Top 5 luxury villas in Phuket and Koh Samui for your next holiday

Ask people to name the most beautiful places in Thailand, and you'll often hear Phuket and Koh Samui being mentioned. Who would disagree? One is renowned for its bustling nightlife, vibrant culture, and lively beach scene, while the other is famed for its calm waters,...

4 days ago

Property Videos

  • Hot hotel trends – Branded residences

    Hot hotel trends – Branded residences

    by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com Asia’s property developers are jumping into bed with hotel groups as branded residences flourish. Southeast Asia’s real estate love affair between property developers and hotel brands is morphing into a feeding frenzy. With nearly 100 mainstream hotel residence projects and over 21,000 units completed, the next three years is set …

  • Punching above its weight – Rayong, Thailand

    Punching above its weight – Rayong, Thailand

    Singapore has been crowned as the Asia-Pacific city of the future by the Financial Times. The city/state was able to attract the largest share of investment in the region in the period 2012 – 2016, putting on top of the Economic Potential category. Asia-Pacific Cities of the Future, by Economic Potential: 1. Singapore 2. Tokyo 3. …

  • