Phra (monk) Preeda Pritho, or “Arjan Wek” as called by acquaintances, was born in Phangnga province. He has been in monkhood for 26 years and has been based in Phangnga and in north eastern part of Thailand before serving as abort of Mai Khao temple since 2012, or 11 years ago. Mai Khao temple is “Wat Pa” type, or temples in the jungle, meaning it’s located far away from town. But as town expands, it inevitably has become part of the community but the abbot insists on practicing the strict old ways. That means one meal per day, no accept of cash during food receiving in the morning, no unnecessary construction in the temple, etc. What the temple has now is sufficient to practice Buddhism. He prefers to utilize the excess cash, if any, to help community rather than to invest in the temple.

 In terms of tourism, he welcomes tourists into the temple though he expects tourists to respect the place with proper dress and keeping noise low. He’d rather tourists who are truly interested in understanding Buddhism and seek for peaceful mind, than a bus full of visitors who come to check in and upload photos in Instagram.