The governor of Pathum Thani, Narongsak Osatanakorn, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 58. He had commanded a valiant international effort to rescue teenage footballers trapped in a flooded cave.
At Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, he passed away from colon cancer. In the Bang Khen district, Wat Phra Si Mahathat will host his funeral.
Media agencies dubbed Narongsak “Wild Boar Governor” for his assistance in the mission to free the 13 Wild Boar football team members who were imprisoned in the Tham Luang Cave from June 23 to July 10, 2018. Narongsak was governor of Chiang Rai at the time.
In the eastern region of Thailand, in the Chachoengsao province, Narongsak was born on June 1, 1965.
Kasetsart University awarded him a bachelor’s degree in engineering, and Ohio State University in the US awarded him a master’s degree in geodetic science and surveying.
He worked for the Department of Lands as a consultant in survey engineering and as director of the Office of Mapping Technology. Additionally, he held executive positions in a number of organizations, including the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency.
He was appointed governor of Chiang Rai in 2017, however even though he was moved in months before the cave incident, he was permitted to serve in that capacity until the rescue operation was finished.
After the rescue operation, he was given the 2018 Asia Game Changer Award by the Asia Society. “I hope this experience inspires people to start living for others,” Narongsak said during the prize presentation in New York. The world would change forever if it happened.
After that, in 2018, he was appointed governor of Phayao province, where he excelled in combating pollution issues brought on by particulate matter with a diameter lower than 2.5 millimeters.
He was appointed the governor of Lampang province in 2019, and during the Covid-19 pandemic, he was effective in persuading the populace to get immunized.
He was chosen to lead the province of Pathum Thani in 2021.
