11 Thai soccer players to honor dead diver as Buddhist novices
MAE SAI, Thailand — The soccer teammates and their coach who were rescued after being trapped in a cave in northern Thailand had their heads shaved in a ceremony Tuesday as they prepared to be ordained as Buddhist novices and monks.
Eleven of the 12 boys and their coach prayed to ancient relics and offered drinks and desserts to spirits at a Buddhist temple. The 12th team member didn’t take part because he isn’t Buddhist.
The boys, whose ages range from 11 to 16, will be ordained to become Buddhist novices in a ceremony Wednesday, while the 25year-old coach will be ordained as a monk, said Parchon Pratsakul, the governor of Chiang Rai province.
Buddhist males in Thailand are traditionally expected to enter the monkhood, often as novices, at some point in their lives to show gratitude, often toward their parents for raising them.
“Ordinations are supposed to give us peace of mind,” said Sangiemjit Wongsukchan, the mother of one of the boys who was trapped in the cave. “We can only do this for nine days because then he will have to go back to study and prepare for exams. Back to his normal life.”
Praphun Khomjoi, chief of Chiang Rai’s Buddhism office, said the 12 to be ordained will dedicate their merit-generating act of entering the monkhood to a volunteer diver and former Thai navy SEAL, Samarn Gunan, who died while diving during a mission to supply the cave with oxygen tanks essential to helping the boys escape.
The 12 boys and their coach became trapped June 23 and were found by two British divers July 2. They were brought out of the cave in a daring rescue that ended July 10. They were released from a hospital July 18.