An esports team of young monks got up at the Khon Kaen University’s Nong Khai competition

In a “Speed Drifters” esports competition held at the Khon Kaen University’s Nong Khai campus over from 15th to 18th August something “unusual” happened! A small group of monk apprentices took the first place of the esports tournament while wearing their dharma robes.

The team was formed by a group of high school seniors from Balee Sathit Suksa, a school that brings studies to young monks in the northeastern province.

This esports news surprised everyone! As the academic coordinator cum head monk of the Balee Sathit Suksa School, Kokkiad Chaisamchareonlap said: “The novices wanted to try entering the competition, so we gave them that opportunity. However, we didn’t expect them to actually win,”

Some people didn’t like it

In addition, the reaction in social media didn’t wait to be noticed. Comments against such as “Usually I don’t make a big deal out of religious things, but I think this is inappropriate. It’s not illegal nor is it extreme, but I just feel like the monks should not have worn the robes to compete in the tournament,” from a twitter user criticized the fact that boys participated wearing their traditional attire.

On the other hand, Kokkiad dismissed these comments, as an educator, he declared that “The novices are just children, like other people their age that need to grow, develop their skills and explore their interests”.

This event has brought with it more than one good thing, to begin with, it breaks with the belief that apprentices only live by religion, as Kokkiad explained, boys attend religious routines about 20 hours per week, while they have the rest of the time for traditional education.

According to him, the kids would have shown interest in the world of sports after learning about it in computer classes and spent most of their free time practicing the game.

In the end, the most surprised would have been the other competitors, who very possibly were not expecting this result. Are you hoping to see them in more competitions in the future?