In a hi-tech, no-gas age, your office and your house should have the same address

Working at home is an idea that GMM Grammy's executive vice president Nitipong "Dee" Honark has been advocating for nearly a decade. It's great for him, of course - he gets to be with his wife and their seven-year-old daughter all the time in their posh house in Nonthaburi.

But time and circumstances have certainly caught up with the idea. Technology has made working at home easier than ever, and rising fuel prices make it almost necessary.

"All you need                  is a mobile phone," Nitipong says. "Working at home gives you freedom - and you can have a meeting anywhere!"

Apart from outings with the family, work-related meetings are the only things that get him out of the house, and they only come up once a month.

"It's still too soon for Grammy to use teleconferencing," Nitipong says, "but lots of older people use e-mail now, and even if it's still unusual for people to work at home, it will be common by the time our kids are grown."

Most careers can be based at home now, he says, apart from service jobs like the police and people employed by workshops and factories.

He admits that bosses can't be sure their employees are actually working at home. Maybe they'll have to get their staff to install cameras on their computer monitors, he laughs.

His wife Rungrudee says Nitipong is nearly as keen on technology as he is on the family. His decision to work at home was based on their agreement to raise their daughter Peang-au completely by themselves, instead of relying on a nanny.

And, in a further snub to the wasteful automobile, they placed her in the best school they could find nearest to their house.

"We don't want to see our kid having breakfast in a car," Rungrudee says.