Punnee Benjaray Chauvin peacefully passed away on June 18, 2022 surrounded by her loving friends and family. Punnee was born the second of four children in Bangkok, Thailand in 1951 and would become the mother of three children of her own. As a young woman in Thailand, Punnee met an engineer from Lockport, Louisiana who was working in Bangkok, and would marry this Cajun engineer from south Louisiana. In 1971, Punnee and her husband left Thailand and moved to Marrero, Louisiana with their infant son, Merlin, Jr. Three years later Punnee gave birth to her second child, Diana. Thereafter, Punnee became a single mother and began working in restaurants to support her family. Armed only with grit, will, and the blind determination to care for her children, Punnee worked hard in the restaurants on the Westbank of New Orleans. Over time, she learned the restaurant business, saved her money and opened a few small Thai restaurants around town with the help of her brother and sister who had also made their way from Thailand to New Orleans. The family businesses had mixed success, but it was finally in the late ‘70s Punnee found solid ground with a small Thai restaurant in Gretna called Mai Tai. Punnee had a warm smile, a caring nature and charming personality; so much so, the regulars at Mai Tai began to call her “Mama.” She is credited with bringing Thai food to New Orleans. Mama was a devout Buddhist and helped spearhead the construction and completion of the first Thai Buddhist temple in Louisiana at English Turn with her late partner of twenty-five years with whom she had her third child, Charles. Mama continued to keep her nose to the grindstone and became an established restaurant operator with her most popular spot being Bangkok Cuisine on Tulane and Carrollton, just down the street from the Orleans Criminal District Court, and then on Metairie Road with La Thai Cuisine. In the early 2000’s and with the help of her now two adult children, Mama added two more restaurants, Sweet Ginger and Panasia for a total of four Thai restaurants across the city. Eventually, Mama and the family would downsize to the one restaurant on Metairie Road, which moved in 2008 to Prytania Street in Uptown New Orleans. For the ten years La Thai Uptown was open it was one of the most popular restaurants in the city. Despite working hard, achieving success and having earned the right to retire, it was not in Mama’s nature to rest on her laurels. In 2019, she opened her last restaurant in Bucktown, in Jefferson Parish, fittingly called, Mama Thai. Mama worked up until her passing and would not have had it any other way. There are no words to describe how greatly she will be missed. Mama is preceded in death by her longtime partner of twenty-five years, Dr. Kiat Varnishung. She is survived by her sisters Sunant Prakobkit and Raveewan Ratano; her brother Aran Benjaray; her three children, Merlin Joseph Chauvin, Jr., Diana Chauvin Gallé, and Dr. Charles Varnishung; her two step-children, Khan Varnishung and Anne Richards; four grandchildren Jordan, Cole, Gage and Mila; and her four step-grandchildren, Alan, Megan, Riley and Steven. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Mama’s memory to Wat Wimuttayaram. To view and sign the guest book, visit www.lakelawnmetairie.com.
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