Phuket, Thailand
Buyer's guide
What foreigners can actually own, what the yields really look like, and which side of the island suits which life.
The island, zone by zone
Phuket's most established international address, built around the Laguna estate — a former tin mine turned resort complex with hotels, an 18-hole golf course and a shared shuttle between them. Boat Avenue and Porto de Phuket give the area the best everyday amenity on the island: proper supermarkets, a Friday market, restaurants worth returning to. Stock runs from branded condominiums to large private villas set behind the lagoons. Resale is easier here than anywhere else on Phuket, because the rental audience already knows the name.
The northern end of Bang Tao bay, cut off by a headland and noticeably quieter than the estate below it. The beach sits at the southern boundary of Sirinat National Park, which limits what can be built behind it. Development is mostly hillside — plots with elevation and west-facing sea views, plus a small number of branded residences. Under twenty minutes to the airport and around five to Boat Avenue, so the quiet costs very little in convenience.
A working Thai village along a long, calm bay, with the Millionaire's Mile headland rising at its southern end — the run of cliffside estates that has produced some of the highest achieved prices per square metre on the island. Below the headland Kamala is more ordinary and more liveable: a beach road, local restaurants, a handful of beach clubs. Supply on the headland is thin and slow-moving, and much of it never reaches a public listing.
A short, steep-shelving beach between Bang Tao and Kamala, historically the island's most expensive stretch of sand and still its most discreet. The beachfront clubs were cleared in 2014 and never returned, leaving the bay considerably quieter than its reputation suggests. Inventory is small: a few low-rise condominium buildings and hillside villas on the roads climbing towards Laem Singh. Buyers here are generally trading convenience for privacy.
The south-west's classic holiday beaches, side by side below the Big Buddha ridge. Karon is the long, open strand; Kata is the smaller, prettier bay with a monsoon surf season, and Kata Noi the quiet cove beyond it. Hillside condominiums here trade on sea views across the bay, and holiday-rental demand is steady through the high season from an established tourist base, with Patong about 15 minutes over the hill. It's busier and more built-up than the north, and flat beachfront land is scarce — most new stock sits on the hillsides.
The southern tip, and the part of Phuket where people actually live year-round. Nai Harn is the beach and the lake behind it; Rawai is the working seafront, the longtail piers and the seafood strip. Land is materially cheaper than the west coast, the community is settled rather than seasonal, and several international schools are within a short drive. Holiday rental demand is lower here — this is a place to live in rather than primarily a place to let.
The eastern headland below Phuket Town, wrapping Chalong Bay and looking out towards Koh Lone and the islands beyond. Because it faces east, the water stays flat through the southwest monsoon when the west coast beaches are closed to swimming, and the views are sunrise rather than sunset. The cape holds a mix of hotel-serviced estates and older villas, along with a marina and a working deep-water port at its northern edge.
Marina country, and the departure point for Phang Nga Bay. Ao Po Grand Marina provides the island's principal deep-water berthing, which makes this the one part of Phuket where a berth and a house genuinely belong together. The water is flat all year. Waterfront land costs significantly less than the equivalent on the west coast, and the trade is distance — further from the beaches and the nightlife, closer to the bay and the islands.
The quiet north-west, where the beaches sit inside Sirinat National Park and the airport is minutes away. Nai Yang is a sheltered, tree-lined bay with a relaxed village strip; Mai Khao, running north from the runway, is the island's longest beach at around nine to ten kilometres. Because the shoreline is protected, building is set back from the sand and densities stay low, and most of the large resorts are hotel-run. Aircraft on approach are part of life at Nai Yang. Buyers come for space, quiet and a short run to the airport rather than nightlife.
A small, secluded bay between Nai Yang and Layan, also within Sirinat National Park. There is little on the beach itself beyond a few restaurants and hotels; most homes sit on the forested hillsides behind it, many with open views across the Andaman Sea. It is one of the quietest stretches of the west coast, yet the airport is close and Bang Tao and Laguna are a short drive south. Choice is limited and resales are infrequent, which suits buyers who put privacy ahead of convenience.
The historic heart of the island, inland in the north, with the rainforest hills of Khao Phra Thaeo behind it. It is the least developed part of Phuket that is still close to everything: the airport and the Bang Tao coast are both a short drive away. Land is cheaper and plots are larger than on the coast, which is why low-density villa estates and wellness communities have begun to appear here. Holiday-rental demand is thinner than by the beach, so buyers here are mostly after space, nature and value.
Inland between Phuket Town and the north of the island, and the part of Phuket built around family life rather than holidays. The British International School is here, as are the Boat Lagoon and Royal Phuket Marina, with Phuket Town's hospitals and shopping a short drive away. There is no beach, which keeps land materially cheaper than the west coast and allows larger plots. Demand comes mainly from residents — families, long-stay expats and boat owners — so this is a place to live in rather than primarily a place to let.
Ownership
Available on apartments only, within the 49% foreign quota of a registered condominium building. The cleanest form of ownership, held in your own name and freely resold.
Standard for villas: a registered 30-year lease with contractual renewals, typically 30+30 or 30+30+30. Registered at the Land Office and transferable with the property.
A Thai limited company holds the land and you hold the company. Legitimate when the company is genuinely trading and properly structured — and a liability when it is not.
Questions
Not directly. Land is held either through a registered long lease or a properly structured Thai company. Buildings, unlike land, can be owned outright in a foreign name — which is why villa transactions are usually split between a lease on the land and freehold on the house.
Across our managed portfolio, gross yields run 5% to 7.6% depending on location and management. Net returns land roughly 1.5 to 2 points lower after management, maintenance, utilities and tax. Anyone promising a guaranteed 10% is selling you the exit, not the asset.
Budget 3% to 6% of the price. Transfer fee is 2% of the appraised value, usually split, plus stamp duty or specific business tax, legal fees of ฿80,000 to ฿250,000, and company setup if applicable.
Daily letting requires a hotel licence. Some buildings and estates hold one; most villas do not, and enforcement has tightened since 2024. We tell you which of the two a property is before you make an offer.
Six to ten weeks from accepted offer to transfer, assuming clean title. Off-plan purchases follow the construction schedule with staged payments against certified progress.
