Lahiri came back strongly with an eagle on the 15th and a birdie on the 18th to pull himself.

Himmat had three birdies, one bogey and one double in his 71.

Lee, who was born deaf, renewed his love-affair with the challenging course, nicknamed the Beast of Samui, by setting the pace in the morning with eight birdies against two bogeys.

Kiradech's compatriot Chinnarat Phadungsil, a two-time Asian Tour winner and still only 20, kept up the Thai assault with an equally impressive 66 for joint second place with Chinese Taipei's Sung Mao-chang and South African Jbe Kruger.

Last week's Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters winner, Rick Kulacz of Australia, maintained his solid form, producing a 68 which left him three off the pace with amongst others, Mars Pucay of the Philippines, England's Steven Tiley and Japan's Yoshinobu Tsukada.