The internet took over
In 1997, I began studying Mathematics and Computer Science at university. At the same time, I worked in internet support, helping people get online through modem connections. The internet was new and exciting; the course was still quite binary. Before long, the work took over. Between support calls, I started writing HTML and building basic websites for my own clients.
In January 2000, I joined TV 2, the Danish television network, as a PHP developer. A year later I left for Thailand, planning to build websites to make the trip last longer. I dreamed of working from a laptop on tropical islands.
A restaurant on the beach
On Koh Samui, I became a regular at a beach restaurant owned by Paisit Kapilakan, known as Jod. He had studied design and web at Billy Blue in Sydney. We got talking, and in 2001 we started IT Graphix, a web and graphic design studio.
Through IT Graphix, we built websites for many of the island’s real estate agencies, dive schools, hotels, and other local businesses. I programmed and handled sales to the many expat clients; Jod worked with the Thai clients.
The villa idea that arrived early
One of our early clients was Marc Ribail, then general manager of Muang Kulaypan, a beach resort on Koh Samui. Around 2001 or 2002, he came to us with what seemed like a crazy idea: booking private holiday villas online. This was years before villa rentals became a familiar part of the large booking portals.
We built websites for several destinations, including Thailand-villas.com, which is still online today. What began as a client project grew into a business partnership and a friendship that continues.
From a web studio to publishing
Three years after starting IT Graphix, we started United Publishing. We printed and distributed dining and lifestyle guides for tourists. From 2006 to 2009, we also worked with Ink Publishing, selling advertising in Fah Thai, Bangkok Airways’ inflight magazine, and CNN Traveller.
The two businesses grew from Jod and me to 18 people. I preferred working on the projects to managing the company. Through the work I met hotel managers, chefs, business owners, and colleagues from many countries. The expat community on Samui was close, and several of the people I worked with became friends.
That was also where I met Gregers Møller of ScandAsia. We became good friends, and I still help him with his websites when needed.
Choosing the project work
In 2009, my priorities changed. I had met the woman I wanted to marry, and I no longer wanted a working week built around finding customers, sales calls, and meetings. I wanted quieter work that I could do from home.
Jod and I divided the company. He took over the printing and tourist-guide business, while I took IT Graphix’s share of the villa-rental work and partnered directly with Marc. Jod and I remain good friends and still work together when a project brings us together.
My wife and I spent two years in Hua Hin and later lived in Bangkok, Chaiyaphum, and Bangkok again. Because I worked from home, I could continue the development work from each place.
Klik.villas, Rentivo, and remote work
Marc and I expanded the villa-rental business, and in 2011 we developed Klik.villas. I handled the technical development; Marc brought his experience of hotels and villa rentals. The system connected reservations, accounting, maintenance, and booking channels. Gregers later wrote about it in ScandAsia.
In 2016, we merged with Rentivo, a company in Devon. I continued the same development work from Denmark, while Marc worked from Barcelona and the rest of the team from Torquay. We worked that way until the companies were sold in 2022.
Back in Denmark
My wife and I moved to Denmark in 2016, and our daughter was born in 2018. One reason I keep building WhyBangkok.com is the hope that it can become something my daughter and I develop together as she grows older—and perhaps one day a source of income for her.
Webstudiet brings me back to the kind of work I have always liked best: understanding a real problem and building the solution. It is a one-person business. You talk to me, and I do the work.
You can read about the work I can help with, how we work together remotely, and my thinking in the articles and technical guides. You can also find me on LinkedIn.
The travelling I still want to do
Fifteen years in Thailand did not get travel out of my system. I would still like to spend long stretches in places I do not know yet — not racing through countries with a laptop, but staying somewhere for weeks or months, finding a desk and a routine, and letting the exploring happen around an ordinary working week. A workday that ends in a neighbourhood I have never walked through appeals to me more than a short holiday that tries to cover everything.
It is an ambition rather than a plan. With a young daughter and a life in Denmark, it is not the next thing that happens. But it is one reason I care about the unglamorous side of remote work: version control, written decisions, notes another person can follow. Those are what decide whether work can travel at all.
Away from the keyboard
I support Randers FC. My music jumps from The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Aerosmith to Kim Larsen, Eminem, MC Einar, and Østkyst Hustlers. Hotel California is one of the songs I always return to.
I also have a soft spot for talent shows on YouTube. I like seeing unknown people get the chance to show what they can do—and sometimes make it.
Tell me what needs doing
If you have a website or web system that needs attention, or an idea for something new, send me the URL and tell me what you need. I will reply personally.