Q: And before Phuket? I was a Structural and Marine Engineer. I grew up in Bristol in the West of England and later moved to London. I arrived in Phuket in 1984 on my yacht Buccabu, having sailed from England via the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and Sri Lanka. I went onto Australia, before returning to Phuket for good in 1986.

Q: What do you do? I got involved with organising with Phuket Kings Cup Regatta in the early days, and then other yachting events and the Phuket Boatshow in 2003. My main business now is the boatshow and doing marine surveys, marine consulting and regatta race management. I'm currently Chairman of the British Business Association (BBAP).

Q: And your private life? I've lived in Phuket now for 21 years. I'm pretty fluent in Thai. I've got two kids, one boy and one girl. The boy is 17 and the girl 11; they were both born here. If we have the spare time, we love to go to sailing together but we don't get much chance because they have their own busy lives. You don't have to be mega-rich to enjoy Phuket. I'm happy as long as I've got enough money to maintain my lifestyle and the spare time to enjoy it.

Q: What brought you to Phuket? I first came to Phuket in 1993, then left again in 1997. I went back to Australia to make my career, but came back again in 1999. I missed the sea and people I'd met here. I love Phuket's social scene and the easy way of life: few rules, plenty of sailing, great Thai people and a fascinating expat community. I can do whatever I want here; I even get to go dancing and do many things in Phuket, Susan explains.

Q: How did you start your business here? I started making pies for Ao Chalong Yacht Club in 2003 because there are so many Australians living down in Chalong and they missed their good old Aussie pies. After a while, I kept getting more and more orders from other people and suddenly I was in business. The business has grown a lot since then, and two weeks ago I got the Food and Drug Administration approval and trademark. It's all getting pretty serious now and I expect to start marketing my pies in Bangkok soon.

Q: And your private life? Actually, I approach everything with joy and with the idea of having fun-even my business. Apart from that, I love sailing and the social side of the boating scene. I love taking part in regattas, such as the King's Cup and Phuket Raceweek. I'm also very involved with the Ao Chalong Yacht Club and support them whenever I can-after all, the club was what got my business started.

Q: Have you always lived in Phuket? I'm an original Phuket resident but, after graduation, I worked for eight years in an expatriate company in Bangkok. Then, five years ago, I came back home to work with HÄFELE as the Phuket showroom manager.

Q: How do you approach your job? I believe that if we give our customers the best service possible, and do everything with quality in mind, they will be happy and will come back to us again. This is the most important aspect of doing business. Everything else is secondary.

Q: What do you think of Phuket today? Phuket is my home town but, if I compare it now with the past, it has changed dramatically. It's grown up so fast, maybe too fast. But Phuket is still the best place in the south of Thailand. It's like a regional hub with everything you could want for a great life.

Q: And your private life? I'm 36 years old and still not married. I'm a quiet person who enjoys going for a walk in the shopping mall-where I generally get stuck in the bookshop for at least an hour! Sometimes I play basketball and I like to spend time with my family, taking them to dinner or out doing something together that they might not otherwise do. That's how I spend my free time and I'm happy just the way I am. I wouldn't change anything about myself. My hero is my father; he is the example I look up to in both my work and general lifestyle. For me, my job is one of the most important things in my life.