Thai women devotees practice during a first orientation to become Buddhist novice monks at the Songdhammakalyani monastery, Nakhon Pathom province, Thailand, November 17, 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 monastery. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha SEARCH "FEMALE MONKS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.