Sompawn Khantisouk (Pawn) and his wife, Patsanee (Joy) are the owners and operators of the Boat Landing Guest House. The property on which the guest house is located belongs to Pawn's father who used to be a boatman on the Namtha River. Pawn, born in 1975, studied architectural drafting in Vientiane and soon after finishing his studies moved back to Luang Namtha and not long after designed and built The Boat Landing Guest House. Joy, Pawn's wife, born in 1979, is originally from Luang Prabang. She grew up in the same village as Pawn. Joy is renown for her excellent cooking. While Pawn studied in Vientiane, Joy cooked at Just for Fun, a vegetarian restaurant in Vientiane. Deuy, Ning, and Mee, Joy's sisters, clean, do the laundry and the rooms and help Joy take care of the baby Lum and cook in the kitchen. Cert is Ahka and comes to The Boat Landing from Muang Long. Serd's parents passed away when he was very young. He is studying at the local high school and hopes to become a teacher or master gardener someday. He tends The Boat Landing garden in exchange for a food and a place to sleep. Liam, Pawn and Joy's son, is the real boss of the place. The patter of little feet belong to him and his friends. Lum is Liam's baby brother - he may just take the show away from Liam. By the way his full name is Lumtahn, which is portic for river. A fitting name for a boy living by a tiver, don't you think? You may see a number of other people around The Boat Landing like Pawn's mom and dad or Joy's parents. Both Pawn and Joy between them have a dozen brothers and sisters some of whom who have kids of there own. So, you see, it is all in the family The Khantisouks conduct EarthFoot's Riverside Guest House in the Luang Namtha Valley experience.