JACK Tan is excited about the prospect of exterminating thousands if not

millions of termites, cockroaches, rats, flying ants or any other kind of bug

that give human beings headaches and may even cause your house to

collapse.

Sitting in his office surrounded by electric mosquito zappers,

boxes of rat bait and cans of SNIP-brand termite poison, Tan exudes a heady

optimism about the prospects for Pestbusters, a joint venture bug exterminating

company recently established in Phnom Penh by Continental Indochine and

Pestbusters of Singapore.

"Just about every house in Phnom Penh has

termites," said Tan. "Its a big problem."

Tan explains how termites

infect wooden structures and can literally destroy a building or wooden

furniture. He says that with a treatment by Pestbusters any structure is

guaranteed termite-free for five years, and to insure this the firm will

re-visit the site annually.

To deal with pesky rodents, Tan displays a

piece of rat bait which he says "is more like a chocolate." He says that the

poison takes about two or three days before killing a rat or a mouse and that

the animal will most likely die outside of your house. He also says that his

staff knows how to place the poison so that it is not eaten by children or

domestic pets.

Tan, who was born in Battambang, fled the Khmer Rouge in

the late 70s and spent the last 14 years in the US. He says that his training in

management there will help insure that Pestbusters maintains the highest

professional standards.

"We believe in customer satisfaction," says Tan.

"We are not arrogant people and we believe that the customer is always right."

He says that his firm will maintain the most stringent environmental standards

and that all poisons will be handled with extreme care.

"Cambodia is my

country," says Tan. "I want land for my family in the future. I think about the

long-term and we want to make sure lives are safe for the future."