Shopping / Kitchens and bathrooms

Breakfast 6.30-10.30 am
Dinner 6-10.30 pm

We meet in the tile-it showroom at Wana Park in Cherng Talay. I’m early and they’re exceedingly busy: taking calls, checking drafts of quotations, checking samples, arranging schedules. For the sales team, tonight Bangkok, next week Koh Samui. A human dynamo, Sales Director Alan McAllister shuns publicity : he is, by his own admission, a very private person.

A boyish, be-jeaned figure, just graying at the temples, he began his commercial career in Italy in the natural stone business, pioneering the use of diamond-wire technology for the extraction of marble in the quarries of Northern India. He speaks several languages, including Thai – essential, he maintains, for success in business here.

Their clients include the Thai building industry and an impressive list of private clients. More than 80 per cent of the business is concerned with high-end private villas and developments in Phuket, Koh Samui and Krabi.

The business specialises in stocking and supplying the high-end property market with porcelain tiles from Italy, the world’s leading producer of ceramic tiles, and glass and ceramic mosaics. tile-it is the exclusive importer in Thailand for six Italian brands, while also supplying its own brand range of porcelain floor tiles, made to European standards, from China to cater for tighter budgets. Their clients include the Thai building industry and an impressive list of private clients. More than 80 per cent of the business is concerned with high-end private villas and developments in Phuket – amongst them X2 Vibe, Ka Villas, Kata Rocks – and in Koh Samui and Krabi. The capacious showroom in Thalang is the hub for most of this business.

But it would be wrong to characterise tile-it merely as a retail outlet. True, great care is taken to present the impressive range of sample tiles to best advantage, with user-friendly displays set against matt black walls. But Alan is at pains to emphasise the holistic and aesthetic nature of the enterprise.

Service is key, both the tendering of expert pre-sales advice and an impressive after-sales service which includes consultancy at all stages, the supply of accessories, including a unique levelling system involving the use of wedges and clip supports (ensuring quality tile installation) and both grouting and cutting machines. Alan is never satisfied until the customer is happy. “We must have a passion for what we do,” he says.

Ingredients

• 8-10 raw red prawns
• 250g calamari
• 250g cuttlefish
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1 red bell pepper
• 100g Spanish rice
• 1 garlic clove chopped
• Saffron
• 400g grated red tomatoes
• 300g mussels
• 100g green peas
• Extra virgin olive oil
• monkfish, shrimps and crab

Method
Fry the red prawns, chop the cuttlefish and calamari with the extra virgin olive oil; reserve the prawns. Add chopped onions, garlic and bell pepper and cook until soft. Add grated red tomatoes and cook until brown colour. Add rice, salt, saffron and seafood stock. Cook for 12 minutes, and then add the mussels, green peas and red prawns. Finally cook for 5 minutes until the rice is cooked.

Although I have contributed in the public domain a fair number of articles, covering myriad legal topics, in my eight years in Thailand, my partner has been the primary contributor to this publication over the course of our firm’s operations.

I often find myself admiring my partner’s practical, straight forward, concise and common sense approach to writing legal articles, which tend to resonate the current hot topic ‘du jour’, and often are the catapult for subsequent discussions or evening chats with clients, local friends and professionals in the Phuket community.

That said, when my partner asked me this week if I would like to write a piece for Window on Phuket, I jumped on the opportunity to contribute, as it had been some time since I last wrote an article here.

Over the course of the past week, I pondered what issue I should focus on this time around, and thought to myself, “What should I write about that is currently on the mind of Phuket residents – both locals and tourists alike?”

Thai Real Estate? Nah, not this time, as that has been done and dusted dozens of times, not only by yours truly…

Foreign investment rules, limitations and structuring? No. Too many re-stated statutes, rules and regulations to cite, and I’d rather just talk to people in person about the topic in any event.

Employment Law? Naturally, a topic always on the mind of Phuket business people, but also a topic full of legal jargon and jibberish.

How about legal liability relating to negligent road accidents, in particular accidents caused by “brake-failing” buses and the like? Bingo.

Certainly, the spate of recent well-publicised bus accidents on Patong Hill alone are a cause for serious concern and discussion in the whole of the Phuket community.

However, this serious, potentially life-threatening, issue does not seem to be limited solely to Patong Hill, or even Phuket for that matter.

As I write this article, I have read that yet again an inter-provincial bus located out of Ubon Ratchatani has slammed into a truck stopped in the middle of the road, causing yet another death and at least a dozen more injuries in Nakhon Rachasima. The bus is ostensibly owned by a ‘tour’ company, according to the report.

After the incredible success of the inaugural Kata Rocks Superyacht Rendezvous (KRSR), the 2017 KRSR returns from 8 to 10 December. International yachting giants are queuing up to support Asia’s leading superyacht event.

