Yook has always been surrounded by his large family.  His grandfather had 9 children, over a large number of years, so when Yook was young, he had uncles in their teens. He always looked to them with admiration, they were “cool” and Yook was included in their activities.  His favourite childhood memories are of times going out with the guys to catch frogs, to search out fish, crabs and birds in the natural environment, to engage in all the physical exploration that boys enjoy so much. Yook looked up to these uncles as role-models, and it was their example that convinced him to study Telecommunication Engineering at King Mongut Institite of Technology, Ladkrabang upon completion of his schooling in Ratchaburi and then Bangkok. While at school, he stood up to a bully, even engaging in fisticuffs to protect a boy who was less able physically. Yook cites this as an example of him being a sympathetic friend.

Engineering and Yook were not a completely successful partnership and Yook only worked in the field for 2 years, before admitting to himself that this was not where his life’s work would happily rest. Yook undertook a Masters’ Degree in Marketing over 2 years and found that this better suited his personal skillset.  Engineering is clinical and scientific: business and marketing require interpersonal skills. Yook has now made the study of interpersonal skills his own. He joined a startup company producing a patented product called Fire Extinguisher Ball, however he needed to return to live in Hua Hin when his father became ill. Both Yook and his brother worked to relieve their father of the burden of the farm during his illness. During this time, Yook’s newly-married wife, Mol opened her medical clinic and they started their family.  Yook came to realise that the farming life took more time than he was prepared to give, and required skills he did not possess.  It was in searching for a profitable business which employed his particular skills that Yook hit upon the concept of opening a pharmacy. These days, Yook’s income derives from renting out his properties.  He makes a great host because he listens attentively to the needs of his guests, so ensuring that their holidays always live up to their expectations.

Yook and his wife Mol have been married almost 20 years and have two teenage daughters.  The elder one has already left home to study Actuarial Science in Vancouver, Canada and the younger one is planning to also travel next year to live with a host family in Canada.  That will make Yook and Mol “empty-nesters” and will mean they have greater opportunity to focus on their own needs and desires, something Yook is looking forward to, though he will miss his children.  Yook indicated that with the improvements in technology and communication, and the better and easier access to knowledge, it is now possible to be in close and regular contact with people, wherever in the world they happen to be.

Yook cites his opportunity to represent Thailand and Thammasart University in the US at the Mootcorp Business Plan Contest at the University of Texas in Austin while he was studying his Masters’ degree as his greatest achievement, though he also is proud of his business acumen in general.  The pharmacy across the road from Market Village that Yook ran successfully for 8 years before closing it to focus on other interests was an example of his efficiency as a small business owner.

The birth of his first daughter caused Yook to re-examine his own experience of education.  Determining that he had wasted time studying in areas that were not right for him, Yook embarked on a quest to redefine education, to prepare for the needs of his young child.  He examined models of education including home-schooling and the Waldorf and Montessori Methods, and eventually, along with his children, began his involvement with the Halio School.

While people often see others in relation to what they are doing and achieving, Yook sees the state of being as much more important.  He has become expert in lots of interrelated fields dealing with human psychology, childhood learning and development and family therapy, through participation in numerous courses.  Now both Yook and Mol are teachers of Enneagram, with Mol taking a place on the Board of the Enneagram Association of Thailand. As well, Yook undertook a 2-year study in the methodology of Virginia Satir, convinced it is a great help in solving personal problems. The Satir Method is designed to improve relationships and communication within the family structure by addressing a person’s actions, emotions and perceptions as they relate to that person’s dynamic within the family unit. Yook employs the Enneagram, which is a model of human psychology and personality theory, based on the concept that each person has a unique essence, to help people identify problems in their lives. Where Enneagram might help define the problem, Satir could well find a solution, a learning of which Yook has personal experience.

Now, Yook frequently uses his vast interest and knowledge in these areas to help the people around him deal with the inevitable interpersonal conflicts that arise in daily life, as a result of internal conflicts that are part of every person’s unique personality. He does this while embracing a thorough understanding of himself and his own strengths, weaknesses and motivations and an acceptance of others. Yook’s personality makes him “a peace-maker” on the Enneagram scale, which tallies well with the spirituality he espouses. Yook undertakes moving meditation where he focuses closely on his body position while taking notice of his thoughts.  Mindfulness is an integral part of his daily practice, where he attempts to incorporate his intellectual and spiritual learnings into his routine.

Yook looks back with great fondness on his primary school years, which were a time of daily growing and learning, without the weight of responsibility.  That time of freedom was something Yook now treasures.  If he were able to have a “do-over” it would be to listen more closely to himself and his own interests before choosing his university studies, as he believes he has always had a connection with animals which he should have explored, rather than allowing societal expectations to dictate his choice. Within his own nuclear family, Yook is ensuring this is not going to be an issue for his own daughters, whom he has encouraged to value and trust their own personal judgements, and to find their own purposes in life.

Yook is paradoxically a man of deep, complex thoughts while at the same time a man of simple physical needs. If he could choose his final meal, it would be just a piece of bread. The thing he is unable to live without is awareness. Something that is guaranteed to make him happy is to be in the Montessori state of normalisation, where an individual has no worries and feels a balance of energies. One of the few things that will annoy Yook is noise while he is trying to focus.  His favourite place in the world in anywhere in the natural environment, and his sole guilty pleasure is eating too much on occasion because he deplores wasting food.  While many Westerners focus on tangibles, much of what Yook still desires from life is more abstract in Western thought, much more difficult to put into words yet Yook knows precisely where he wants to go, and is learning how to get there.