Heads shaved, rescued Thai cave boys to become Buddhist novices

John Bacon | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Thai boys rescued from cave prepare to be Buddhist novices 11 of the 12 boys will be ordained to become Buddhist novices, while the 25-year-old coach will ordain as a monk.

The odyssey of a youth soccer team rescued from a Thai cave continued Tuesday when 11 of the boys attended a solemn ceremony and had their heads shaved before being ordained as Buddhist novices.

The families of the boys had pledged to have the boys ordained as a show of gratitude for their rescue from the partially flooded Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai.

Video from the ceremony shows the boys, dressed in white, lined up before a table covered with lit candles and food. The boys prayed, bowed and took seats. A group of monks and others in the audience then took part in clipping their hair and shaving their heads.

The boys, ages 11-17, will be formally ordained Wednesday and spend nine days living in Wat Pha That Doi Wao temple near their homes in northern Thailand. That's about how long they were trapped before the first team of rescue divers reached them, 2.5 miles from the cave's entrance.

“This temple will be where they will reside after the ordination. I hope they will find peace, strength and wisdom from practicing Buddha’s teaching,” said the temple’s acting abbot, Phra Khru Prayutjetiyanukarn.

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The assistant coach who was trapped with the boys, Ekapol Chanthawong, previously lived as a Buddhist novice for more than eight years and will be ordained as a monk. A 12th team member who was with the group, Adul Sam-on, is not Buddhist and is not participating in the ceremonies.

The boys and their coach entered the cave June 23 after soccer practice for a team-building exercise expected to last an hour or two. They hiked in before monsoon rain caused flooding that blocked their way out.

They had no food, drank water dripping from the cave walls and meditated to ease their fears and occupy their minds.

The rescue operation involved hundreds of volunteers and support from more than a dozen countries, including the United States. On the 10th day of the rescue effort, two British divers came upon the team huddled on a shelf in the cave, shivering and hungry but otherwise in relatively good health.

The complex rescue operation took another week to prepare and execute. One diver, former Thai navy Seal Saman Kunan died while setting up oxygen tanks along the exit route.

The boys were released from the hospital last Wednesday. They are dedicating their time in the temple to the diver who died saving them.

Ordination as a novice, or "samanera," is common in Thailand and does not necessarily lead to becoming a monk.

“Ordinations are supposed to give us peace of mind,” said Sangiemjit Wongsukchan, the mother of one of the boys. “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.”

Contributing: The Associated Press



