The photos, from the Facebook page of the team's 25-year-old coach, show him standing with the group of smiling teen and preteen boys.
The boys range in age from 11 to 16 years old, according to a list of names collected from families waiting at the Tham Luang Nang Non caves, where they are suspected to have disappeared and distributed by officials.
Chiang Rai Governor Narong Osotthanakorn told families that teams are "working around the clock" to find the boys and their coach, and that the rescue team is focusing on draining the water to allow access to the cave complex.
Interior Minister General Anupong Paojinda said that officials are continuing to bring supplies to the site, including first aid kits.
The group are from Chiang Rai, which is close to the cave complex where the group is suspected to be trapped, and are all members of the same soccer team.
They have been missing since 1 p.m. Saturday when a park officer spotted something amiss -- bicycles parked idly by the entrance to the cave despite it being off-limits.
Those bikes have been gathered now and sit grouped together, waiting for their owners.
The 12 boys and their coach are believed to have crawled into the large series of caves through a narrow, 15-meter-long (50-foot) channel. A sign at the entrance to the cave -- a popular tourist attraction -- warns of danger during the rainy season, which is just getting underway.
Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn expressed his concerns over the missing group. In a statement from the Thai palace, Vajiralongkorn said that he "wished the rescue team early success" and conveyed his moral support.
Anxious wait
Relatives started gathering at the cave entrance on Saturday evening, and the group has now grown to around 60 people who sit in a makeshift tent camp set up by the local government and anxiously await news from officials.
Drawing on traditional Thai rituals for strength, together they've offered flowers and food to the spirits in hope that they will guide their children out of the cave to safety.
"Come to mama... come to daddy," they cry, rain and tears dripping off their faces.
One mother, whose nickname is Nan, has barely moved from her chair since arriving five days ago, occasionally slipping into a fitful half-sleep where she sits.
Another, who goes by the nickname So, is from a hill tribe and barely speaks Thai, hampering her efforts to understand what has happened to her son, and what the latest news from the authorities is. Her brother says she has barely uttered a word for days.
Constant rain
The rains which initially flooded the cave complex have not let up -- a steady drizzle which occasionally erupts into heavier bursts. It's hampering attempts to pump water out of the cave system, making it even more difficult for the dive teams, comprised of Navy SEALs, police and professional divers -- as they work around the clock to search for the boys.
Rescue teams are working on access the cave system from other locations above and have used new maps from the Department of Mineral Resources to narrow down the area to search.
At the main entrance of the cave, more pumps and hoses have been trucked in in an effort to speed up the drainage process, and rescuers are now also able to pump 24 hours a day without pause.
The rains have also halted helicopter sorties to find possible alternative entrances into the cave, and there has been no drone activity either.
There have been trekking teams sent up the hillsides for the same purpose, but they return silently, and have been instructed not to speak to the media.
But there are glimmers of hope. Kamolchai Kotcha, an official with Thailand's national parks authority, said "Yesterday we spotted a hole and we had drop a pack of food into it. But there is no response from that spot."
One relative says he's confident that the missing boys, healthy and active from their soccer training, can survive.
"I believe because the coach is a strong and healthy person he can lead the youths -- I believe in his strength."
Others have got stuck in the caves before, and have survived for day -- proof, hopefully, that those trapped inside will be rescued alive and well.
For now, though, those waiting for news can do little but hope.
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