By invitation only, the Kata Rocks Superyacht Rendezvous is designed to bring like-minded people together from a personally curated guest list. It features Kata Rocks villa owners, superyacht owners, and discerning guests interested in yachting and luxury lifestyle, industry professionals plus an influential mix of international and regional lifestyle, luxury travel and yachting media.

This elegant location serves as an idyllic backdrop for a truly first class three-day programme. The event is open to both sailing and motor yachts measuring over 24 metres in length, visiting or based in Phuket – Southeast Asia’s leading luxury location and superyacht hot spot. The KRSR signals the opening of Phuket’s luxurious charter season offering superyacht owners a prime-time opportunity to showcase their flagship vessels.

Infinite Luxury, the resort developer in collaboration with Kata Rocks is very proud to again host the KRSR and bring back some of the world’s most iconic superyacht brands to Phuket.

Kata Rocks and Infinite Luxury CEO Richard Pope, said: “The KRSR is the most exclusive invitation-only superyacht event in Asia, welcoming superyacht owners, Kata Rocks villa owners and the Asian glitterati. Guests can expect magnificent superyachts, bespoke activities and glamorous parties set in a relaxed and luxurious environment.”

Beet microwave sponge cake
Ingredients

• 100g ground almonds
• 90g boiled beets
• 160g egg whites
• 100ml egg yolks
• 55g sugar
• 80g all-purpose flour

Method
Process all ingredients in a blender. Strain & pour in cream. Blend well & refrigerate for few hours. Make cuts in base of each plastic cup. Blend and fill 1/3 of plastic cup. Cook for 40 seconds in microwave; place cups upside down until cooled.

Beetroot jelly
Ingredients

• 600ml beetroot juice
• 4 sprigs thyme
• 10 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 5g sugar
• 15pcs gelatin leaves

Method
Add ingredients together & set aside in suitable tray and set. Cut in perfect cubes.

Beetroot Sorbet
Ingredients

• 10g liquorice powder
• 200g sugar
• 150ml water
• 320ml beetroot juice
• 60ml liquid glucose
• 25ml sherry vinegar
• 2 gelatin leaves

Method
Place sugar & water into a medium sized pan to make syrup. Remove from heat. Add sugar syrup to beetroot juice, sherry vinegar, liquorice & glucose. Soften gelatin by soaking in cold water, squeeze excess water & add to beetroot mix.

Sous vide endive
Ingredients

• 300ml orange juice
• 6 sprigs thyme
• 50ml grape seed oil
• 2 pcs crushed cardamom
• 1/2tsp crushed coriander seeds
• pinch salt

Method
Put endive flat in sous vide bag. Add the citrus liquor. Vac pack & cook at 80c until soft.

Famous for its Sino-Portuguese architecture, pastel shophouses with wooden shutters and local charm, the Old Town district also plays host to an eclectic mix of unique coffee shops that draw on the days of yesteryear, filledwith worn family heirlooms and antiques. Gathering inspiration from the traditional kopitiams of the region, Phuket Old Town's new breed of coffee shops are definitely worth exploring.

Coffee culture is no stranger to Southeast Asia, and simple coffee shops known as kopitiams are still alive and well in the region. A kopitiam is a traditional coffee shop that serves easy meals and beverages. Kopi is a Hokkien word for coffee and tiam is a Hokkien word for shop menu options often include a variety of coffees, teas and simple dishes such as eggs on toast. The coffee shops in the Old Town district have taken this tradition to heart and expanded upon it with an innovative twist.

Chances are that while exploring the Old Town district, you will need to stop at some point at a cafe to refuel. This is the perfect opportunity to explore Phuket's creative take on traditional kopitiams, while enjoying local desserts and coffee varieties.

Daily 6.30am-11pm Dinner 6-11pm

At 40 years old, and from a privileged Peranakan background, she would pass for 30 but even more astounding is that her metabolic age – an accurate gauge of physical wellbeing – is a staggeringly low 15 years.

She attributes much of this fitness to one of her less public passions - long-distance running. Phuket, with its triathlons, marathons, fun runs and trail runs, is a hub for these activities. Never one to shirk a challenge, Kiranee decided to embrace this arduous sport. With commendable marathons and ultra-marathon runs, she then graduated to even greater distances - completing 66km south-to-north and 100km circuit of the island. She has also tackled sections of the Great Wall of China, New York City Marathon, Vietnam Mountain 70km and Madrid 'Corre por Madrid 10,000'.

As if that's not enough, Kiranee is an enthusiast of 'trail running', where participants run and hike, usually off road, through natural terrain. Support comes from Kiranee's husband who, as a 'sky runner' confronts a different kind of challenge - in rarified Pyrenean airs and elsewhere. Running gives her, she says, an opportunity for meditation. It also means she can pass on her knowledge to other athletes via a few blogs aimed at the running community in Thailand.