Maechi

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Maechi^[1] or Mae chee^[2] (Thai: แม่ชี; IPA: [mɛ̂ː.t͡ɕʰiː]), "respected mother" (แม่ + honorific suffix "-ji"),^[3] are female monastics in Thailand; Theravada Buddhist nuns. Ordained under The Eight or Ten Precepts (i.e., more than the Five Precepts taken by laypersons), they formally occupy a position similar to sāmaṇerī and wear white robes, but are in practice resemblant of male Theravāda monastics - renunciants who have dedicated their life to Buddhist practice, meditation, vowing celibacy and ascetisicm.

They are not ordained under 311 precepts ('bhikkhuni'), as the full ordination is not legal for women in Thailand since the Lineage of the Bhikkhuni Sangha died out between the 11th and 14th Century in Sri Lanka. In 1928 a law was created by the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand in line with attempts to preserve the distribution period of the traditional early Buddhist Teachings.^[4][5] It is partly based on a traditional interpretation of rules regarding bhikkhunī ordinations according to the Vinaya, requiring multiple senior bhikkhunis to initiate new women into the order, as well as the absence of fully trained female elders to facilitate suitably qualified apprenticeship for the female monastic aspirants. ^[6]