Who We Are: Guides

Srinin Driver
Srinin Srinin is Sweet Mango Tours' driver deluxe, and is a native of Ubon Ratchathani in Isaan, Northeast Thailand. Srinin started his driving career after finishing primary school at his village's temple school. He drove a taxi in Ubon in the 1970's when thousands of American soldiers were stationed in the city during the Vietnam War. For the past 26 years, he has been a skilled and reliable driver for the field station of Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University (INMU) in Ubon Ratchathani. Srinin's skills at auto-mechanics and back-road driving have been critical to the success of the University's research in health, nutrition and community development. INMU serves as Sweet Mango's Thailand office.

Srinin is an exceptional mechanic and driver for INMU and SMT, driving up and down, and back and forth to the dusty, rural villages of Ubon and nearby provinces. He is proud of his records both for keeping vehicles running far longer than their expected life, and for never having been in an accident (knock on wood!).

Though Srinin cannot communicate well in English, he is skilled at using body language and takes good care of the many foreigners that travel with Sweet Mango Tours. Srinin is a talented chef and ‘SFC,' Srinin's Fried Chicken with home-made spicy chili paste and sticky rice, is becoming famous among Sweet Mango travelers. He and his wife own and run a small food shop at their home serving the Isaan specialty som tam, gai yang, khaaw neow and som tam (papaya salad, roast chicken and sticky rice).

Dasho Karma Ura Trekking with Dragons Guide
Dasho Karma Ura

Craig Line Photographer
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Craig Line Craig Line was born in 1955 in Toledo, Ohio.  His interest in photography began in high school, and he took numerous photography courses while studying anthropology and receiving a degree in social work at The Ohio State University in Columbus.  He moved to Vermont in 1978.

He has studied cibachrome printing with photographer Dorothea Kehaya of Westminster West, Vermont and at the Maine Photographic Workshops in Rockport, Maine, and color landscape photography with Richard Brown of Peacham, Vermont, also at the Maine Photographic Workshops.  Craig has exhibited his work in numerous galleries and other venues in Vermont and Ohio and is contained in numerous private collections.

Now living in Calais, Vermont with his wife, 12-year-old daughter and their two trusty dogs, he continues to photograph the Vermont landscape and people as well as other places he visits in his travels, including South America, Nepal, England, France, Italy, Belgium, Turkey, and the former Soviet Republics of Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.  In 2001 and 2002, Craig photographed the fund raising calendars, "The Men of Maple Corner," which benefited the Maple Corner Community Center in Calais.  He has worked as a photojournalist since 1986 for such clients as The Associated Press, Vermont Life Magazine, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Vermont Magazine, Yankee Magazine, and many other editorial and corporate clients.

In the spring of 2002, Craig began teaching a series of photography courses at schools in Central Vermont for children and adults, as part of the Community Connections program, and continues to teach those classes periodically. He is also vice-president of the board of the non-profit Center for Photographic Studies at Studio Place Arts in Barre, Vermont, and teaches classes there also.


Johannes Otter Masseuse and Guide
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Johannes Otter

Suvannee Promchan Senior Thai Staff
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Suvannee Promchan Suvannee has been the director of Mahidol University's Institute of Nutrition field station in Ubon Ratchathani, and a pioneer community development researcher for more than 31 years. Most of her work addresses issues of food, nutrition, health, forestry, environment, and women and youth development in Thailand's rural Northeast region, known as "Isaan." Suvannee co-founded the Nature Care Foundation in Ubon and now serves as President of this environmental protection non-profit organization. She was appointed an expert on child rights and protection by the provincial committee in Ubon Ratchathani. She has trained local people, national and international officers, Peace Corps Volunteers and UN Staff on numerous topics related to food, nutrition, health and the environment. She has a Masters Degree in agriculture from Thammasat University, and served as a volunteer in Mae Sareang and Mae Hong Son in northern Thailand, and for three years in Kanchanaburi, central Thailand.

Suvannee was raised in Bangkok, but committed herself to work to improve the lives of the poor people in the remote areas of her country. She has been recognized for this dedication by Mahidol University naming her an outstanding staff member, and was officially acknowledged by the Thai Government as a "Rural Diamond." Suvannee lives in Ubon Ratchatchani, Thailand with her husband and two grown children.


