The Wider Image: Thailand's rebel female Buddhist monks defy tradition
Novice monks pray after receiving food offerings from people in Nakhon Pathom province, Thailand, December 7, 2018. Officially, only men can become monks and novices in Thailand under a Buddhist order that, since 1928, has forbidden the ordination of women. A growing number of women defy generations of Thai Buddhist tradition by becoming ordained as novice monks at the unrecognised all-female Songdhammakalyani monastery. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha SEARCH "FEMALE MONKS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.