Like many other office workers, Nils Wright, executive editor of Providence Publications, starts his daily routine with a staff conference. Later, he calls his sources of information for the four newsletters that the company issues, and when the writing and editing is complete, he can relax.

However, unlike other office workers, he does it all from home, just a few metres from where his two-year-old son Mick and his nanny are playing with a train set, through the open door of the living room. Moreover, his house on Ram-Indra Road in Bangkok is thousands of miles from Providence Publications' head office in California.

Wright is one of a growing number of people for whom "the office" can be literally anywhere in the world and whose lifestyle is built upon the advanced technology of the Internet and Internet-protocol phones.

"It's kind of funny," he says. "When I was in the US, I also worked at home and usually went to Starbucks. Here, it's the same. Whether at home or at Starbucks, I can use the Internet to work."

Earlier, Wright worked as a rewriter for the same company, but says he would not have accepted the long-distance job without an Internet-based phone service that provides his Bangkok home with a California phone number at a fixed cost of US$25 (Bt865) per month.

He has found the job perfect for a father who wants to spend more time with his son, and who wants to save money for the boy's education in case he and his family decide not to move to the US.

When contemplating the trans-Pacific job, Wright knew that he would have to sacrifice something. He now has to live with a 14-hour time difference, getting up at 3am or 4am to begin work when others in the house are asleep.

He also feels detached, and admits that the hardest part is not being in California - especially when the newsletters that he edits demand an annual subscription of about $400 for material that readers can't find in newspapers.

"Discipline is the key when you're working at home," he says. "There is nobody working nearby. You need focus. Moreover, Mick is around and it took some time for him to learn the boundaries."

These days, Mick knows that when Dad wears a hat, Dad is working and cannot play with him.

Wright also misses the office environment and somebody to joke with.

"That's the part I miss the most," he says, adding that one good thing about working from home is not having to face Bangkok's daily traffic jams on his way to the office.

He points out that working at home can be stressful, despite ample time with his family. He feels the need to get out of the house occasionally for a walk, a game of golf, or for a cup of coffee at his "second office" - the nearby Starbucks branch.

All things considered, it is worthwhile. "Before, when I left home for work and waved goodbye, my son didn't care. Now, he's more attached to me than to his mother." And Wright thinks he can work at home for four or five more years. "It's OK as long as I can get out, to play golf. I can handle it for some time."

Steve, who asked to remain anonymous, is another person who works at home, for an information-security company based in Singapore and covering the whole Asia-Pacific area.

As a security consultant, he worked in Singapore for three years before he figured out how he could live in Phuket and work remotely. His job involves security assessments of IT systems, such as penetration testing, as well as custom-software development, so he is required to be at a customer's location for each project kick-off and once again for project sign-off and final presentation.

"Other team members are scattered throughout the Asia-Pacific region, so working remotely is almost the same challenge as working in the office in Singapore," he says. "If I get antsy working at home for a long stretch, a business trip usually comes up and after that I'm really happy to be back home again."

He admits that working at home was a bumpy road at the beginning because he lives with his wife and two children and establishing boundaries and ground rules took some time. But once that was done things became relatively easy. He very rarely needs to close the door of his home office and hang up the "do not disturb" sign.

"I have wireless throughout the house and at all times I carry a pair of high-quality earplugs," he says. "So I can zap them into my ears, tune out the surrounding physical world, open up my laptop and be working in cyberspace in a snap."

He finds that since he began "teleworking", his productivity has gone up at least 50 per cent. There's no travel time to and from the office and his time isn't wasted by people dropping by his office cubicle to chat.

Importantly, he does not need to worry about how he dresses.

However, he has had to overcome some infrastructural problems. To counter occasional electricity blackouts he has a backup power supply and, because Internet connectivity is far from optimal, he has an ADSL line, a 3G card which he uses if he wants to work from another location on the island, and a couple of favourite Internet cafes. Also, since computer repair facilities on Phuket aren't very good, he has two laptops and a desktop PC. He makes frequent backups and if his primary laptop goes down he can switch to a backup and get the laptop repaired the next time he is in Bangkok or Singapore.

Steve's lifestyle is an answer to a 15-year-old dream to settle in Phuket, close to the beach.

"I live in Phuket Town, on the east side of the island, so I'm 'over the hill' and away from the tourist areas. The airport is 20 minutes away, with lots of flights to choose from because of the budget carriers and because Phuket is centrally located between Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, where most of my customers are.

"To start my working day, I fire up the machines in my home office, open the back door and go out on the porch, smell the flowers, check out the butterflies, birds, palm trees and other beautiful scenery - then I'm ready to work. And I'm with my wife and I get to watch my kids grow up. Not too bad."

Noi, who also asked that her identity not be revealed, is another person who works at home for an overseas-based publication. She has maximised her use of broadband Internet access and an Internet phone to support her work, whether sending articles to the overseas office or communicating with colleagues.

The young mother of one child has been working from home for just a few months. She says she wanted to change her lifestyle, which earlier demanded that she drive around 40km to the office every day and spend most of her time there.

"I like this method of working [at home] very much. It's a new experience," she says enthusiastically, adding that she doesn't stay home every day. She has to go out to interview people, and then writes her articles at home, delivering them by Internet to her overseas office.

Like the other home workers, she says the job demands self-discipline.

"If you can't manage your time, you'll end up with a huge workload and miss the deadline," she says. And that is the real nightmare for those who want to work in a peaceful place like home.

Achara Deboonme,

Sirivish Toomgum

The Nation