Coach Ek the unlikely stateless hero of Thai cave drama

Schooled as a monk and now hailed a hero, football coach Ekkapol Chantawong is one of several stateless members of the "Wild Boars", a team whose survival after days trapped in a flooded Thai cave fixated a country that does not recognise them as citizens.

Coach Ek, the 25-year-old who was among the last to emerge from the cave yesterday, has been lauded for keeping the the young footballers -- aged 11-16 -- calm as starvation loomed in the dark.

He was the only adult with the boys when they entered the cave on June 23 until they were found nine days later by British divers on a muddy bank deep inside the cave complex.

As he awaited his turn to undertake the dangerous exit from the Tham Luang complex, Thais on the outside celebrated him as a modest, devout and duty-bound member of the Mae Sai community.

"From all the parents, please take care of all the children. Don't blame yourself," said a letter to him from the boys' relatives released July 7.

In reply he scrawled a note apologising to the parents, and vowing to take "the very best care of the kids."