You've got to hand it to some of the timeshare boys and girls, they do have nerve. One of their favourite scams, popular in the Canary Islands and other hot timeshare territories - and not unknown in Thailand - is to approach a couple on the street or the beach and say they're doing a survey for, say, the national tourist organization and would they mind answering a few questions. The "lucky couple" is then told they've won a prize that has to be picked up at some resort or hotel. The fish is hooked. It's pulled in with a high-pressure sales pitch that might or might not include dubious intimidation techniques.

"Seven out of ten times I would get them to sign a contract and take their credit card," brags a former successful timeshare salesman with long experience in Thailand, talking about his success with UPs (timeshare jargon for unsolicited prospects - "potential customers" to you and me). "A salesperson can make 1,000, 1,500 or 2,000 dollars in three or four hours, so he tends to paint the picture a bit rosier than what it is."

Adding further insight into some timeshare sales techniques, he continues: "There are lots of different ways that you can put pressure on people, especially husbands and wives. It's very, very easy to turn one against the other. One wants it and one doesn't, and you just play on that. Lots of different things that you can do which are unethical selling."

But don't let these things put you off, dear reader, if you have any intention of buying a timeshare. The good news is that timeshare is cleaning up its act, getting itself a better image and providing a better product to offer its UPs. Though some of the more shady operators may still use the tactics that have given the business a bad name, big players such as Hilton, Hyatt, Four Seasons and Marriott have now entered the field, and they can't afford to be tarred with the same brush.

This 7 billion dollar industry, reportedly the fastest growing sector of the travel and tourist market, is coming of age: it's become more flexible and more reliable; it offers higher standards of accommodation, and there are good deals to be had for the customer who wants security, reliability and value for future holidays. Having a week's timeshare on Phuket, for example, with options to use that time at other resorts all over the world for the rest of your lifetime and for the next generation, can give a family something to be proud of. It's a bit like owning a nice car.

On Phuket, the newest big player in the timeshare game is the Marriott Phuket Beach Club, which was launched at the beginning of this year and is part of Marriott Vacation Club International. With some 5,000 villas and 200,000 owners, MVCI is recognized as one of the world leaders in the Vacation Ownership industry. Adjacent to their new JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa on Mai Khao Beach, the longest and emptiest beach on the island, the Beach Club has 144 top-of-the-range two-bedroom, two-bathroom villas, each of them 119 square metres, decorated, furnished and equipped in exquisite style. Each comes with a private balcony and a great view.

You can buy an annual week's holiday for 80 years at one of these superb villas for around US$16,800, which works out at $210 per year, or $30 per night (not including management fee). Considering how much inflation will bring down the value of those dollars in the future, it seems a good deal. Dutchman Jan Heesbeen, the Vacation Club's regional director of marketing, has worked for Marriott for 18 years. He says his company has major advantages for the consumer over some other timeshare operators: "With Marriott, we invest, we develop, we sell and we manage. So we can't over-promise, we can't under-deliver. And we have to protect the good name of the Marriott, which means we can't make mistakes. The same customer also might use us for his or her business travel. So if we foul up one, we foul up the other."

Greater flexibility of timeshare programmes is a trend throughout the industry, though Marriott takes this one step further than most other operators do. "Every other year," says Heesbeen, "you can exchange your time for Marriott Reward Points that you can use for car rentals, Marriott hotel stays, cruises, airline tickets, and so on. And you can change your time to another season either at your home resort or another MVCI resort worldwide (currently 52 resorts in 29 destinations) or exchange for one of over 1,900 resorts handled by Interval International Resorts."

Persuasive stuff! Not surprisingly Marriott is already exceeding its sales targets for their new Phuket Beach Club.

Product flexibility is a strong selling point for the Allamanda Vacation Club at the Laguna Resort, another of Phuket's big timeshare players. Opened in 1998, the Club sells memberships that entitle participants to annual vacations in the self-contained suites of the Allamanda Laguna Phuket, the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket, and Angsana Resort & Spa Bintan, 45 minutes by ferry from Singapore. In addition, the Club has reciprocal arrangements with RCI, the world's biggest timeshare exchange company, enabling members to stay at 3,500 resorts in 90 countries.

