Buddhist novices cultivate vegetables. [Photo/Agencies]

"Drugs are the big problem in the northern region of Thailand... there are not enough rehab centres," said Apisak Wittayanookulluk, deputy director of Thanyarak rehab centre in Chiang Mai.

"Prevention needs to be developed especially in schools as nowadays users and dealers are getting younger and younger," he said.

Many kids who emerge from the temple's education system, like Tawan, want to take what they have learned back to their communities.

"At first I just wanted to stay here, but there are many problems in my home," he said, adding he would like to help local children avoid falling into the drug trap.

"There are still not many alternative jobs. Most people sell and traffic drugs," he said.

Tawan says that tending the animals and Thai boxing helped keep the kids happy and engaged, in a way that traditional classroom learning alone might not have.

At the temple, the novices spend much of their time on routine daily tasks: feeding and caring for the animals, especially the horses.

They also study the basics of agriculture and cultivation, and help manage several hectares of cultivated vegetables that feed the residents of the monastery.

The ultimate goal of the program, temple monks say, is to provide a sense of discipline and help the children see they are responsible for their own lives.

And the local community seems to approve of the results.

"The temple helps and supports poor children," said Suk Namsaeng, 39, who lives in a village just a few kilometers from the complex where the monks come every morning to ask for alms.

"Most of the villagers don't know how severe and harmful drugs are. Their parents have been drug addicts, so their children in the next generation think that it is normal," he added.