Singapore is not the only country where e-sports is gaining prominence.

Novice monks crowned e-sports champions

Three novice monks have emerged as champions at a recent e-sports competition held at Khon Kaen University in Nong Khai province, according to The Malay Mail.

Hailing from Balee Sathit Suksa, a secondary school for monks in the province, the monks achieved their success at the 2019 KKU Nong Khai Fair, playing Speed Drift, a mobile racing game.

Opportunity provided by the school

An academic coordinator and monk from the school, Kokkiad Chaisamchareonlap, told Coconuts Bangkok that the novice monks did not actually expect to win.

He said: "The novices wanted to try entering the competition, so we gave them that opportunity... we didn’t expect to actually win."

Kokkiad also cited many of the school's monks coming from poor families or broken homes as another factor behind the school's decision to give them the opportunity.

He added: "We wanted to give the students an opportunity."

"A lot of them don’t have that coming from poor families or broken homes. … The three want to compete, they asked to. So we gave them the opportunity."

Picked up e-sports in school

Kokkiad said the novice monks had been introduced to e-sports through computer class in school.

Religious studies at the school takes up to 20 hours per week, with the rest of the timetable devoted to a standard school syllabus.

He added that some of the novice monks took such a liking to e-sports that they began training for it daily in their spare time.

Kokkiad also highlighted that Balee Sathit Suksa was the only religious school to have won the championship at the KKU Nong Khai Fair.

Brushing off criticism

Not everyone is happy with the achievement of the novice monks.

Some Thai netizens wrote that it was inappropriate for the monks.

ปกติผมไม่ค่อยอะไรกับศาสนาเท่าไหร่นะ แต่ส่วนตัวผม ผมว่าไม่เหมาะสมเท่าไหร่

ไม่ผิดกฎหมาย ไม่ได้อะไรร้ายแรง แต่ถ้าน้องอยากแข่ง ไม่ควรนุ่งผ้าเหลือง เพราะการบวชเป็นเณร สถานะก็บอกอยู่แล้วว่ามาศึกษาพระธรรม... https://t.co/MVHpZeQkAl

— patiwesh chankasikut (@parnkungTH) August 18, 2019

Translation:

"Usually I don’t make a big deal out of religious things, but I think this is inappropriate. It’s not illegal nor is it extreme, but I just feel like the monks should not have worn the robes to compete in the tournament."

Kokkiad has since dismissed such criticism.

He said: "The novices are just children, like other people their age that need to grow, develop their skills and explore their interests.”

Top image collage from NKC Academic Facebook