Payap "Pong" Khunkhayam encountered numerous problems while developing a farm for Conrad Koh Samui. A 5 rai plot of land given to the resort three years ago by one of its investors was an overgrown jungle on top of mostly infertile red clay soil. Pong, the resort's bellman, was tasked with creating a farm that would eventually provide Conrad's restaurants with most of its food.
With the billion-dollar global apparatus of the Conrad-Hilton luxury hotel chain at his disposal, Pong, 41, knew exactly what he needed to do to overcome roadblocks. He called his mother. He instinctively knew that while some problems were solved with money, others required local wisdom.
