Thai boys rescued from cave consider ordaining as Buddhist monks
The 12 boys who were trapped in a flooded cave system in northern Thailand said at a press conference that they are considering becoming novice monks as a tribute to Saman Kunan, the 38-year-old former Thai Navy Seal who died during rescue efforts.
Banphot Konkum, father of 13-year-old Duangpetch Promthep, one of the team members, said all the Wild Boars will enter monkhood to honor Kunan.
In Theravada Buddhism, ordaining as a monk is a holy act. Those who ordain are believed to acquire a great deal of merit because they are devoting themselves to studying the teachings of the Buddha. In Buddhism, merit is understood as the value created by performing a wholesome activity, such as meditating. Many Buddhists practice “dedicating merit” to others (see an explanation and instruction from Lama Palden Drolma). If the boys become novice monks, they will donate their gained merit to Kunan’s memory.
“We are planning the date and will do it whenever all the families are all ready,” Banphot said.
Read more:
https://www.lionsroar.com/thai-cave-monks/?utm_source=Lion%27s+Roar+Newsletter&utm_campaign=3a28b5241c-TS-July-24-2018&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1988ee44b2-3a28b5241c-23532693&goal=0_1988ee44b2-3a28b5241c-23532693&mc_cid=3a28b5241c&mc_eid=571c3043e6
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Please note: This is a common practice throughout SE Asia, becoming a novice monk is not a life-long commitment to being a monk. Many young boys spend a few years as novice monks before assuming full adult (secular) responsibilities. So they are not making a life-long choice to be a monk just yet.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I got a call. 
(also, I appreciated your note about the practice)
these very young boys were making a life-long commitment at such a young age.
http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-cave-princess-20180627-story.html
"The statute is of Jao Mae Nang Non — which roughly translates as the reclining goddess — and her name is shared with the cave, Tham Luang Nang Non, as well as the surrounding mountain, Doi Nang Non.
Her legend — and, in turn, how her spirit came to linger in the cave in Chiang Rai province's far northern Mae Sai district near Myanmar — is similar to dozens of other tales across a country whose belief system and folklore are heavily influenced by Brahmin, Buddhist and animist traditions."
"I don't know what upset her. But we will make an offering to please her," she said. "I hope she will be kind and let the boys come home."
"Silly, backwards, anti-progressive..."
Or imaginary numbers in our wallets. Or imaginary forms of governments. The list of the magic thinking we base so many daily decisions on could, as you say, go on forever.
But I get it... the important thing is that hold what we dislike to a much higher standard than what we hold our own biases to; otherwise, we may wind up being rational and consistent. 
Waste, indeed.
