Soi Bangla, they say, is not for the weak. Certainly, not many men can go in there and emerge richer.

Meet Bryan Lunt, Chairman of the Absolute Group of companies. While Bangla has most other people on Phuket in a quandary, carefully contemplating how best to live with it, Bryan focused on how to live in it.

And so the Absolute group boldly went where so many men have gone before, and built what nobody expected, Bangla Suites. A state-of-the-art, modern, luxury condominium property with the works. Roof top pools, ultra-luxuriously fitted units and not to forget, a helipad.

Right in the middle of Patong.

Incredible? Yes. Crazy? No. Genius is more like it. With 71% of the property already sold, the Absolute Group is laughing all the way from Bangla.

“There is a lot of money in Soi Bangla, you know, despite appearances. A lot of the people who go there are very, very rich. Most of them prefer to go out incognito, you won't find them sporting their Gucci watches and Versace gear,” Bryan smiles impishly. “I wonder why.”

“And oddly enough,” he confides, still smiling serenely, “most of our buyers are male. Very peculiar.”

Bryan was never in doubt about this particular investment. Whatever anyone says about Patong and Soi Bangla, he points out, this is where everybody wants to be. “It's fun, it's vibrant, the beach is right there, people want to live there. What we did is offer them a great place to live.”

It doesn't stop there. Plans are afoot for a 5 star Love Café, you guessed it, right on Soi Bangla. A classy, club-style café like no other in the neighbourhood.

Singular as Bryan's plans for Bangla are, they are by no means all he has in mind for Phuket. A charity golf mega-event is being planned for the next year.

Bryan, himself a bright red from a half-day's golfing at the Red Mountain golf course, is all abuzz about the event planned for April next year. “We're just in the middle of planning the nitty-gritties,” he tells us. “The plan is to have about 18 masters of the game, and golf enthusiasts will pay for slots of opportunity to play with the stars.”

We are meeting at Bryan's office at the Absolute Sea Pearl hotel, located along Patong beach, a large section of which is run under time-share management.

Just outside Bryan's room, there is a multi-linguistic buzz in the air as French, German, Scandinavian speaking employees speak to various potential buyers from around the globe. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly, the clients seem comfortable and at ease...indeed time-share today is as main-stream a tourism business as any other.

Bryan himself is a devout believer in the concept. “As a family man,” he says, “when I travel, a hotel is simply not convenient. I need things like a extra bedrooms, a living space, a kitchen, so that we can live comfortably and have all the comforts of home.”

“Time share is a great way to keep tourists coming back to Phuket. And a great way to ensure their loyalty to the resort, as well. When they return home from a holiday, and their friends ask them where they went, it's a good feeling to say 'oh, to this little place we have in back in Thailand'. That's pride of ownership, and what's more, it prompts them to promote this destination as well.” Bryan points out, “this is why time-share units are always running to full-capacity, and it's why major hotels are turning to time-share, they want their hotels to be full, all the time.”

And so the stage is set for the introduction on Phuket of the time-share resort, and once again, Absolute will do it in style. The Absolute Sea Pearl Villas & Spa Resort, the first-ever David Lloyd venture in Thailand will be a sprawling magnum opus of a resort just outside of Patong.

The date for the ground breaking has just been announced, and Niran Kalayanamit, Phuket Governor and Air Chief Marshall Kongsak Vantana – the former Interior Minister – will attend the ceremony to be held on December 13 at the project location – on the hill going into Patong.

“We were initially thinking of a set of high-standard villas,” reveals Bryan, “but in the light of the current property scenario, and the particular need for varieties in accommodation we decided on a modern network of different sized units, with a whole gamut of amenities. Studios with plunge pools, one and two bedroom condos with their own pools, a whole range of ownership options, of course, very, very high-end.”

A twist in the time-share philosophy is planned, with fractional rather than shared ownership, where buyers can own homes for a particular period of time. “Say, if I holiday for two months...January and December, I could own my place for that fixed length of time, not a few floating weeks I need to reserve. This means the buyers will own that apartment those months, every year, and can do with it what they choose, holiday themselves, or give it to a friend, or rent it out.”

“They can leave their stuff behind, at the end of a holiday, and a butler service will store it. When they come back the next year, or whenever, they have their home as they left it, with all their belongings,” explains Bryan. “Multiple owners will make it easier to invest, and a much less risky proposition.”

Bryan has absolute faith in the investment potential of Phuket, and its ability to keep attracting tourists. “It's the Thai people,” he says. “They are what makes the difference. Whatever else happens, the tourists always know that when they come here, they will see smiling, happy people, warm, friendly and eager to help. It's the edge Thailand has over the rest of the world.”

It's what keeps Bryan coming back. Although home is most definitely in Honk Kong, with his wife and two children. “It's a fantastic place to live, and a great place for education,” says the family man.

“My daughter already speaks four languages,” he beams proudly. “English, Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese. It's fabulous to watch her switch between them with so much ease.”

So Bryan is happy jetting into Thailand and Phuket every so often. And his plans for the region show no signs of being reigned in yet. Having launched the lifestyle magazine Absolute Phuket just a few months ago, Absolute Samui is to follow soon, and in time, the magazines will combine to create Absolute Thai.

No hurry though.

“Have to learn to walk before we run,” grins Bryan

Absolutely.