Pawoot Pongvitayapanu graduated with a bachelor's degree in architecture from Rangsit University and planned to become an architect. But good fortune enticed him down another road.

During his last semester of his studies, Pawoot read a small news story about a Thai student who was earning money by doing business over the Internet. It captured his imagination, and soon he was planning to set aside his education in architecture to become an online merchant instead.

He began to build up his own website - thaisecondhand.com - allowing Internet users to offer second-hand goods for sale, and the site soon gained in popularity.

"If you think of selling something you don't use, you think of thaisecondhand.com," he says, like a mantra.

Eight years have passed, and Pawoot, now 32, is well known as an Internet and e-commerce guru, the successful managing director of Tarad Dot Com, the owner of the two reputable and successful websites thaisecondhand.com and tarad.com.

These two websites have proven successful not only by surviving the "dot gone" demise of the dot.com industry, but also by attracting huge numbers of visitors and great revenues.

Today, the company enjoys rapid revenue growth, having achieved annual income of Bt10 million three years ago.

It is not easy to set up and run a business in Thailand that relies purely on online advertising, such as Pawoot's thaisecondhand.com.

"One hundred per cent of the revenues from thaisecondhand.com comes from advertising. Tarad.com's major revenues come from annual fees for online shops, advertising and, in some cases, transaction fees," says Pawoot.

Thaisecondhand.com is now the biggest domain for the online community searching for second-hand goods, while tarad.com is one of Thailand's largest e-marketplaces.

Thaisecondhand.com specialises in consumer-to-consumer e-commerce. It has more than 300,000 registered members and receives more than 800,000 visits a day.

More than 60,000 online shops offer at least 6,000 categories of goods and services on tarad.com.

Before the websites became the most popular destinations for hardcore Internet users, Pawoot, who was in his early 20s, spent his free time pursuing his favourite hobby: browsing through car bazaars and night markets, both of which traditionally offer lots of second-hand goods.

An idea formed in his mind: why not move these places, as well as all of their second-hand products, onto the Internet, so that - like he did - people could enjoy browsing through used stuff and, what's more, reach it easier.

A few days later, he and a friend set up thaisecondhand.com and then went round Bangkok sorting out the second-hand products the website would offer for sale. Most of the early products were computer accessories and appliances he located in Pantip Plaza.

"I had fun and was very happy every time these goods sold over the website. We were enthusiastic and gathered more second-hand products for our customers," recalls Pawoot.

The word passed round among Internet users, and thaisecondhand.com gradually became better known. The number of visitors and customers increased dramatically. But Pawoot was still doing it for fun. He and his friend invested their own money in each second-hand item sold on the website, and even though its popularity grew, its revenues were not spectacular.

Then in late 1999, Pawoot established his second website, tarad.com, and set up a company to operate both on a commercial basis.

"At that time, I had no experience and no business sense," Pawoot says. "So I decided to study for a master's degree in the Internet and e-commerce at Abac University. I was among the first generation of the course."

He studied and worked hard to bring both the business and its employees through the worldwide "dot gone" crisis, but he realised the company needed seed money to move forward.

Fortunately, the business was being watched by several venture-capital firms, and he was able to meet many prospective investors. Eventually, in 2002, Mono Technology, a venture-capital firm of the Jasmine Group, became a 30-per-cent stakeholder in the company.

Last year, he expanded operations with an online auction website, taradebid.com. Now, the three websites are attracting a total of 1.5 million visitors a month and have 1.6 million items in their database.

Pawoot says the company plans to achieve annual revenues of Bt100 million within the next two years. He plans to list Tarad Dot Com on the Market for Alternative Investment in 2009 and then expand the business to other countries.

His experience of the past decade has gained Pawoot a wide reputation. He is not only managing director of an e- commerce company with high potential, but also vice president of the Thai e-Commerce Association and a consultant for the Thai Webmasters' Association.

Asina Pornwasin

The Nation