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Kratai
Kratai Pramongkit is one of our Moken girls who graduated from Ranong Technical College and was working in the hospitality industry until the Covid pandemic affected that industry. After she was hired on a permanent basis at HDF Mercy, she has been running the kitchens in the Ranong Boarding House and the Koh Lao early Childhood Centre. She is a hard worker and now has been running the entire Mercy Ranong operation for MRF since May 2025. This includes budgets and administration, purchasing food and other necessities, transportation to schools and the island, managing the children before and after school in the Ranong Boarding House, which with a mix of toddlers and growing teenagers is quite a challenge.
Kratai was born on Koh Lao but spent some time on the nearby island of Koh Chang before coming to Mercy Ranong.
Dr Pariwat
Dr Pariwat Changkid is Deputy Principal of the Ranong Community College. His doctoral thesis is about indigenous tribes of Thailand with particular emphasis on the Moken people living on the islands around Ranong. As Secretary of the Board of the Mercy Ranong Foundation this makes him our eminent expert on the Moken people. Dr Pariwat considers the fate and future of the Moken people his ‘Life’s Mission’ and it is a privilege to have someone as motivated as him on our board. As a teacher he believes that education is the most powerful weapon to counter the poverty and cultural and social isolation of the Moken Sea Gypsies and their children. Dr Pariwat frequently travels amongst the Moken villages in the Ranong area to stay in touch with the Moken people. He believes that MRF is an essential agency to improve the fate of the Moken and also to serve his own personal mission.
Youi
Youi has been with us for many years and has been teaching the toddlers living in the Moken village on Koh Lao the Thai language and alphabet to enable them to attend the Thai primary school in the Thai Muslim fishing village Koh Lao Nai on the other side of Koh Lao. Youi is a Thai citizen, and her role has recently been expanded to help the older children living in our house on the mainland with their homework and assist Kratai with administration of the Foundation. On Saturdays and during school holidays she supports the schooling of the island children on Koh Lao. Youi has a bachelor’s degree in political science of the University of Ranong and has been a student of Dr Pariwat. Youi is a native of the Thai village on the other side of Koh Lao.
Mr. Bulaphak Boonlue (“Juiy”)
Mr. Bulaphak Boonlue, whose nickname is Juiy, is a native of Ranong. He is a retired District Administrator of the Ranong District and joined the Board of the Mercy Ranong Foundation in July this year. Mr. Juiy has a BA in Political Science from Ramkhamhaeng University and an MA in Development Strategy from the Rajabhat University in Surat Thani. He has spent 40 years in Civil Service in the Ranong and Krabi districts and in his past experience he has often seen that due to limitations in Thai law, the Moken people lack the basic opportunities to receive fundamental welfare services to their community. He comments that “Bureaucratic hurdles often hinder effective solutions to basic issues related to education, public health and employment”. He says that “it is therefore crucial to be able to rely on non-governmental organizations, such as Mercy Ranong Foundation, to begin improving the quality of life of the Moken people by providing them with education, which is an essential first step in human development”. MRF is proud to welcome Mr. Juiy to our Board.
Rob
Captain Rob Gibb is our Qantas pilot friend who introduced us to both Mercy Centre Bangkok and Mercy Ranong. Rob has been helping people for a long time; whether it is driving trucks with food to the Baltic states, flying baby formula into Manila, helping drought-stricken farmers in the Australian Outback, assisting bushfire affected communities in Bega with reconstruction or building houses for poor people who lost theirs in fires in Klong Toey, Rob is always there to jump in and help. A man with a big heart, without him, we wouldn’t be there. When we needed to repair and reinforce the concrete foundation of the school in Koh Lao, he was the first one to open his wallet to help us out financially. Rob is an avid swimmer and will not stay in any hotel without a decent sized pool. He is presently flying the Airbus A380 for Qantas and doesn’t let any opportunity go by for a stop over in Bangkok to visit Mercy Centre or the operation in Ranong.
John
John Golfin is a retired IT professional who was instrumental in setting up Mercy Centre Australia, a registered charity enabling Australians to make tax-deductible donations and sponsorships to Mercy Centre Bangkok, Mercy Ranong and a charity in Sierra Leone in Africa. John’s mission is to travel to every UN Country in the World to film comedy documentaries and show them to family and friends. John has visited 118 countries and has been running in 113, chasing the total of 193.His most recent accomplishment has been walking the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinee. As is the case with Rob, John is also an avid swimmer but doesn’t care about swimming pools in hotels; during his last visit to Koh Lao was seen swimming around the northern tip of Koh Lao and the school. Fortunately, he showed up without any aftereffects of swimming in the waters around the Moken village. Through John we all have been able to make donations to Mercy Centre in Bangkok and the operation in Ranong. John also immediately opened his wallet to help pay for the repairs of the cement foundation of the school in Koh Lao. He has always been very generous in helping the poor.
Chris & Angie
Chris Nassenstein, a retired executive from Qantas, and his dedicated Thai wife, Angie, along with their invaluable network of friends, have passionately devoted their time and energy to establish this Foundation. Over the course of eight years, they have collaborated closely with the HDF Mercy operation in Ranong and Koh Lao. Their initial introduction to the Moken children and their caregivers came through their friend Rob. During this extensive period, they have borne witness to the growth, evolution, and challenges faced by the Moken children. Some have successfully transitioned into adulthood, while others have been tragically lost due to the lack of essential medical care.
Upon learning of Mercy’s imminent departure from the region, they promptly embarked on the mission to create a new foundation to carry on Mercy’s work, recognizing that their task is not yet finished.
The Moken community, alongside their children, continues to depend on unwavering support as they navigate the ever-evolving landscape of Thai society. Their journey necessitates a lifeline in the form of a new foundation committed to continuing their transition, and that is where we aspire to make a profound impact.
Angie serves as the Vice President of the Foundation, while Chris has played a pivotal role as a primary source of funding, ensuring the longevity and future of this effort.
Chok and Leng
Chokchai (“Chok”) Noibanchong is a geoscientist with degrees from Chulalongkorn University and the University of Aberdeen and his wife Sumalee (“Leng”) has degrees in accountancy and hotel management from Dhurakij Pundit University and a university in the UK. Chok worked as a geologist for PTT and Chevron and spent 10 years in the US until retirement, working for Chevron. Leng, after working in the hospitality industry worked for Thai Shell Exploration and Production Co. as a financial supervisor. After their retirement and returning to Thailand they started volunteering for several organizations, such as the Rajvithi Home for Girls, Queen Sirikit National Institute of Children’s Health, King
Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital and the Institute for HIV Research and Innovation. They say that working in Rajvithi Home for Girls was particularly difficult. The Home of Girls is an orphanage and a home for children who were sexually abused or who’s parents were too poor to look after them. Being parents themselves, working with sexually abused girls is one of the toughest jobs they ever faced, due to the deeply traumatic experiences that these children have lived through.
Chok and Leng have been involved with setting up the Mercy Ranong Foundation right from the beginning and both have many business connections in the Ranong area. Chok serves as the President of the Foundation, while Leng holds the position of Treasurer, each contributing their invaluable energy and expertise to the Foundation.
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