Sculptors, artists pour their hearts into tributes for Saman

By THE NATION

 

Krisna Namulphol’s creations (from left): Surathin Chaichompu, the Thai Water Well Association’s president; hero Saman Kunan, and Narongsak Osottanakorn, the search and rescue operations chief. Photo courtesy of Krisna Namulphol

 

Thai and Indian artists are expressing their creativity to come up with monuments, sculptures and paintings honouring former Navy SEAL Petty Officer First Class Saman Kunan, who died during the rescue operation in the Tham Luang cave
 

Chiang Rai native and national artist Chalermchai Kositpipat is joining hands with 200 Chiang Rai artists to create a monument.

On Saturday, Chalermchai and his team will come up with a huge painting at Krua Silpa Art Centre in Chiang Rai’s Muang district.

 

“I want to record this historic miracle with this painting. It will depict the complicated evacuation scenes where more than 1,000 international and Thai teams helped save the life of 13 members of a football team from the flooded cave,” he said. 

 

The canvas will measure 3 metres by 13 metres, to coincide with the number of survivors.

 

If the National Park Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department gives permission, he plans to display the monument in front of the cave and the painting inside the cave.

 

Meanwhile in the Phimai district of Nakhon Ratchasima province, a candle carver Watchara Na-dee has created a special candle sculpture as a memorial for Saman. 

 

He said the purpose of the sculpture was to honour Saman’s sense of duty, that played a role in all 13 lives being saved. He added that no one deserves this sculpture as much as Saman, who is our hero.

 

The 150cm candle was sculpted into an image of Saman, standing in a diving suit with an oxygen tank on his back. He spent five days carving the sculpture. 

 

The candle sculpture dedicated to Saman is on display at Dem Temple and then will be sent to the Candle Sculpture Contest in Nakhon Ratchasima province during the Buddhist Lent Festival on July 27-28.

 

In Nakhon Pathom province, young artist Krisna Namulphol has been creating a 12-inch-sculpture of four rescue heroes, include Saman. The others are: Narongsak Osottanakorn, the chief of the operation, Surathin Chaichompu, the president of the Thai Water Well Association, and famous monk Kruba Boonchum Yannasangwalo.

 

Thailand’s hero Saman has also inspired celebrated Indian sand sculptor Sudarsan Patnaik. He sculpted portraits of Saman on the Puri beach in India with the message: “#ThaiCaveRescue: I pay tribute to diver Saman Kunan who died during the difficult cave rescue operations. My SandArt at #Puri beach in India with message RIP…True Hero”.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30349964

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-07-13

And so the ''bandwagon '' begins..T-shirts ,coffee mugs and cave mud to follow soon..

1 hour ago, mok199 said:

And so the ''bandwagon '' begins..T-shirts ,coffee mugs and cave mud to follow soon..

What's wrong with it. They should celebrate and be proud. It was a great historical event. What country doesn't capitalize on it's finer moments?

RIP Saman buddy, You showed what thas mean HERO

I wonder if Samans tank was checked, to see what was in his tank, exhaust gas or maybe it contained some oil. Im quite sure he didnt run out of air, something else was wrong. 

I was doing some shallow water diving, but the last part of the dive was a bit deeper. All of a sudden, I got very dizzy, but luckily I got back into shallower water, and was alright, couldnt figure out what happened. Later, I gave the tank to my son, and he had it inspected. The inside was coated in a black oily, tar like substance, so more than likely, this was the problem. Where did it come from, I dont know, since I had the tank filled at many different places. 

I havent heard anything about the Thai and his tank, as we all know, nothing is ever checked here. If someone does hear of his tank being checked, it would be nice to know. Of course probably no autopsy  was done, like so many other accidents. How can things improve here?

And these guys will probably stand at the cave entrance with an all Thai story attached. So much for international effort.