When the 12 young boys and their soccer coach walked into a cave complex in northern Thailand a year ago Sunday, they didn’t know their lives were going to forever change.

About 300 people gathered for the ceremony on a rainy morning that saw the boys leave temple life to return to their families.

A British diver who was involved in the rescue of 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave has heaped scorn on Elon Musk's offer of a mini-submarine for the mission.

Rescuers pulled off a difficult and highly unusual operation to save 12 boys and their coach from a flooded cave in Thailand.

The first four boys rescued from a flooded cave in northern Thailand were in good health and demanding fried rice in hospital on Monday, the head of the rescue team said, as divers resumed operations to bring out the remaining members of the group.

Eight boys and their soccer coach who remain trapped in a flooded cave in northern Thailand waited for a rescue operation to resume on Monday.

A heavy rainshower hit northern Thailand late on Saturday, worsening conditions at the cave where rescuers were waging a "war with water and time" to save 12 trapped boys.

The boys, not all of whom are capable swimmers, are hurriedly being taught to take on a treacherous dive through narrow, muddy, submerged passageways.

Thai officials had been leaning toward an underwater evacuation because of fear that access to the cave could soon close because of seasonal monsoon rains expected this weekend.

Thailand's Department of Mental Health said hospitals are preparing to care for the group afterward.