150 Phuket men forwent a Sunday morning lie-in last month in hopes of becoming ordained at the Wichitsangkaram temple in Phuket Town, as part of a project to ordain 100,000 Thai monks by 08 March.

The monk-hopefuls entered the temple a few days previously and were observed under the watchful eye of the other monks and Abbot, unfortunately only 118 of the men were considered ?ready.?

Those who weren?t were accused of holding worldly possessions in too high regard including being too concerned with their lovers, still smoking and overusing their
mobile phones.

Titithi Thanomsak was one of the 118 successful young men who was ordained, he said ?I?m really proud to have become ordained, I did it for my parents, and I hope to gain many new experiences from being a monk.?

The project to ordain 100,000 monks around Thailand from 19 January to 8 March was orgainised by the Buddhist clergy in cooperation with the Commission on Religion and Culture, House of Representatives, Dhammakaya Foundation, and 20 other government organisations.

Theerayut Eamtrakul, Vice Governor of Phuket said, ?Even though Phuket is very popular with tourists and tourism helps keep the economy strong, Phuket people, those from nearby provinces and expatriates still need to realise that Buddhism is our main religion.?

The 118 chosen ones wore white and had their heads shaved in preparedness for 6 February when they were visited at their respective temples by their parents and were finally allowed to wear their official orange monk robes.