Suwat Hannarong, owner of Ao Nang Scuba and Founder of the Marine Conservation Project in Ao Nang, Thailand, has lived an incredibly full and fascinating life. He has achieved so much in his lifetime that it is hard to believe it is all the work of one man!

Between the ages of 16 and 20, Suwat cycled every year with 200 contestants from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, a journey of 700 kilometres. Suwat also trained in Thai boxing and Tae Kwon Do, becoming the first National Champion of Thailand in Tae Kwon Do in 1970.

Between 1967 and 1971, Suwat went to Bangkok Institute of Technology to study for a degree in Engineering. With this knowledge and a wonderfully innovative mind, he invented a version of the ingenious energy-saving device that is now found in many hotels and offices across the world today; this is a tag attached to room keys that must be inserted into an apparatus in the wall in order to switch on the lights, TV, air conditioning and thermostatic units. On leaving the room and removing the tag, the apparatus switches to a 'vacant' mode, automatically turning off all electrically powered units and lights. He filed a patent for this device in 1992 and was awarded property rights in 1994.

After completing his degree, he married his first wife in 1972, and between them they had one daughter, Mod, who lives and works in Bangkok.

Throughout his life he has been incredibly active physically, achieving remarkable feats in two other disciplines; paragliding and scuba diving. In 1988, Suwat pioneered paragliding in Thailand, and with the help of some like-minded friends set up the Thailand Glider Club. They went on to discover all the present free flying sites in Thailand. He trained to become the first paragliding instructor in Thailand and opened a paragliding school, S.E.T. (Sky Expert Team), in 1994.

In 1986, Suwat began diving and attained NAUI dive instructor status in 1990 and he has been NAUI Course Director in 2007 which is the greatest achievement of a Diving Instructor.   Since then, he has owned and run a number of dive schools in Rayong and Krabi provinces, both set on the beautiful Andaman coast and Thai Gulf. He has 20 years diving experience in the waters around Ao Nang. When underwater he has an aura of calmness that rubs off on all his pupils, allaying any fears they may have on their first few dives.

Despite suffering the almost complete destruction of a new dive shop in Khao Lak, an area which was hit badly during the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, Suwat dedicated much of his time to surveying villages along the Andaman coastline, looking for projects that could benefit from his contacts as a member of the Rotary Club. He secured funds from Rotary Canada, which he then used to help fishermen fix their damaged boats and also buy new equipment and cages to set up aquaculture projects. These have benefited both the local fishermen and the marine environment by providing a constant source of food and income to the fishermen whilst at the same time reducing unsustainable sea fishing practices. Suwat also used the Rotary money to help several schools in Ranong, Phang Nga & Krabi provinces to buy toys, books, stationary, uniforms and computers for both elementary and high schools. This altruistic work still continues with plans for more donations to many of the chosen schools.In  2007 the Rotary Club of Silom district 3350 awarded Suwat special honorary status in recognition of his work for the tsunami survivors.

In May 2005, Suwat joined Projects Abroad as the Project Director for the marine conservation project in Ao Nang. He and his wife, Sao, welcomed over 300 volunteers from all over the world into their house and played a pivotal role in the development of the project from its conception until February 2009.

Since the beginning of the year 2009, Suwat and several friends with the same philosophy and determination to preserve the environment and local flora and fauna decided to set up an association called Krabi Marine Conservation Association with the mission to carry on the conservation of the marine and land environment aiming to be leaders in promoting conservation work and preserving the beauty of our natural world for coming generations to appreciate this precious resource and the benefit of a clean sea.

This will also encourage our children and Thai tourists to be conscientious about preserving our natural world for their own benefits and to be a model for the rest of the world.