My Buddhist Buddy Prem from Nepal and His Buddhism Culture

When I went home last weekend I met up with one of my good family friends who happened to move here from Thailand. His name is Prem Chanyohti and he owns a restaraunt in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania named Café Preeya named after his wife. His restaurant focuses on many Thai recipes along with the art of the dishes. Prem has two children a son named Rashan and a daughter named Lilanee. I did some research on the history of Thailand before I interviewed Prem, and found out a lot about the culture and what happened. The Mons were the first civilization to take place in Thailand. The Mons brought a Buddhist culture from an Indian subcontinent. Prem told me that in Thailand it is not known as Thailand but it is known as the Kingdom of Thailand. He told me that the Thai language needs to pronounced correctly or else something that you say could have different meanings and could be taken in different contexts. He told me a few stories about how when he said things to his father he would be swat at because his father took something Prem said the wrong way.

Prem is a Buddhist; he told me that basically Buddhism is spiritual development leading to the meaning of life. Buddhism is the teachings and beliefs of Gautama Buddha who lived in Epic Nepal in the 5^th century. I asked Prem about the government in Thailand and he told me that Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, which is a monarchy that in which the nation as a whole can restrict what the king does. Prem was a member of the Democratic Party in Thailand but he also said that they did not have a major republican party or a green party what they have is a Thai Rak Thai party. The Thai Rak Thai Party was a strong political force when Prem lived in Thailand but since then a recent coup has torn the Thai Rak Thai party apart basically wiping it out of the political system.

Prem told me that on the streets of Thailand the national anthem is played twice a day. Prem was telling me about the currency in Thailand compared to America, said that in Thailand they use Baht's. Prem told me that an American dollar is equivalent to about 58 Baht's. But since then the currency has been increasing to now an American dollar is equal to that of 35 Baht's. Prem told me that the currency keeps evolving in a sense that Thailand is making more recent bills just like America is doing with restoring the older bills.

Prem got really excited when I asked him about the food of Thailand, since Prem owns a restaurant he knew a lot about this subject. Prem told me that He said in Thailand the one thing that most people can not live without is rice, he said its very rare to find someone in Thailand who dislikes rice. Rice is the basis for most meals and the meal is not nearly complete with it. Prem really got into describing the type of cuisine and how it originated. He cooked me a bunch of food and told me how they all follow one certain rule that every Thai cook knows about. To create the perfect Thai dish you need to incorporate 5 types of tastes, sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and hot. He made me 2 common dishes that one usually orders when they go to Café Preeya, the Pad Thai Grilled shrimp, which was stir fried noodles with vegetables with shrimp in it, and it was phenomenal and really did incorporate all of the tastes. Ahi Tuna Au Poive which was tuna with a crispy pepper coating and a type of mustard sauce. After Prem told me about his cuisines he talked to me about the sports and activities. Prem to my surprise was on the National Thailand Basketball team in the 70's he told me that he was very skilled but basketball was not the big sport of the time. He said there is a few Thai soccer leagues so that is the sport in which everyone focus is on more.

Prem also told me that he did some Muay Thai Fighting which now happens to be the national sport of Thailand. Muay Thai fighting is a combination of all of the Asian styles of fighting and uses more emphasis on using shins and elbows to fight. Surprisingly the other thing Prem said that really got everyone's attention was Kite flying, Prem said that kite flying was a special art and many beautiful kites were made to show off. I asked Prem to share some customs with me, he told me that whenever anyone was to enter a temple anything which covered the feet needed to be off and feet needed to be pointed away from Buddha. He told me a story about when he was in school and someone put their foot right in Prem's face, and Prem supposedly beat the kid up very well and got him a suspension.

In Thailand it is rude and disrespectful to show someone your foot or hold it above anyone's head because the foot is the dirtiest part of the body and is the lowest. Also it is improper to touch someone's head because that it the highest part of the body and is above everything. I thanked Prem for his time and his ability to help me understand more about cultures.

There have been recent news reports about Thailand and the government and culture surrounding it that may create new beliefs and ways of living in Thailand. Prem taught me a lot about Thai culture and really made me see the big difference between the lifestyle he lived and the lifestyle I lived. He was very enthusiastic about wanting me to learn more about its culture and told me that the differences are amazing and most people don't realize it.