PHUKET: Selling a book or a CD through the Internet is nothing new. Selling furniture, household appliances and even cars online is now also common.

But when it comes to selling property online, the current wisdom is that you would have to be crazy trying it. In many ways, the current wisdom is not far off the mark.

"People are absolutely right when they say that you’d have to be stupid to buy a house via the Internet," says William Pinsent, director of Phuket Land Ltd, one of the island’s major real estate agents. "The truth is that my company has so far been able to close only one deal that way. And even then, the buyer came to see for himself what the property looked like."

"However", Mr Pinsent says, "when it comes to opening and building new business, I have to say that Internet marketing is very effective."

At Phuket Land, the majority of business inquiries are from those who have come across the company’s website. The rest are walk-ins, of whom 50% already know of the company from its website.

"Most of them have already done some homework before coming to the office. They usually bring with them a print-out of the property they are interested in," Mr Pinsent says.

The Internet also helps real estate agents to screen customers, to save on introduction time, and to learn what kinds of property are hot or not, simply by tracking the number of hits each property on the website receives.

But closing a deal online is virtually impossible. The amount of money involved in the transaction is one consideration.

But more importantly, both buyers and sellers need to be very careful when it comes to the highly complex legal aspects and paperwork involved in real estate deals.

Unlike books, CDs, electrical appliances or cars, real estate is unique. Properties are generally one of a kind – you can’t just switch on your computer, choose the specifications you are looking for, then wait for your purchase to be delivered.

The Internet may pique a buyer’s interest, but when it comes to negotiating the sale itself, buyers have only three real choices: contact the agent, contact other agents, or go direct to the seller.

None of the real estate agencies in Phuket is big enough to negotiate exclusive rights to sell a particular property or project. Putting a property on the website is no guarantee that a buyer will not go to another agent or, worse yet, straight to the seller in order to avoid paying the agency commission.

"There is nothing much that we can do, really. It is the trust factor that you have to rely on, from both sides," says Stuart Ash, formerly a realtor in London, who now runs the seven-month-old Phuket Homes real estate agency.

For agents, overseas customers are a safer bet; they are far away, and are therefore much more likely to rely on an agent to provide information and answer questions for them, which forms a tighter bond between buyer and agent.

In this, too, the Internet can help. For example, Phuket Land’s site features Land Search, a search engine that allows buyers to do quite a lot of homework before meeting the company face-to-face.

The search engine has two levels, public and secure. The public section lists one sample from each category – housing, land, and commercial properties.

If the customer needs to see more, then he must enter the secure section. To do this, he must first sign an electronic "contract" that essentially gives Mr Pinsent a little more confidence that his company will get the commission it deserves.

Internet marketing seems to be working well for the island’s property agents. The fact remains, however, that what is most important to the industry is how hot Phuket actually is in terms of desirability.

Both Mr Pinsent and Mr Ash agree that the market is still healthy and growing, "especially for medium and high-end properties," Mr Pinsent says.

"I think it’s booming," Mr Ash says, "though it would be much better if land prices would drop a bit."

More than a few people looking to buy property on the island would undoubtedly concur.

PHUKET TOWN: When most people think of Thai Airways International (THAI), doughnuts and cakes are probably not the first things that come to mind. It’s a little-known fact that the company owns a chain of successful pastry shops called Puff and Pie which, until recently, were only found in Bangkok.

"We opened this outlet because many customers who had bought pastries from our branches in Bangkok wanted us to sell them here – and Phuket is a very attractive market," says Sopon Salee, Domestic Catering and Airport Restaurant Manager.

The 15 Puff and Pie branches in Bangkok turn over about 11 million baht a month, and some, such as the one next to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand’s offices, have sales of more than 100,000 baht a day.

Opening day sales for the Phuket Town branch were around 20,000 baht. K. Sopon says the target for the outlet is around 30,000 baht a day, and he anticipates sales will increase as more people come to know about the shop. He is relying mostly on word of mouth to achieve this.

Puff and Pie has more than 60 product lines, including cakes, puffs, tarts, and muffins. The company is also planning to sell packaged food for picnics and other events, such as funerals.

One of the shop’s strengths is that its products carry the THAI brand, and the company has a reputation for having clean, delicious food. In addition, prices are low compared with other pastry shops in Phuket.

From the shop’s location, Puff and Pie is targeting local customers rather than tourists visiting the province. Asked about the possibility of opening another branch on the island, K. Sopon said that the company would see how the first branch performs. If it does well, then Patong will probably be the company’s next target.