Spinning a complex web

Warun Pirojangsuthorn started using the computer and Internet when he was a first-year university student while Thai students start surfing the Web in kindergarten. That means it takes hard work and smarts to be a successful webmaster like Warun, 28, who designs and programs Pratoo.com.

Webmasters oversee the entire website. They're responsible for content and design, and sometimes even marketing. And if there are communities within the website, the webmasters must manage the people in the communities.

Warun's tasks at Pratoo.com include programming, designing, writing and editing content and also doing its marketing. Pratoo is dedicated to music and literature.

"The webmaster has to shoulder many responsibilities," Warun says. "If he's managing a music website, he might have to go to concerts and push through thousands of people to get to the stage to shoot photos for uploading onto the website."

Warun who owns Pratoo.com designs everything in the website. He started from scratch and developed a small music and writing community. The website has grown in popularity, which means that Warun has to oversee more content, including photos, and be responsible for the increased number of visitors. Pratoo gets 2,000 of hits daily and there are more than 10,000 registration members.

Nearly 80 per cent of websites die within two to three years. Pratoo.com running for seven years.

"Websites survive by selling advertising. Their rates are dependent on the number of visitors to the site. So, webmasters must concentrate on marketing if they want their websites to survive," Warun says.

But for Pratoo.com, Warun does not care much about the number of visitors and advertising sales. He chooses to do marketing by starting a course to train anyone who want to become a webmaster and organise activities such as such as inviting web members to make handmade books or holding mini concerts and other activities in Pratoo Club.

Warun says webmasters often carry notebook computers so they can work anyway. Their job is far from a 9-to-5 drudgery, although many work just eight or nine hours a day.

In addition to Pratoo.com, Warun freelances creating websites for companies. He's the webmaster at Click Radio, the broadcasting company, and is responsible for its contents, look, and programming at www.thisisclick.com.

Webmasters at large websites, such as sanook.com, kapook.com and pantip.com, often specialise in just one area: content, design, programming or marketing.

Freelance webmasters must have a thorough knowledge of the business. "We must speak knowledgeably to our customers about positioning and the website's target group, and must keep a strict watch on content and serve their needs," he says.

Most webmasters prefer freelance work because it earns more money. A webmaster working on staff might earn Bt15,000-Bt30,000 a month, while freelancers earn about Bt10,000-Bt30,000 per job and they get a few job in a month.

The best way to break into the business is to create your own website, Warun says.

"It might be a website dedicated to music, teenagers, books or anything you're interested in," Warun says. "Setting it up and managing it will teach you to solve problems and give you valuable experience. Companies looking for webmasters will judge you from that experience and not your profile."

By Suwicha Chanitnun

The Nation