THE TEAM

Gareth brings close to 20 years of experience in the marine industry with a career that began in the established superyacht destination of the Mediterranean where he qualified as a commercial captain, before moving to the fast developing marine markets in Asia. In 1998, he settled in Phuket, Thailand with his family and quickly recognised the potential of the Andaman Sea as one of the most desirable cruising grounds in Asia and launched Yacht Solutions 3 years later.

In ten short years the company has grown to become recognised as the leading marine consultancy in the region, recently adding a new construction division to hand-build custom superyachts in its new shipyard in Bangkok in the shape of Ruea Yachts, endorsed by award-winning naval architect and design firms in Europe.

Gareth is not only devoted to managing Yacht Solutions, but also to developing the superyacht business in Asia, keeping to established world standards while setting new benchmarks for vessels that are of European quality but tailored to the specific needs and requirements of Asia’s wealthy.

He is a well-known speaker at events in the region and is a founding member of the Asia Pacific Superyacht Association.

Simon worked in the world’s major superyacht cruising centres before moving to Phuket, Thailand to join his brother Gareth and manage the operational and financial sides of the firm. An honours graduate from Nottingham Business School in the UK, he worked for 3 years as part of a large sales team within the S3 Group in London and was highly successful in building and developing business with some of the largest companies in the capital.

However, Simon tired of office work and turned to the more outdoors-oriented marine industry, qualifying as a RYA (Royal Yachting Association) commercially-endorsed yacht master in 2001 and moving to the Caribbean where worked as a captain for 3 years.

With his brother Gareth building a successful business in Phuket, he moved to Thailand where his financial acumen and operational skills has enabled the business to rapidly grow, playing a key role in its expansion.

Simon is currently based in Bangkok working on an extensive conversion of a 60-metre British hydrographic vessel to a luxury superyacht, overseeing all exterior and interior aspects of the job with a highly proficient team at the Yacht Solutions shipyard.

Brooke is a fully-qualified shipwright with more 30 years of marine experience and 69 yacht builds to his credit. Having completed his five-year apprenticeship in New Zealand for a total of 10,000 hours, he worked for a further 11 years in New Zealand with renowned shipyards and superyacht companies before moving to the South Pacific, Australasia and Asia.

He is a skilled and highly experienced engineer and project manager, having worked on multiple highly successful vessels ensuring they are completed to budget, to schedule and to the original specifications. His expertise ranges from building superyachts to commercial and naval vessels, from ten to 120 metres.

Brooke is now the Senior Project Manager at Yacht Solutions and believes the pioneering project that he is managing – building the first ever superyacht in Thailand – is extremely well suited to the highly skilled workforce of Thais that he has the pleasure of managing.

Panya has enjoyed a lifelong career in the marine industry, winning a scholarship to the University of Michigan in the Unites States where he graduated successfully with a bachelor’s degree before completing his masters at the University of Berkley in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.

He returned to work in the Thai Marine Department from 1975 to 2001 as a ship surveyor and Director of Maritime Safety, during which time he built up enormous experience as he was responsible for the design and supervision of many types of commercial vessels ranging from 24 to 100 metres for both private and government enterprises. For a brief while he also joined the Germanischer Lloyd (GL) as a non-exclusive surveyor.

Panya, a native of the southern coastal province of Songkhla, is one of the very few Thai naval architects trained abroad, and despite his long experience says that working for Yacht Solutions for the past four years has really opened his eyes to the vast potential of newly-constructed superyachts in Thailand, which can leverage not only highly skilled labour but cost efficiencies.

Born in the southern province of Krabi in Thailand, Suwannee graduated from the Prince of Songkhla University, Phuket with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Hotel Administration.

She moved into tour operations before joining Yacht Solutions in 2004, where her skills and vibrant personality quickly made her popular in her role as captain liaison as well as her other responsibilities of accounting, arranging aircraft permits, berthing, government clearance, provisioning, shipping and handling, legal assistance and crew placements, making her a vital member of the team.

Khampon has been working in shipyards for almost 20 years during which time he has worked on over 100 commercial and privately-owned vessels of all sizes. His range of contacts and ability to obtain the right materials, workforce and enable projects to be run smoothly and to schedule has marked him out as one of Thailand’s leading shipyard managers.

Khampon has worked on many of the most prestigious ships in the country. He is thrilled to be working with the pioneering Yacht Solutions, and has developed the shipyard just south of Bangkok into an international-class facility capable of handling ships of up to 85-metres in length and to the highest standards.

Chamras has been working on yacht interiors for more than 30 years and in that time has put exacting finishing touches to around 100 vessels.

Most of her time in the industry has been spent in Phuket where she built up a loyal clientelle and became known as the island’s best interior finisher due to her hundreds of contacts that are able to supply the very best materials for luxury yachts. Chamras also commands respect from her workforce as she instills the important qualities in them to pay attention to every detail of all projects.

Her confidence in the work Yacht Solutions is undertaking led Chamras and her husband to move their operation and staff of around 55 from Phuket to Bangkok to allow her to devote her undivided attention to each project we undertake.

As a vital member of the Yacht Solutions team, Chamras is on the front line of delivering the quality finishes through Thai craftsmenship and her ability to find the exceptional materials that we promise to each and every client.

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