CHAING RAI: The 12 Wild Boar footballers began the spiritual dimension of their odyssey amid showers of rain on Wednesday at Wat Phra That Doi Tung atop Doi Nang Nong, a scenic mountain in Mae Sai district near the heavily flooded Tham Luang cave where they were trapped for more than two weeks.
25-year-old coach,Ekapol Chanthawong and 11 boys - all of the group aside from the Christian 14-year-old Adul Sam-on - chanted an ordination prayer in the temple's main hall and sought permission from monks to enter a nine-day stint of monkhood in a solemn but simple ceremony.
The 11 new Buddhist novices and their coach-turned-monk will stay and study dhamma at Wat Phra That Doi Wao, also located in the same district of Mae Sai.
The 'Wild Boar' footballers prepare to enter Wat Phra That Doi Tung’s main hall to seek permission from monks to enter the monkhood for 9 days. Photo: Chiang Rai Public Relations Office
Mr Ekapol, who previously spent nearly eight years as a monk at Wat Sao Hin, a temple in Lamphun, will continue his spiritual journey for another month.
Wat Phra That Doi Tung, about 46 kilometres from downtown Chiang Rai, was selected for the ceremony not only because it is located on Doi Nang Non, where the under-16 Wild Boar football team survived the ordeal: the monastery is also a repository for the Lord Buddha's relics.
Also attending the event was Waliphon Kunan, wife of late Lt Cdr Saman Kunan, the ex-Navy Seal diver who died during the rescue operations.
Earlier, the Wild Boar footballers, who were shocked after learning of the heroic diver's death due to lack of oxygen, pledged to show their gratitude by entering the monkhood.
"The ordination is also their way of thanking all the rescuers from Thailand and other countries," Chiang Rai Buddhism office chief Praphan Khamchoi said during the ceremony.
The 13 footballers entered the cave on Jun 23 for a brief excursion after a practice session. A massive rescue operation followed after they were trapped by floodwater.
Rescuers discovered them on Jul 2 and spent days extracting them in the murky darkness, tonnes of rock beneath the glare of the world media spotlight.
