Surprised by the Esports tournament where the champion is… the monks

Recently a tournament eSports taking place in Thailand surprised the audience when the winners of the contest were monks. The competition that these monks participated in was KKU Nong Khai Fair 2019 organized by Khon Kaen University (Thailand) over the weekend. The competition includes both an academic competition as well as an eSports competition and the eSports winners are monks studying at Balee Sathit Suksa – a high school for young monks in the Northeast region of the country.​

​

Kokkiad, a monk and academic coordinator at the university, told Coconuts Bangkok:

​

Kokkiad also shared that Balee Sathit Suksa is a school for young monks who are just starting to step into the spiritual path, they only study religion for 20 hours a week, the rest of the time is devoted to the traditional curriculum. . Students are introduced to eSports through a computer class, part of them enjoy it and practice in their spare time.​

​

However, when photos of the award ceremony were released, there were mixed opinions, with Twitter account Parnkung TH saying that the monks’ behavior was inappropriate because “the clergy do not should wear a Buddhist robe to participate in an eSports competition.” Monk Kokkiad said that these criticisms are unreasonable, he said that these young monks are still children, they are at a developmental age and need to be fostered their skills and explore their interests. me. Children should have a chance, many of them from broken or poor families.​