Location, of course, is a vital key in any timeshare purchase consideration. The better the location of your home resort, the greater your power of exchange.

But no matter how good the resort might be, a week's timeshare in an unattractive destination will not exchange with a week at the Marriott Phuket Beach Club or the Allamanda Vacation Club.

Location within the destination itself is also of major importance. While some customers may enjoy the facilities of the Laguna or the Marriott, others might prefer to be nearer the action in Patong, with its multitude of bars and restaurants. Trading on this location, two operators offer good timeshare opportunities in the heart of the town. Quality Vacation Club, based at the Andaman Beach Resort, offers luxury two-bedroom suites with excellent facilities for US$12,500 for 30 years, with options on a three-year "trial period" at US$2,500 and an every-other-year plan at 60 percent of the full price. The company also offers full 30-year membership for a studio apartment at US$8,950, taking advantage of the growing market for couples without children and singles, both male and female. The Club also has facilities for members in Bangkok as well as exchange arrangements.

Benefiting from a similar location, Club Tara at Tara Patong Beach Resort offers a large two-bedroom, poolside suite sleeping six (two on a sofa bed in the living room) for 30 years at US$10,450. This doesn't include an annual activation fee of $249, which is credited if you don't take a holiday in a particular year. Club Tara also has an innovative scheme whereby members can take any number of their 10-, 20- or 30-year timeshare weeks in any one year. In theory, you could buy a 30-year timeshare and use it all in the first year.

Although Phuket has good, increasingly flexible timeshare product on the market, James R. Batt, Joint Managing Director of Laguna Resorts and Hotels, believes that it's high time for radical improvements in the way that product is sold. In some countries, the UK and Australia for example, customers are given a 14-day cooling-off period during which they can reverse any decision that they might have made - under pressure, perhaps - to buy a timeshare. No such regulation currently applies in Thailand, though government laws have been drafted to bring in a seven-day cooling-off period. Batt also believes that OPCing (on-pavement canvassing) should be regulated to protect tourists from timeshare touts on the streets. Sales execs from the Allamanda Vacation Club are limited to soliciting business from guests staying at the resorts.

At the end of the day, as timeshare people like to say, the decision on whether to buy or not to buy is up to the UP. And no amount of regulation will stop the sophisticated high-pressure sales techniques for which the industry is so well known. So if you do find yourself at a timeshare presentation, and you are being persuaded to buy almost against your will, as sometimes happens, remind yourself of the following:

ท The timeshare salesperson could be getting something like a 50 percent commission. In Australia, they're required to declare their commission. In Thailand, they are not.

ท If you want to sell your timeshare at any time in the future you may find it difficult to find a buyer, and, if you do, you can expect to get only about 40 percent of what you paid for it. This said, however, Marriott re-sales are reportedly holding their value. Check the re-sale market on the Internet before you buy.

ท Annual maintenance or management fees will go up rather than down.

ท In many companies, if you fail to pay the annual fee you may lose your timeshare.

ท You might have to pay membership fees to an exchange organization without credit for years, even though you may not wish to exchange.

ท Timeshare people are often reluctant to show you a contract before you agree to buy. Insist that they do so before agreeing to anything.

Although the mantra for anyone contemplating buying timeshare should be "Buyer beware", you should also remember that there is a lot of good timeshare product on the market and millions of satisfied owners throughout the world.

True, timeshare vacations are not for everyone. Even if you buy with the intention of swapping your timeshare rights around the world (a big selling point), timesharing won't appeal to you if you like to camp in the jungle one year, stay at a castle the next year and take a camper van through Europe the year after that.

Timeshare is for people who want to be sure that they get quality and comfort when they go on holiday - and who want to be sure that they do go on holiday every year.