Ajahn Thiang and the Khanom Pia yantra of Ban Mee Dee
Explore the stories of the boat-dwelling Khru Yu, pastry offerings to teachers and the Ban Mee Dee teachings passed on through Ajahn Thiang and his son Pong.
Ban Mee Dee (บ้านมีดี) is a Bangkok lay-teacher tradition closely associated with Ajahn Thiang Nuam Mana (อาจารย์เที่ยง น่วมมานา), also called Pho Thiang. The Chinese term “white-clad ajahn” denotes a lay ritual teacher here, not a monastic rank.
Life and reputation
Published biographies give Thiang’s birth as 2 April B.E. 2455 (1912) and his death as B.E. 2531 (1988). As a boy, he studied Thai and Khmer writing and learned carpentry.
His pupils name his parents as Mo and Maeo. Born near Wat Ratchabophit, he grew up around Ban Khamin. His mother came from the orchards of Bang Oi Chang and traded at Wat Thong market beside Bangkok Noi canal; the family later settled in Ban Bu.
Within the ritual tradition, Thiang is honoured as one of four leading lay masters of the era around B.E. 2500. Ban Mee Dee preserves more than one practice: Khanom Pia is particularly well known, while other teachings are associated with different teachers.
Why a pastry became a teacher offering
The yantra is called Yant Khanom Pia (ยันต์ขนมเปี๊ยะ), and its practice Wicha Khanom Pia. Khanom pia is a Chinese-style pastry. Tradition tells that Thiang’s teacher, Khru Yu, enjoyed tea with these pastries; they subsequently became teacher offerings and gave the practice and yantra their familiar name.
According to the tradition, Thiang required those seeking instruction, blessing or the tattoo to bring pastries in gratitude to his teacher. The food was then given away, with merit dedicated to the teacher.
Khru Yu and the boat-dwelling tradition
Stories of Khru Yu Ruea Loi (ครูอยู่ เรือลอย) connect him with the Prince of Chumphon and Luang Pu Suk. He is said to have served the prince and accompanied him to study with Suk at Wat Pak Khlong Makham Thao, later living aboard a boat. In this account, the lineage passes from Suk through Yu to Thiang; Yu is Thiang’s direct teacher of the pastry practice.
The stories portray Yu as outspoken and skilled in traditional boxing, weapons and protective rites, with a boat as his home. Thiang did not receive all his teachings on arrival. He first spent a long time attending his teacher and undergoing tests of character before earning his trust and instruction.
The shooting story and another version
A shooting story passed down in the Ban Mee Dee tradition gives Yu a startlingly mischievous character. He supposedly blessed pastries for his pupils to eat, then deliberately dropped a coin or asked a pupil to turn and fetch money. As the pupil bent down or turned away, Yu drew a concealed gun from his sarong and fired at the pupil's back. The impact knocked the pupil forward. Shaken, the pupil got up and found bruises, but no penetrating wound. Yu laughed that the pupil's skin was usable, “a little better than a dog's.”
Another version describes a test with a folding razor, without the coin, shooting and bruising sequence.
Protection and social favour as beliefs
Beliefs surrounding the yantra concern protection, escape from danger and social favour. Khong kraphan (คงกระพัน) refers to invulnerability in this tradition, whereas maha ut (มหาอุด) is commonly understood as magic that prevents a gun from firing. The two often appear together in stories but describe different beliefs.
Devotees believe the Khanom Pia yantra offers protection in danger and helps avert misfortune. They also look to it for social favour and standing, hoping for trust, support and helpful patrons in personal dealings and business negotiations.
Teachers and documented pupils
Khru Yu is the direct teacher associated with the pastry practice; Suk belongs to the upstream lineage narrated in later accounts. Biographical accounts also name Khru Chit, Khru Chaeng and Luang Pu Thong of Wat Ratchayotha.
Ajahn Pong (อาจารย์ป่อง), whose personal name is Buntham Nuam Mana (บุญธรรม น่วมมานา), is Thiang’s son and a successor to his teachings. Another named pupil is Luang Pu Plaeo, also called Charun Katapunyo (จรูญ กตปุญฺโญ), of Wat Chet Luk Noen in Ban Khai, Rayong. His biography describes him as an early, close monastic pupil who knew Thiang’s life well and learned protective and social-favour tattoo traditions from him.
A 2025 family-lineage report also identifies Ajahn Somboon Nuam Mana (อาจารย์สมบูรณ์ น่วมมานา) as Pong's younger brother. Both were Thiang's sons and were said to have learned ritual teachings from their father from childhood. The report records the family transmission without itemising what each son learned.
Another biography dates Plaeo’s discipleship to B.E. 2504 (1961), describing twelve years of study. Thiang offered him a tattooing needle to pass on the practice. Plaeo declined: he disliked tattooing and questioned its suitability for a monk.
The biography associates Khru Chit with meditation, Khru Chaeng with the Front Palace lotus yantra, and Khru Duang with the copper-pig tattoo.
His search for teachers includes a Kanchanaburi forest tale. An elder called Thao Suea Khop supposedly became a tiger to hunt, returning to human form when his wife sprinkled his prepared holy water. Thiang requested the elder’s herbal bathing rite but was refused because he had not been ordained; he did not undergo that rite.
Commemoration and charitable activity
On 5 November B.E. 2563 (2020), Pong participated in a commemorative amulet ceremony honouring his father. Reported plans earmarked proceeds for medical equipment for hospitals across Samut Prakan's six districts.
The Samut Prakan amulet club organised the event at the Ban Mee Dee centre in Ban Bu, Bangkok Noi. Nine monks chanted while Pong recited his father’s ritual formulas. Afterwards, lunch was offered to the monks and commemorative amulets were distributed to attendees.
Inscribed photographs and collecting
Collectors encounter photographs of Thiang bearing handwritten Khanom Pia yantras on the reverse, attributed either to Thiang or to Pong. The subject of a photograph and the person who wrote on its back are not necessarily the same.
Four questions should remain separate: when was the photograph printed, when was the inscription added, who wrote it, and who blessed it and when? An old print can carry a later inscription. A successor’s commemorative object is not thereby an object personally made during Thiang’s lifetime. Handwriting, paper and ink condition, provenance and traceable comparison pieces should be examined together. Handwriting alone is insufficient even for recent objects; yellowing is no guarantee of age or authenticity.
Names in Chinese collecting circles
Chinese-speaking collectors use several written forms of Thiang’s name, including 阿贊廳, 普廳 and 婆廳, sometimes replacing 廳 with 廰. Pong is his son; their photograph inscriptions, blessing dates and works have distinct attributions.