Bio
Andy Lawson is an entrepreneur from Koh Samui, Thailand best known as a contestant on the first season of the reality television competition The Amazing Race Asia, from 2006-2007.
His partner was fiance Laura Kluk.
Amazing Race Asia Bio
Working together and living together is the ideal preparation for the twenty-four-seven exposure of The Amazing Race Asia - at least that's the theory that Andy and Laura from Thailand are working on.
They plan to use their experience working together on their business to help them be the strongest Amazing Race contenders yet.
Seven years on, and Laura and Andy from Thailand are still going strong. This couple have been together for seven years now, and not only do they live together in their perfect tropical island paradise, they also work together. And the feelings they have for one another are just as strong as they were in the beginning.
Their routine revolves around their home, because they run a business together from their place in Koh Samui. Running your own home business can be a little all encompassing, and for Andy and Laura, work is not a nine-to-five job, it's something that can keep them busy all day and all night long.
That's the attraction of The Amazing Race Asia, because it will finally get them out of the house and on the road. What others see as a drawback, the twosome see as a strength, because they already live and work together, so being stuck together all the time for the entire duration of the race is nothing new for them.
Like any couple, they have had to find ways to cope with each other's foibles. By now they consider that they have mastered the art of communication, so any hiccups are quickly and efficiently overcome.
In terms of their personalities, both of them have different outlooks on life. For example, Andy is gregarious, and outgoing, while Laura is somewhat more reserved. People used to think it was because of the age difference.
"You're more mature," Andy says, looking at Laura. "So I bring a bit of youth into the equation."
The eight year age difference between the two of them hardly seems significant at all, these days, although it's still true that each of them brings something different to the relationship.
"It's better that we're different, than to have us both the same," Laura says. "That way, we can make up for each other, and contribute different things."
According to them, Laura keeps Andy grounded, while Andy keeps her on her toes. Their different personality traits balance out each other, the way Laura likes to have things planned to the last detail while Andy enjoys the element of surprise. This is something that they think will stand them in good stead during the Race itself.
"We have to be good together as a team, because we already work together as a team," says Laura, a quite convincing bit of circular-sounding logic. The explanation makes it all clear.
To succeed in The Amazing Race Asia, what's needed is a perfect blend, of brains, brawn and teamwork, which, coincidentally, is what Laura and Andy already have in spades, and which is what keeps their business running.
The other positive traits are adaptability, and a quite outrageous spark of creativity, and Laura points to Andy squarely for those. Andy is the more creative of the two, capable of being resourceful and thinking out of the box if that's what it takes to get things done.
Functionally, the two of them have experience working under stress, so they've already stress-proofed their relationship even before beginning the Race.
"We both know why and how we react to stress," says Laura, "We can, as Andy says, see beyond the packaging."
"Our relationship has been tested on so many levels before," says Andy, "It's just the ability to work through it, to understand each other that makes it work."
The couple has been to fourteen countries between them, so they have a lot of travel experience. Nothing will baulk the team. This experience has led to their strategy for the race - Andy and Laura plan to react, in real time, to the situations that develop as they go along.
With the strength of their relationship, and their openness to new experiences, Andy and Laura are ready for any challenge that the Race can throw at them. They plan to still be laughing even at the elimination mat.