Pai Promchan Tour Guide and Senior Entertainer
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Pai Promchan Pai Promchan graduated from Ubon Ratchathani University with a degree in travel and tourism. He is currently a licensed tour guide with the Ministry of Tourism in Thailand and South East Asia, and teaches courses for Ubon Ratchathani Univerity's Travel and Tourism Faculty.Pai (means bamboo) has traveled to the United States for extended periods of time to develop his English language skills. He is fluent in Lao and, of course, his native language, Thai. He has been guiding tours in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos since 2002. He was born and raised in Ubon Ratchathani, but has traveled all over Thailand.

Like all of Sweet Mango's guides, Pai is energetic and a curious life-long learner, interested in other cultures and eager to support travelers' as they experience the world. He recently spent a summer as camp counselor at French Woods Camp in Hancock, New York. In high school Pai and his sister, Fon, hosted a weekly, local radio show that focused on children's rights. At Ubon Ratchathani University, he continued developing his leadership skills through radio show production, sitting on University committees and as a member of many student groups. He enjoys mountain biking, travel, being outdoors, sharing stories with people, and learning about life with them.


Netting Supolrai Cross-Cultural Interpreter & Communications Specialist
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Netting Supolrai Netting is Sweet Mango's Cross-Cultural Interpreter and Marketing/Communications Specialist. She grew up in Si Muang Mai, a small quiet district of Ubon Ratchathani Province in Isaan, Northeastern Thailand. She recently graduated from Ubon Ratchathani University with a BA in English and Communication. 

Netting loves to speak, learn and teach English. On weekends during high school she taught English to the children in her village. While at the University she co-founded the 'English Crazy Club.' ECC members design and produce high-energy, extremely fun English Camps for less privileged students at rural schools in Isaan provinces. On the side, she has recruited and placed a number of English-teaching volunteers in Isaan communities. Recently, she was a volunteer interpreter for Thai Volunteer Service at the 3rd International Conference on Gross National Happiness in Thailand.  

In 2004, Netting was chosen to participate in the Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program. She visited the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia and Singapore with a select group of ambitious young people from around the region. Although she already knew it intuitively, she discovered a serious travel bug.

Although her work with Sweet Mango keeps her busy, she finds time to support the work of some local non-government organizations as an interpreter and translator. Netting had worked as an assistant researcher for the field station of Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University in Ubon Ratchathani. This work addresses issues of rural nutrition, health, community development and environmental protection. For the past few years, she has been a key resource for the Montpelier to Thailand project. (www.vttothailand.org) As Cross-Cultural Interpreter for Sweet Mango, she helps visitors to Isaan appreciate and respect the local culture, while working with hosts to be patient and understanding of their foreign guests.

Netting is a talented and passionate writer and photographer, and hopes to develop her skills in documentary filmmaking.  She has contributed travel articles and feature stories for Khaosanroad.com and Nation Junior Magazine.

Linda Wheatley Senior US Staff
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Linda Wheatley Linda's has a passion for travel. She views meaningful travel as a necessity, not as a luxury. Her appreciation for the vastness of the globe and the wisdom that can be gained through cross-cultural experiences, led her to launch Sweet Mango Tours LLC. She hopes that Sweet Mango will support similar adventurers in their dreams to know themselves better through knowing others.

For seven years prior to becoming a small business owner, Linda was Director of Leadership Programs at the Snelling Center for Government in Vermont. She has managed a Women, Infants and Children Clinic, coordinated the Vermont Prevention Institute, and served as Associate Peace Corps Director for Health in Bangkok, Thailand. In 2004, she created The Montpelier to Thailand Projects, offering a unique and intimate cross-cultural experience to students at Montpelier High School. M2T has become an annual event and Linda is hoping to expand these offerings to other schools and youth.

Linda holds a B.S. from the University of Massachusetts and an M.S. in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Washington. She loves walking and running with her dog, traveling and thinking about traveling, and living in central Vermont with her two teenage children.

PO Box 888 Montpelier, VT 05601 | 802.535.8383 | linda@sweetmangotours.com
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