Rescued Wild Boar Soccer Team members in the Tham Luang Cave: Transforming an Impossible Mission to a Possible Mission

When problems have solutions in hand, they are not too difficult to solve. On the other hand, for an unprecedented case which has many unknown factors and threatens the survival of the victims, it is risky and challenging. The Tham Luang Cave is located in the Maesai District, Chiangrai Province, Northern Thailand. Thirteen members of the Wild Boar Soccer Team decided to visit the cave after they finished practice. Although some members had visited the cave in the past, this time, conditions in the cave were different from their previous visits. The rainy season came earlier than usual and heavy rain caused them to be trapped in the cave for more than two weeks. As soon as it became known that they were still in the cave, a rescue operation was mounted.In the first stage, there were many limitations for rescue operations in terms of details of the cave map, cave diving skills and rescue operation techniques. However, international cooperation together with systematic local management could make the rescue mission possible. The rescue of the Wild Boar Soccer Team members is a unique case. This study aims to better understand the crisis management process. Knowledge of crisis management is still limited and more work needs to be done to enhance the field. Therefore, this study illustrates the framework of integrated crisis management through an analysis of the rescued Wild Boar Soccer Team members case. Research Results Analysis help to shed new light on the crisis management process and to provide lessons learnt from an unprecedented crisis management case.