailand's 'cave boys' and their football coach, seen here at a government-mandated TV press conference in July, are going to start collecting on promises of foreign travel. (Reuters photo)
Thailand's 'cave boys' and their football coach, seen here at a government-mandated TV press conference in July, are going to start collecting on promises of foreign travel. (Reuters photo)

The 12 Wild Boars and their football coach rescued in the July cave drama will travel next week to Argentina for the Youth Olympic Games and then on to the United States for talk show appearances.

The group were invited to attend the games in Buenos Aires by Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee. They will leave their Chiang Rai homes on Oct 3 for the games, being held from Oct 6 to 18, and return home on Oct 20.

All expenses during the trip to games will be taken care of by the IOC.

The IOC will also schedule a special soccer match between the Wild Boars and Olympic youth athletes, "to form bonds of friendship", Mr Bach's office said.

While in the United States, they are scheduled to appear on the NBC network's Today Show and Late Night in New York. It is not known if they have an exlusive deal with NBC.

Some related Thai officials are expected to travel with the boys including former Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osottanakorn, a prominent spokesman during the rescue effort.

The team entered the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai province on June 23 and were subsequently trapped by rising flood waters.

It took three days to carry out the full rescues of all 13 team members.

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