Anyone who has had contact with Dr Jae cannot fail to be impressed with her calm, matter of fact way of getting things done. The responsibilities of running a clinic are not confined to clinical knowledge and practice but also to the very human side of supporting animal parents, engaging with relevant authorities and setting standards or care and delivery of service for the team. As more and more animals travel overseas, keeping abreast of changes and legislation has to be kept up to date. There is always a new challenge. After graduation from Chiang Mai University in 2003 Dr Jae took up a position in a private veterinarian clinic in Bangkok. Over the next two years she developed her clinical skills and on different occasions in 2004 and 2005 Dr Jae came to Koh Tao and assisted the newly established Noistar Foundation as a vet. When the opportunity presented itself to join the team full time in 2006 Dr Jae made the move to Koh Tao. Dr Jae is very proud of the service provided to the animal community of Koh Tao where treatment and care of animals is the first and highest priority before revenue streams. Late at night or on Sundays Dr Jae will be operating or looking after injured animals, she does this quietly with no fuss and no call for recognition. We are very lucky to have her here. I am very proud of what we achieve here on the island, our small team and friends and supporters get a lot done says Dr Jae. It is important, not to lose heart and to focus on what you can do and understand that you can’t fix everything. Wise words from a wise woman.

P’Nai came to work with Dr. Jae around 2010. Coming from a carpentry background, his variety of skills are often put to use in the clinic. He has to have the highest work ethic and energy levels of anyone. When a new enclosure new or partition for the new office needs to be built, P’Nai is the man we turn to. He can turn his hand to most things and is an invaluable team member. He also has been trained in an abundance of veterinary skills and is a very competent assistant. He is very adept at catching stray cats and dogs for neutering and wrangling difficult animals. It is not unusual to see P’Nai driving his salang through the roads of Koh Tao with a variety of animals on board. There is never a moment P’Nai is not busy; there is always an animal to care for or feed.

Support partner extraordinaire to Dr. Jae and animal lover all round, Nicky is quickly becoming the go-to person for all sorts of animals, including owls, falcons, chickens, and reptiles. Her dedication knows no bounds; she even made a trip to Europe with a dog named Baht, who she had raised from puppy, along with several other animals to move to their forever homes abroad. Nicky started fostering a litter of kittens back in 2013 and she has probably lost count of the number of animals that have been in her care since then. Always available to answer cries for help, there is a special place in animal heaven for this lady. Her energy seems boundless and when asked what she has learned over the years as a Koh Tao Animal Clinic team member, she says that “love is just as important as meds with the little ones.” Thank you, Nicky!

Our groomer and vet assistant Yo is incredibly valuable to the clinic. Grooming is not just a matter of clipping and trimming an animal, but it improves the quality of their life. Sometimes, she removes months or years of tangled fur. Tick and flea infested animals certainly feel better after Yo’s special care and treatment. Nails left unclipped can lead to severe problems for dogs. Yo also likes to make the grooming experience memorable. It takes a lot of restraint not to colour every animal’s hair some shade of pink or green. The animal clinic resident dogs are often adorned with fancy collars in the team colour of the day or matching bandanas. When not grooming, there is a constant stream of animals coming in for check-ups, vaccinations, and other routine treatments. Yo’s biggest motivation is to help the animals of Koh Tao because she loves them all so much.

If you have ever contacted the animal clinic about fostering or adopting an animal from us chances are you have dealt with the incredible Lara, who amongst many other tasks has taken on the rather big job of overseas adoptions. When Lara answered the call for a volunteer to assist with our Social Media marketing it was thought this would be for a couple of hours a week, taking some happy snaps and scheduling a few posts, essentially growing our supporter base. This in itself is a bigger job than we imagined and a full-time workload. Lara had not been on board long before the effects of COVID began to be felt. No one imagined the vortex of need that would be created by the perfect storm of COVID, Dog poisonings and an unusually high number of un-homed dogs. The needs of the dogs of Koh Tao became dire. It would have been very easy to become totally dispirited and overwhelmed by the demands that were being made of Lara and not many people could maintain the energy or the determination to keep on fronting up day after day but this Scottish lass dug deep and found what she needed. Lara has found time to take a special interest in each and every animal we have in our care awaiting foster or waiting to be shipped to their faraway home. Each dog lovingly assessed for suitability and temper tested. It’s a massive achievement to say we have had a record number of dogs adopted internationally this year despite the travel restrictions. No mean feat. Lara has also provided care in the way of feeding and socialising the animals; this never ends, seven days a week, twice a day the dogs have to be fed, watered and given a bit of love. Lara says “I wish all animals could have a loving, forever home with enough to eat and a nice safe place to call their own”. We are hoping that with our considerable efforts being put into the CNVR (Capture, Neuter, Vaccinate and Return) program, the ongoing adoption project and working closely with the municipality to improve animal care, we can achieve the utopia Lara imagines for our Koh Tao animal population.

Known as the crazy cat lady of Koh Tao, Heidi started volunteering for the clinic in 2014 when she saw a great need for an active sterilisation program. In the first year, it is estimated that about 500 cats were brought into the clinic by Heidi for sterilisation. This early effort had a massive impact on the health and numbers of the current cat population. It is not an easy task running a successful capture, neuter, release (CNR) program. Traps have to be set late at night and emptied early the next day to limit the time in the trap. Once the sterilisation procedure is complete, the animal needs to be returned to the original location. It is a big job that requires great dedication, organization, and patience. Heidi also was instrumental in arranging the construction of the Alley Cats Adoption Centre. The cats of Koh Tao salute you, Heidi!