Monks host funeral for scarecrow named ‘Covid’ to ward off disease

Well, anything is worth a try at this stage!

Monks at a temple in the central Thai province of Suphan Buri have hosted the funeral for a scarecrow, which was named “Mr. Covid Omicron”. Thai locals believed this ceremony could help ward off evil, which is Covid-19 in this case.

Residents were scared and worried about the spread of Covid-19 in their community, and were willing to try every way to chase the disease away. Aside from wearing a face mask and getting vaccinated, these monks and locals in Suphan Buri province decided to host a funeral for the Covid scarecrow, assuming (hopefully) that the disease would be gone from their lives forever.

At Uthum Phararam Temple or Pai Kaek Temple, monks and locals crafted a straw scarecrow, dressed it up and renamed ‘it’ as a 2 years old named Covid Omicron. The age was the period since the pandemic started, and the ‘birth date’ was December 2019, when the pandemic started. The straw scarecrow’s funeral was held according to Thai rituals. The ‘body’ was laying in a coffin and had monks praying for it.

In the end, the coffin was sent to a crematorium and burnt. At least the straw would burn well.

According to the traditional belief, the ceremony would help drive evil spirits or bad luck away. We will be eagerly watching the Covid reports out of Suphan Buri to see if the number of covid infections magically drop.

SOURCE: Channel 7