Thai Boys Become Monks as Rescuer’s Widow Looks On

As the widow of the diver who died during the operation to save them watched, 11 Thai soccer players and their coach were ordained Wednesday as Buddhist monks.

The ceremony began a day before as the boys, who drew global attention after becoming trapped deep in a flooded cave in northern Thailand, appeared before large crowds of supporters and later had their heads shaved in preparation for their short stint as novice monks.

For the next nine days, the coach and members of the Wild Boars soccer team will perform charity work and pray at a monastery. Their ordination was full of reminders of the former Thai navy SEAL member Saman Gunan, 38, a volunteer diver who died while placing oxygen tanks to be used in their rescue.

A large portrait of Saman was displayed, and his widow, Valeepoan Gunan, attended the ceremony with the boys’ family members Wednesday. The Wild Boars arrived in white robes, which they gave up for the saffron robes of Buddhist monks.

Valeepoan carried one set of robes for the boys, and Lt. Col. Pak Loharachun, a navy doctor who stayed with the boys for several days in the cave, held another.

The boys, who range in age from 11-17, were rescued with their coach, Ekkapol Chantawong, by Thai navy SEALs, foreign military personnel and cave-diving experts after more than two weeks trapped underground.

Unlike the boys, Ekkapol was ordained as a full-fledged monk. The coach, who had previously spent 10 years in the monkhood, guided the boys in meditation to keep them calm while they were stuck in the Tham Luang Cave.

One member of the team, Adul Sam-on, 14, is a Christian and was not ordained, but he attended the ceremony.

Phra Mahapaivan Worravanno, a Buddhist monk and writer from Wat Soi Thong in Bangkok, said that by becoming novice Buddhist monks, the boys accumulate merit or good karma that they can transfer to others.

“When it comes to these boys and their coach, they said they would ordain for Lt. Cmdr. Saman Gunan, because the man is their benefactor; he sacrificed himself to help them,” Phra Mahapaivan said. “Ordaining for Lt. Cmdr. Saman Gunan is the Wild Boars’ way to show their gratitude and thanks.”

The team’s ordination is also meant to honor Thailand’s king and the king’s mother, and to show gratitude to the boys’ parents and all the rescuers who helped them.

Buddhist Thai men spend some period of their lives as monks, traditionally when they reach age 20. Some do this earlier and are considered novice monks, or “nen.”

In Thailand, where people predominantly practice Theravada Buddhism, such an act by a young boy is considered a great expression of devotion and respect.

“For the Wild Boars, they will ordain to redeem vows that their parents made, and more important, they will ordain in order to consign merit to Lt. Cmdr. Saman Gunan’s soul,” said Anyatida Musittavee, 32, an office worker in Bangkok. “I think this is a great thing.”

Anyatida said she had prayed nightly that the boys and their coach would be safely rescued, chanting lengthy texts in Pali, the ancient liturgical language.

“I am extremely happy to see that they came out safely,” she said.