Thai Navy Seal sacrifices life, saves soccer team

[Julius Seeker]

Who is Saman Gunan? The Thai Navy Seal who sacrificed his life trying to get the boys out, stuck in the cave

Saman Gunan, 38, was a former member of Thailand’s elite Navy Underwater Demolition Assault Unit and had volunteered to help rescue the 12 young soccer players and their coach after they got stranded in the Tham Luang cave.


(Saman Gunan (extreme right) was a former member of Thailand’s Navy's Underwater Demolition Assault Unit. |Photo Credit: Facebook)

New Delhi: Petty Officer First Class Saman Gunan, who was trying to free a stranded soccer team from a flooded cave system in Thailand, died early Friday morning.

According to SEAL commander Arpakorn Yookongkaew, Gunan died while placing oxygen canisters underwater for the stranded boys. Efforts to resuscitate Gunan failed after he lost consciousness in one of the passageways, said Passakorn Boonyaluck, deputy governor of the Chiang Rai region, where the cave is located.

Gunan had volunteered to help rescue the 12 young soccer players and their coach after they got stranded in the Tham Luang cave. Rescuers on Sunday extracted at least four members of a youth soccer team from the cave.

Who is Saman Kunan?

Gunan, 38, a former member of the Navy Underwater Demolition Assault Unit, became a triathlete and worked as an airport security officer after retiring from Thailand's elite Navy SEAL unit. Details about his family life have not yet been released by the Thai navy, but he was passionate about cycling and running.

Gunan had completed his task of delivering three oxygen canisters to the location where the boys and their coach are located, however, he passed out in one of the passageways while on his way back.

According to officials, Thai king Maha Vajiralongkorn will sponsor the funeral rites and a separate military funeral has been planned at the Sattahip Navy Base in Pattaya, and then in his hometown in the northern Thailand province of Roi Et.

The navy has also sought permission to posthumously promote Gunan, local media reported.

The group went missing in Tham Luang’s complex cave system in northern Thailand.

Set up in 1956 with the assistance of the US government, the Thai Navy SEAL is a 144-man special operations force within the military of Thailand. The unit has been trained to conduct maritime counter-terrorism missions and has been trained by the US Navy SEALs.