You are widely credited as being the original kayak explorer and operator in Phuket and Phang Nga. How did it all begin?
Armed with four years of research I departed Ao Po on January 20, 1989 in a longtail boat. The captain completely bypassed Koh Panak so I made him stop in Koh Hong. The double-hong was magic, and I knew we had a winner.
Volcanic sea caves were a highlight in Hawaii so I knew limestone caves could be a big attraction once they were marketed properly.
Even so, when I came back 11 months later with two groups of repeat customers, the money never came from Hawaii.
I ended up bahtless on Koh Samui, borrowed B200 to return to Phuket and started the entire industry on B700 and four inflatables.
I inhaled Acetone while scrubbing the kayaks clean with steel wool in February and March, 1990 and slept on a concrete floor with no sleeping pads.
What motivated you to stick with it?
My entire motivation is environmental awareness – "Natural History By Sea Kayak Since 1983".
Most people measure their value by their bank account, but I got over that early in life – I make my living doing things that Bill Gates will never know.
For me, a person's value is measured by the good they do for others and the planet.
It takes money to make that happen, but my company John Gray Sea Canoe (JGSC) is really about the good deeds we do. My formula is education, environmental awareness, top quality (after all, it's my name) and job security for locals.
A lead guide just told me how happy he is working with us. "Thanks to you I've got a house, a car, and my kids are in a special school. All my old company did was destroy my credit rating." Then he gave me a big hug. That's true ‘profit’.
And it's our guests' hugs and tears of happiness at a trips' end that keep me going. Turning people onto nature, wellness and environmental awareness is what our experience is all about.
Have you always been interested in the outdoor life?
I was lucky enough to be born into an environmental family. They expected me to be a doctor without realising they created an environmental warrior – in the late 1940s!
In the first grade in 1950, I befriended a white pigeon named Junior. It flew to school with me and sat on my shoulder in class – the world's most educated pigeon.
One day my teacher walked me home and told my mother, "Little Johnny is the most remarkable student I've had in my 30 year career."
My mom didn't want to give me a big head so that night she walked me outside, pointed up at the full moon and said:
"Little Johnny, you are remarkable. You are a human being, the most remarkable machine we know in the universe. As a human being you have the capability to do anything you want. One day – if you really want – you can even fly to the moon...
“As long as you never forget you are nothing but an overgrown monkey!"
I've never forgotten that. All life is connected, and the human overgrown monkey is responsible for our planet.
So I've always been interested in the outdoor life. Call me a treehugger if you wish, but without trees, where would monkeys frolic?
Do you actually take canoes out to sea?
It's really kayaking. I invented the word "Sea Canoe" as a joke on those who I knew would eventually copy me. Except for Hawaiian outriggers, what we paddle are sea kayaks.
My imitators don't even know the real name of their activity.
I believe you used to be a campaigner for surfer’s rights in the US?
I grew up bodysurfing The Wedge in Newport Beach, an extremely huge and radical break that maims and kills people.
The City closed it down for liability purposes, so the Wedge Head Society went all the way to the US Supreme court for the right to die. We won.
But the bigger victory was "Keep the Country COUNTRY" on the North Shore of O'ahu. I came up with the name and the final solution, but basically our carpool of surfers/executives designed a tourism master plan that makes so much sense it's still in effect today.
Most developers are only in it for the money, but we protected the North Shore by coming up with a plan that made sense – and money – for the tourism industry.
Today, the giant Green Sea Turtle colony on the North Shore is a must stop on the Circle island tour, and the Circle island tour itself – the entire back side of O'ahu – is the #1 visitor experience.
When there is no corruption, meaningful compromise can be beautiful.
How do you see the state of the environment in Phuket and Phang Nga?
Unfortunately, both are environmental horror stories.
For example, thanks to speedboat tours there are no more kingfishers in Phang Nga Bay.
Speedboats love to come close to the islands and run slow under the cliffs. Their exhaust kills the small fish that kingfishers predate.
I have arthritic thumbs from collecting 8,899 bags of rubbish from the Bay in my solo kayak. That doesn't include the organised clean-ups with PSU-Phuket or IBAP.
We collect a lot of rubbish from our competitors, but they never bother. The James Bond crowd is even worse. Without effective leaders who take it seriously, our environment declines rapidly – and geometrically.
In Puerto Princesa in the Philippines, one leader – Mayor Edward Hagedorn – proves that all it takes is commitment and passionate leadership.
In 18 years I've never seen a cigarette butt, bottle cap or candy wrapper on Princesa's Filipino streets. Hagedorn proves that passionate environmental leadership does work.
Your nickname is Ling Yai. What does that mean?
"Ling Yai" is Thai for "Big Monkey". Our staff gave me the name.
I am very proud of the camaraderie that allows this to happen – especially in a society where billionaires pay their staff minimum wage and complain about the profit line.
They wonder why staff – even GMs – run away as soon as they can find a new job.
My first member of staff from June 1990 is still with us. Our core senior staff have been around since the mid 90s. They are happy, confident, make their own decisions and have the humorous spirit to call the Boss "Ling Yai".
What the knee-jerk Old Guard don't understand is that a loyal, low-turnover, well-paid happy staff is the path to profitability. And a dictatorial style is not only bad for business, but bad for karma as well.
But what do I know? I live in a small cabin and walk a lot.
I don't hit the nightclubs or beer bars, don't drink, smoke, eat meat or other drugs.
I'm nothing but an overgrown monkey!