Monks

Thailand has over 200,000 monks. As well there are 85,000 novice monks. Any male can become a monk at age 20. How long you remain so is up to the individual. Most remain monks for an average of 3 months. Some choose to remain monks the rest of their lives. Novice monks can be of any age and can leave at any time.

Monks arise at 4am then have meditation and chanting for 2 hours. This is followed by a bare foot walk throughout the neighbourhood when locals make merit by offering them food. At 8am they start having a communal breakfast and sometimes a light lunch. After 12 noon they are forbidden to eat solid food until after sunrise the next day. At 1pm they have Buddhist teaching classes. At 6 pm they have 2 hours of meditation and prayer. At 8pm they retire to do homework.

The bright saffron robes certainly catch your eye. Below, monks gather just before the morning meal.