PHUKET: Is time up for Phuket's time share touts? A committee made up of Phuket groups with an interest in resolving the time share touting issue appeared to play for a little more time today.

Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosutthirak said the committee's next move would be onto the streets of Patong and Karon to see for themselves how the touts operate. Complaints from tourists via honorary consuls and embasies continued to mount, he was told.

The vice governor waved photographs taken of Phuket touts in operation, but moves to restrict or curtail operators still seem to be in the future. The touts appear to be buying time.

However, what was revealed today in a meeting at Provincial Hall in Phuket City provided a more comprehensive picture of the size and scale of Phuket's large time share industry.

The meeting heard that there were 143 companies with 641 work permits issued for expats in the Phuket business. An unstated number of Thais are also employed.

Office of Labor Director Noppadol Ploy-Audee said that ''two or three'' of those companies had applied to be permitted to work outside offices.

He said he had granted permission, ''thinking that they were talking about sales booths, not touting or harassing tourists.''

Vice-Governor Somkiet said that in future, all permissions needed to be approved by Provincial Hall in Phuket City.

''If you give these people work permits and the mayors of Patong or Karon have them arrested, it's not wonder these people are confused,'' he said.

Fines of 2000 baht for individuals or 20,000 baht for companies were not sufficient to stop abuses, the meeting heard.

Fees paid from overseas by ''members'' could be difficult to trace within Thailand.

According to Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukban, there could be as many as 10,000 ''members'' with the industry perhaps worth one billion baht a year, and touts happy to pay 2000 baht fines because they earned as much as 100,000 baht commission on large sales.

For some tourists, the process of harassment began with a woman in a traditional long sashed Thai dress at Phuket International Airport, taking details ''on behalf of the TAT,'' then followed up with constant annoying phone calls to the visitor's resort room.

Victims mostly flew home before giving police or Tourist Police information about their harrangers. But a statement could be taken from an angry tourist by either group and used in evidence in court at a later date without the tourist needing to be present, today's meeting heard.

Khun Chairat said there were three kinds of Phuket time share businesses:

..The genuine and legal kind, typified by JW Marriott (and other well-known brands associated with quality resorts, none of which employ trouts);

..The companies that did not have resorts but rented space - perhaps 10 rooms or 20 rooms - for two or three years, but who sold holiday memberships for as long as 10 years;

..The companies that pretend to have a resort and sell, sell, sell space in the resort. When discovered, they simply close the company and do it all again under another company name.

Today's second meeting of the special Phuket time share committee followed an earlier gathering on May 24. A series of meetings is being held to deal with all problems associated with rip-offs of tourists on Phuket.