Kisana Ruangsri - her friends call her Anna - has travelled the world and visited many, many health and beauty spas. She's seen the great ones, and she's seen some terrible ones. Anna knows her spas.

That's why, when you find her name attached to the Divana Spa, which has three branches in Bangkok, you know it's going to be top-notch.

Anna has been personal nurse to royalty and an airline stewardess, so she's seen a lot of luxury and a lot of the planet. Bringing home the best of it just came naturally.

"Divana Spa was created gradually," says Anna, now 38. "It was my idea, and at first it was just me running a small business of my own, but after a few years I saw how strong the potential was and talked to my friends about a full-scale operation. They all chipped in to establish this venture."

One of the best-known spas in Thailand, Divana is also one of the fastest growing. The original opened in 2004 on Sukhumvit Soi 25, and the acclaim was such that a second branch was started the following year on Sukhumvit 35.

Last year the group unveiled another on Soi Thong Lor 17 to meet burgeoning demand.

Credit for that belongs to the well-managed team, the dedication of the partners and, crucially, the ideas for the spa environment, products and services that Anna accrued on her travels.

"I started out as a registered nurse at a hospital in Los Angeles," she says, "but it wasn't until I became a personal nurse to a royal family that I was truly exposed to all the best things in life. I had the opportunity to accompany the family, especially the princess, to the best spas in the world."

During her years of private jets and luxurious treatment, Anna visited the renowned Swiss spa La Prairie and the ancient baths of Bath in England, as well as its modern wellness centres.

"The princess treated me like a friend and she always let me try whatever she was trying," Anna says. "I gradually learned about spa services and how to differentiate between the real herbs and the artificial ones. I could eventually discern the so-so treatments from the best."

After several years with the royal family she returned to Thailand, but she didn't stay long. She joined Swiss International Airlines and met her current partners among her fellow aircrew members.

"My life changed a lot when I joined Swiss Air. I was about 27, but I met a lot of younger people who became my best friends.

"Working with them made me realise that I'd missed out on my teenage years because I always had so much responsibility at work. But at Swiss Air my life changed. I got to be young again, living my life exposed to real people."

At the same time, Anna took courses in massage and the spa business from some of the world's most knowledgeable experts, many of whom had catered to her former bosses.

And her air miles added on time getting to know the habits and expectations of Europeans, who, she says, love to be pampered and are always concerned about hygiene.

Anna opened a massage parlour for airline crewmembers in a private Bangkok home, and praise for her service spread by word of mouth.

"That was when I developed the philosophy for our spa," she says. "My first place ensured my customers total relaxation. It was very quiet - not even the sound of a mobile phone. The clients had to book in advance, and it was a very closed community."

Demand soon swelled to the point where a full-fledged spa was the obvious next step. With her friends from Swiss Air, she opened the first Divana Spa.

Anna is primarily responsible for the spa treatments and the products, which are made from natural ingredients that she personally gathers from around the world. She only selects organic products from trusted sources, and if she can't find the herbs she wants on the market, she pays a farmer to grow them according to her specifications.

"I always keep up with the medical journals and learn from new scientific developments, which I adapt to our spa. I also use what I learned from my mother, who's a devotee of traditional medicines and herbs, and combine that with Western medical research."

Anna had another trick up her sleeve when it came to choosing her partners.

"I looked at how they treated their parents," she says. "If you treat your parents well, you must have something good in you, and that should spread on to your friends as well.

"I've never been disappointed in the partners I chose. Of course there are going to be disagreements in any business, but when that happens, we always look at the real intentions, not the actions. It always works."

Sirin P Wongpanit

The Nation