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At 40 years old, and from a privileged Peranakan background, she would pass for 30 but even more astounding is that her metabolic age – an accurate gauge of physical wellbeing – is a staggeringly low 15 years.

She attributes much of this fitness to one of her less public passions - long-distance running. Phuket, with its triathlons, marathons, fun runs and trail runs, is a hub for these activities. Never one to shirk a challenge, Kiranee decided to embrace this arduous sport. With commendable marathons and ultra-marathon runs, she then graduated to even greater distances - completing 66km south-to-north and 100km circuit of the island. She has also tackled sections of the Great Wall of China, New York City Marathon, Vietnam Mountain 70km and Madrid 'Corre por Madrid 10,000'.

As if that's not enough, Kiranee is an enthusiast of 'trail running', where participants run and hike, usually off road, through natural terrain. Support comes from Kiranee's husband who, as a 'sky runner' confronts a different kind of challenge - in rarified Pyrenean airs and elsewhere. Running gives her, she says, an opportunity for meditation. It also means she can pass on her knowledge to other athletes via a few blogs aimed at the running community in Thailand.

Secluded, quiet and mellow, Koh Lanta is a breath of fresh air compared to the rest of the busy, party prone 'greater Phuket' area.

Pristine sandy beaches on the west coast, with tropical vegetation covering the relatively flat area of the island and the more mountainous tree hugging region to the south, the natural beauty of the island is mesmerising.

Couple it with the fact that the island is home to only a small year-round population, with an influx of visitors during high season from November to April, and the island is truly a Shangri-la for those seeking a place to chill.

Imagine you're a guest in a private home owned by a Thai aristocrat with royal connections and exquisite tastes in everything from fine wines and food to rare objets d'art. To complete the picture, the property nestles in a uniquely dramatic seaside location - amid landscaped tropical gardens, sculpted pools and koi carp ponds - perched on a rocky promontory above the Andaman Sea.

No idle pipe-dream this such a hideaway actually exists. Villa Royale was created by celebrated Thai artist and architect Mom Luang Tridothsyuth Devakul ('Mom Tri' to his friends), and a descendant of King Rama IV. Originally created as his summer residence - a single-storey thatched villa - it now offers, as the name implies, a 'truly royal experience' for those fortunate to enjoy its lavish and diverse charms. Unsurprisingly, Villa Royale has won many global awards as one of the world's leading small luxury hotels.

Villa Royale is small no more. Since its conception, it has been expanded to 42 suites in 12 distinctive styles. All boast spacious living areas, plus balconies and terraces which enable each and every guest to appreciate the panoramic views across Kata Noi Bay. The use of natural materials is in evidence everywhere: wood ceilings and floors, bamboo tiles and screens, rattan furniture. Outside, the terraces and linking pathways feature unglazed terracotta tiles inset with brown pebbles. The overall effect is one of mellow warmth.

Hurry to say the least
In a world where sound bites, short tweets, Facebook comments, We-Chat recorded voice instructions and emoticons are gradually permeating our lives both personal and professional at all levels, the basics of doing business can be forgotten. Using short form messages for all communications and business activities is also not advisable because – contrary to the principles of WhatsApp, Line, WeChat and Facebook Messenger – short and sweet is not always good.

The long con
Recently in the news there has been a spate of ‘scam’ or, to use the legal term, ‘fraud’-based activities relating to business dealings. One such scam comprised a business person who used a Facebook page to sell fairly inexpensive products to a group of people.
These products were reportedly marketed solely from the Facebook page and using Messenger. Following the build up of ‘trust’ by the purchasers of the products, the same business person then approached the group to ascertain if they would participate in a money lending scheme with attractive too-good-to-be-true terms. Having acquired their trust, the business person collected the monies, didn’t provide the returns, and simply disappeared.

The victims were unable to identify the con artist, as they had all been communicating via Facebook and message systems only. They had not collected specific identification documents or address information on the person, yet they had sent monies – in aggregate a significant amount – to that person.

Many con artists believe that what they do is not morally wrong, if people are greedy enough to make bad decisions...

The first successful project con
Many developers who build a successful real estate project should be respected and rewarded for having gone through a difficult set of challenges. Unfortunately, in many packs of apples, there may be a bad apple or two.

Some developers do not set out to scam their owners, but they become over-confident and over-extend themselves; then they may pass on their bad risk management decisions to buyers.
Many developers will set up their marketing on the basis of one completed project, which they will represent as ‘successful’. They may set up multiple similarly branded projects and then persuade buyers that they are ‘on a roll’.

They may even pay a contractor to start some foundation works, or for land clearance and superficial preparations to be made to their land to demonstrate that ‘works are underway’. Many times we have seen this model collapse, and expensive luxury-car-driving developers are suddenly humbled and must give up all control and assets to the bank that amazingly decided to lend them money for speculative sale projects.
This is of course at the worst end of a spectrum in which there are many successes but, nevertheless, this is a reality of the business environment and, wherever possible, must be avoided at all costs.

PHUKET, Thailand – The 12th Laguna Phuket Marathon welcomed almost 7,000 runners to the shores of Phuket for a record-breaking event. The sixth consecutive increase in participant turnout saw more than 50 countries taking part this year in what has become South East Asia’s leading destination marathon and Phuket’s largest annual sports event.

Organised by Go Adventure Asia and hosted by Laguna Phuket, the run course is famous for its beauty, taking runners along quiet lanes in the North of the island, through Sirinat National Park and along Bang Tao beachfront before returning to Laguna Phuket and the finish line.

Following the successful two-day format introduced last year, organisers again held the event over two days allowing them to provide the best possible course for runners and maximise the runner experience for all. More than 3,000 “sunset” runners competed in the afternoon of Saturday 3rd June in the 5km and 10.5km

Angel hair pasta with crab meat in besciamella black truffle and salmon caviar. Thin noodles with crab meat sauce and black truffle paired with salmon caviar.

Ingredients

• 80g prawns
• 60g crab meat
• crab shell (decoration)
• 50g besciamella (cream sauce)
• 15g fresh black truffle
• 10g Parmesan cheese
• 5g salmon caviar
• 5g olive oil
• 5g pepper
• 5g salt
• 5g butter
• 2g parsley
• 1g dill

Authentic Mediterranean method Italian style

Put angel hair pasta in hot water for about five minutes and remove when al dente. Cook crab meat with butter, salt and pepper. When the crab meat turns golden, add the besciamella cream sauce. Put the cooked angel hair pasta together with Parmesan cheese, then add fresh black truffle. Lastly, decorate with full crab shell, salmon caviar, dill and parsley.

For the bold family seeking extreme adventures, Phuket has a number of exciting choices to satisfy that adrenaline rush, including zip-line and canopy tours through the hillside jungles. Many of these tours are set up as team building eco-adventure activities. High above the trees, you can experience Phuket's natural scenery first hand and, if luck is on your side, come face to face with some of the island's native jungle species of lizards and birds.