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.