Thailand tour operator

PaddleAsia is the only major kayaking company in Southern Thailand that hasn't sold out to the lucrative day trip market. PaddleAsia remains Southern Thailand’s ONLY multi-day expedition tour operator.

Furthermore, we also have no interest in going after meaningless tourism awards given by organizations (airlines, government mass tourism organizations, etc.) that have nothing to do with responsible, earth-friendly travel. Anyone can fill out an award application and win an award. We don’t bother. We just run great trips.

PaddleAsia's mission is to provide discriminating travelers the opportunity to see the less-visited areas in Thailand’s national parks and conservation areas with the most highly trained guides in southern Thailand.

PaddleAsia guides receive the highest salaries of any paddlesport company in the South. Our philosophy/goal is show the world that we can have a very successful company with respectable salaries for the local staff without resorting to any mass tourism marketing.

We are the only ones who do what we do!

Dave Williams

Dave Williams, a lifelong naturalist and animal lover, is an American expat who has lived in Thailand in both Phuket and Krabi since 1992. Dave is well-traveled having lived in New Mexico (born is Roswell), Florida, Indiana, Hawaii, and Virginia. He left Virginia in early 1992 and headed for the tropics. Dave is the only kayak tour operator in southern Thailand who was an expert level paddler before getting in the paddling business! He's a paddler first and foremost and in the business second.

He started paddling in 1978. He has a great deal of experience in both very serious whitewater and sea kayaking. Dave has paddled all of the most treacherous rivers in the eastern half of the USA and most of the dangerous rivers of Colorado. He also paddled 229 miles of the Grand Canyon in a squirt boat in 1989. He has, of course, paddled extensively in Thailand and in the rivers of Laos.

He is a lifelong student of ornithology, biology, botany, and Eastern Philosophy. Dave majored in Eastern Philosophy and Music (as a percussionist) at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. He has a very broad knowledge of the birds of Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia.  He has a good working knowledge of the mangroves and other plants of Thailand. He’s also interested in all facets of seamanship, oceanography, wild edible plants, survival skills, and all forms of paddle sports.

Dave is the ONLY certified kayaking instructor in Southern Thailand!

All PaddleAsia guides are certified in CPR, First Aid and basic life guard training through the Australian Lifeguard Association.

Walaporn "Moo" Jitprathep

Moo was born and raised in Bangkok. She moved to Phuket over a decade ago. She has a love for life that is beyond words. For some strange reason, she's always happy...

Moo and Dave have been married since 1993. They live outside of Phuket Town with daughter Mook ('Pearl' in Thai), granny and their three pampered dogs.

Moo is a guide, tour leader, cooks at times and helps with trip planning and coordinating. If Moo is on your trip, you'll be taken very good care of.

Our Thai Guides - the heart of PaddleAsia

Solrayut "Aew" Savangpol (our Lead Thai Guide)

Aew was born and raised in Phang Nga Province. Aew has been licensed by the Tourism Authority of Thailand for almost a decade. Aew is a very proper Thai. He's polite, a hard worker and very friendly.

Aew's paddling skills are very good. He's an extremely strong mountain climber.

Guest's comments about Aew
from Kathleen Elder (Phang Nga Bay in May 2005):

"I spend the day kayaking with Aew around Phang Nga Bay, north of Phuket. I just wanted someone at Paddle Asia to know what a wonderful day we had, due mostly to Aew. He was fantastic: patient, informative, and very conscience. We enjoyed hearing about how "hong" rooms are made, about the birds and flora or the area, and we mostly appreciated his serene way. He did not make me feel uncomfortable as a beginner paddler and even offered techniques to ease my paddling method. We can't say enough about Aew and what a splendid person he is."

To read more about Aew's guiding and personality, check out this Thai guides page.

Nipon "Tom" Pannoi

Tom comes from Phatthalung Province in Southern Thailand. He has a degree in tourism from Ratchapat University, graduating in 1997. He has been in the tourism industry 1997. CPR, First Aid, Swimming and several touch-up first aid courses since then.

He loves taking care of people and showing them the wonders of his country. His personality is one of his many strong points. Guests find having Tom lead them to be both fun and educational.

Guest Comment:
Just wanted to send a short note to say that Jane and I had a fabulous day of kayaking yesterday with our guide, "Tom." He was friendly, professional, and knowledgeable about the area, flora and fauna. His English was good and he had a good attitude. Our vegetarian meal was delicious and abundant. I'll be sure to spread the word about the excellent service and extraordinary experience your company offers!

Thanks for all,
Penny Cousins and Jane Mennie (2 satisfied customers) Phang Nga Bay day trip Oct 2007

Another guest Comment:
Our guide, Tom, was brilliant. He was very attentive but not pushy and just always seemed to say and do the right thing. Moo was also fantastic and lots of fun, but she also showed us by example how to be very still and quiet. The bungalows were just awesome and so was the time we spent on water and on land.

Jackie Spragg - Khao Sok National Park January 2008

Bao is from Ko Yao Noi, so he grew up around the water. His family lives on Ko Yao and when we can give him some time off, that's where he'll be found.

Bao has always got a smile on his face.

Bang Hab - Longtail skipper

When we run trips in Phang Nga Bay, Bang Hab (Bang is a polite term for Thai Muslims) is the longtail skipper.

Bang Hab was born and raised on Ko Yao Noi in Phang Nga Bay. They don't come any more "local" than that!

Bang Hab used to be a subsistance fisherman, barely making ends meet. We met him through the Ko Yao Noi Homestay Project and gave him a job looking after our company longtail.

He does a great job, he's always smiling and happy... and he's got a wonderful future with us.

Cabu

If you head down to Tarutao National Park with us, you'll be treated to meeting our local sea gypsy longtail skipper, Cabu. Another former subsistance fisherman, Cabu along with a fellow sea gypsy help run us around the outer islands in his longtail motorboat. He and his helper travel ahead of us to set up our camps too.

Sea gypsies are at the bottom of the pecking order in Thai society and we prefer to find and help nice folks like Cabu whenever we can. Once you meet him you'll see why we hired him to be part of our team.

Piroum Chanaakson - jungle survival expert

Khun Piroum is our extremely friendly and knowledgeable jungle survival expert. He has lived his entire life in the jungles surrounding Khao Sok National Park. He knows all of the wild edible and medicinal plants. He's a master at building temperary

Pompam is one of our four dogs. She was left out in the street at a very early age. She's one of the most darling dogs imaginable. When you pick her up, she does a wai (the Thai prayer hands). She actually puts her palms together... how cute is that!