BANGKOK, July 18: Twelve boys and their football coach who were rescued from a flooded cave in northern Thailand have left hospital in preparation for returning home.

They had been in the Chiang Rai clinic since last week, when they were pulled from the Tham Luang cave complex in a three-day operation.

The group will make their first public appearance at a news conference and answer questions about their ordeal.

After that they will go back to their homes and families, officials say.

"Media can ask them questions and after that they can go back to live their normal lives without media bothering them," Thailand's chief government spokesman Sunsern Kaewkumnerd told.

Chiang Rai's provincial governor Prachon Pratsukan added that it would be their "only official media interview", saying that there would "be no more speaking with the press after this".

Questions submitted by journalists were vetted ahead of time, and have been screened by a child psychiatrist to ensure they don't distress the boys.

The press conference is due to begin at around 6 pm local time

There are also plans for the boys to be ordained as Buddhist monks for a short period of time, a tradition for males in Thailand who have experienced a misfortune.

 
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