Thailand tour operator

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 are among the most highly trained guides of any paddlesport company in the South. Our philosophy/goal is to 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.

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.

We are the only ones who do what we do!

Dave "Old School" Williams - Director

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.

Dave is a BCU (British Canoe Union) Level 2 Coach and is Level 3 trained (Level 3 Coach certificate to come shortly). As important as the certification is the fact that Dave has over 30 years of kayaking experience, including many hardcore expeditions.

He is also a BCU Lifeguard. Click here for proof of certification. Dave is an Emergency First Response instructor, a Rescue 3 International technician and is also ITC (outdoor specific) First Aid and CPR certified.

Dave stays extremely fit so that he can offer expeditions to hardcore cyclists, kayakers, rock climbers and mountaineers. Not many people over 50 years-old are in the type of shape that Dave is in.

He is a lifelong student of ornithology, biology, botany, paleontology, fitness 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 fitness, seamanship, oceanography, wild edible plants, survival skills, and all forms of paddle sports.

Certified instructor

Certified

Certified rescue technician

Certified

PaddleAsia is the most highly certified kayaking instructor in Southern Thailand and the most experienced paddler by far!

PaddleAsia's all-Thai Staff

Walaporn "Moo" Jitprathep - Co-Director

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 comes from a very poor family. She could only attend formal school for six years... yet she is now fluent in English and reads and writes it as well! She is a very special individual indeed.

Moo has been on hundreds of kayaking trips and has a very keen safety sense.

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

Moo is a trip logistics guru, planner, guide, tour leader and sometimes a cook. If Moo is on your trip, you'll be taken very good care of.

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:

"Our guide, Tom,was an excellent wildlife spotter, and it seemed to me that he took pride in showing us the environment and
that he enjoyed just being there. There was only one time that I spotted a bird before he did!"

Walter Davison, Khao Sok, December 2009

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

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.

Tuk Tuk Drivers on Phang Nga Bay Trips

Bang Lek (left) Bang Mut (right) our tuk tuk drivers on Ko Yao Noi are both born and raised on the island. Both guys are very nice and they try to help anyway they can. They are safe drivers and we are glad to have them on our team.

"Bang" is a polite title for a Thai Muslim.

Graham Wardle (British) - Our Safety Guru and Educator Par Excellence

Graham doesn't work for PaddleAsia, but we feel he is an integral part of our team as he teaches us so much about safety and BCU standards.

Graham is an International School teacher at NIST. He lives in Bangkok with his lovely wife and darling daughter.

For close to three decades he has worked in the field of Outdoor Education, as a coach, manager, senior BCU development officer and teacher.

Graham has paddled, rafted, dived, trekked and climbed in 35 countries. He is a British Canoe Union Level 5 Coach Raft Guide and Rescue 3 Swift Water Rescue Instructor. He holds British Mountaineering Council, rock climbing and mountaineering awards as well as been a keen and avid PADI Scuba Instructor.

Graham has been instrumental in the development of White Water Safety & Rescue techniques in the UK and Europe, along with the development of coach education schemes. His teaching skills and methodology work with both foreigners and Thais equally. Graham has a lot to offer and we try to soak as much of his vast knowledge up as possible.

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

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.

Unfortunately, due to mass tourism, environmental destruction and too many bars, PaddleAsia no longer offers trips in this formerly stunning national park. If you go down there, please say 'hi' to Cabu and hire him to help you escape from the maddening crowds.

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!