SiamKayak

Roy and Anya

Roy and Anya have worked together since they first met. Roy brought his mother to Phuket in October, 1993. His mother was dealing with Alzheimers' Disease and he felt she would enjoy a special vacation. His mother required care, and the caregiver he had arranged did not speak adequate English. As fate would have it, he met a young Thai woman working in a restaurant. After hearing of his mother's situation, the young woman expressed a desire to meet her. They met and they enjoyed each other's company. The young woman, named Anya, was hired for the job.

Roy's mother had a wonderful six weeks in Phuket, due in large part to the attention and care from Anya. Roy and Anya found it easy to take care of Roy's mother together. Their working relationship fostered ideas for other projects; the lure of Thailand became even stronger.

In December, 1993, Roy took his mother back home to Kentucky, closed his law office, and moved to Thailand. The working relationship blossomed, and in 1995 Roy and Anya were married in Anya's family home in Bangkok. Later, they enjoyed an American wedding in Roy's family home in Kentucky.

Roy and Anya took as their first project the operation of a modest orchid garden. The garden's developer had moved back to his country and the garden needed a lot of work. When Anya was young, her family had a farm that raised species orchids as well as fish and livestock, and her experience proved to be invaluable. She taught Roy the Thai names for their orchids. Their favorites: on either side of a door into the orchid house, gigantic Grammatophyllum speciosum which flowered in 2002 for the first time. This type is commonly called 'sugar cane' orchid, and can attain larger size than any other type of orchid.

Their business plan was to raise and sell 'natural' orchids, abandoning the customary local practice of regularly spraying the orchids with hormones to induce frequent flowering. However, as their appreciation of the wild orchids matured, they became reluctant to sell any of them. The garden became a hobby; Roy and Anya turned their attention to kayaking.

In their free time Roy and Anya maintain the garden and raise their seven year old son, Siwa. Siwa is an avid kayaker. He has an excellent eye for wildlife. On one trip, from the cockpit of Roy's kayak, he was the first to spot a macaque then a langur on a cliff face. Later he was the first to see a Brown-wing kingfisher on limb overhanging the sea. Siwa has studied Tae Kwan Do for two years and holds a yellow belt.