The ordination of buatnaag in Sri Satchanalai, Sukhothai province. In this ceremony, the candidate monks ride on the back of an elephant and are dressed up in princely attire (fig.).

The boys, who belong to the Thai Phuan, typically wear sunglasses to symbolize their lack of knowledge of the dharma, the Buddhist teachings. The ordination on elephant back takes place in April and refers to the legend of Wetsandorn in the Buddhist sutra, the Buddha's tenth and last incarnation as bodhisattva before his final incarnation as Buddha and which emphasizes the merit of 'giving'.