Salvage of Buddha statue in Surat Thani not so momentous

A six-hour operation to salvage an ancient Buddha statue from Tha Chi Canal in Surat Thani’s Ban Na San district went viral on Sunday, as the salvaged item was actually an ordinary statue of a novice monk.

The operation led by deputy provincial governor Sukon Noopakdee came after local fishermen found the figure underwater.

A local told Nation TV that the scene was a temple named Wat Na Yao around 200 years ago. However, the temple was abandoned in 1937 when locals moved several Buddha images to a new temple named Wat Nampu.

The community in Wat Nampu expanded since then, causing Wat Na Yao to be abandoned, a local said.

Meanwhile, the Surat Thani deputy governor expected the scene to be Wat Na Yao’s ubosot (ordination hall), which was submerged because of a change in the waterway.

“The operation has been conducted carefully,” he said, adding that the Fine Arts Department has been invited to inspect the area.

The statue will be enshrined at Wat Tha Charoen or Wat Tha Chi to allow locals to pay respects, he added.

Locals used chainsaws to clear the scene, as well as a backhoe and water pumps to reduce the water level. Six hours passed, and they found a resin statue of a novice monk holding an alms bowl.

The story posted on the Surat Thani Public Relations Office’s Facebook page has gone viral, with netizens joking that monkship always begins from being a novice.

(2025/02/17-00:00)