Berlin - The world recession has not undercut one of Thailand's most unusual exports, equipment for young magicians, according to the manufacturer speaking after a leading international toy fair in Germany.

Over six days to February 10, world toy makers displayed their products to trade buyers at the Nuremberg Toy Fair.

Jack Monshouwer, a veteran participant at the annual expo, said Thursday he had had "very good sales" and had even been surprised that trade customers had asked for immediate delivery after the fair, rather than to wait four to six months.

The 69-year-old Dutch businessman heads Hanky Panky Toys, which was founded in 1961 in the Netherlands and moved to Thailand in 1998.

A small company with annual sales under 25 million dollars, it produces boxed sets of magic tricks that enable young conjurers to pull plush rabbits out of top hats, do rope tricks, read minds and make balls disappear.

All the tricks are clever illusions. A few require containers with secret compartments, but often it is enough to have the right props to distract or fool an audience. The golden rule of "magic" is never to reveal how the tricks work.

At the Toy Fair in Nuremberg in southern Germany, a top-line magician demonstrated the tricks, but with some practice, most children can learn sleight of hand.

"Children always like to amaze their friends," Monshouwer explained. "They like to say, 'I can do something you can't do.'

Every child should have a magic box," he said, adding that many famed performers today got their start with Hanky Panky magic sets as children.

This week, he was back in Thailand, where he has built his headquarters at Amphur Banglamung, near the coast, 200 kilometres south-east of Bangkok and 25 kilometres from Pattaya. He employs 200 people.

Speaking by phone, he said he had noticed there were fewer US customers at the Toy Fair, but sales had held up otherwise. About 40 per cent of Hanky Panky exports go to Europe and 20 per cent to the United States.

The final quarter of last year had been "less busy than usual."

He said the demands at the Toy Fair for early delivery indicated to him that some customers had now run out of stock.

The company moved to Thailand from the previous Hanky Panky site on the Spanish island of Tenerife.

"In Thailand, if there is a container to get ready, we work until it is done," he said. All the staff other than his two sons, one daughter and one designer from the Netherlands are Thai.

Monshouwer said Hanky Panky takes care of its staff and assists the local Thai community.

"There is nothing we buy in ready-made," said Monshouwer: the factory moulds its own plastic parts and even has a printing shop making packaging in 30 languages. He prefers it that way as he needs the flexibility to make new products at a few days' notice.

While illusions are an established part of western childhood, "magic" tricks have a universal appeal, he said. The main obstacle to expanding sales in many Asian nations was the lack of a tight web of wholesalers and specialized retailers.

The company name, Hanky Panky, surprises some English speakers.

It usually means childish mischief, but is often used in the media as a euphemism for sexual escapades. The company has had to adopt a slogan to make its corporate purpose clearer: "Hanky Panky. It's Magic".

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