Thai boys rescued from cave to be ordained in Buddhist ceremony

Mae Sai : Most members of the Thai youth football team rescued from a flooded cave will have their heads shaved, don robes and be ordained in a Buddhist ceremony this week, officials said yesterday. The “Wild Boars” are enjoying their first few days home after being discharged from hospital and speaking to the media about their harrowing ordeal inside the Tham Luang cave near the Myanmar border.

Now they will go a step further and spend time living in a monastery before returning to normal life, a common practice in Buddhist-majority countries like Thailand. “They will ordain for nine days,” Prachon Pratsakul, the Chaing Rai governor, told reporters in a briefing at the Mae Sai district office. “There will be about 11 boys ordained as novices and one ordained as a monk which is Coach Ek,” he said, referring to Ekkapol Chantawong, who has already been in the monkhood and was said to have helped keep the boys calm inside the cave.

Praphun Khomjoi, Chiang Rai’s Buddhist office chief, said that the “Wild Boars” will have their heads shaved on July 24 and attend a robe ceremony the next day. They will then stay in different monasteries until leaving August 4. One of the children, Adul Sam-on, will not join them as he is Christian, the governor said.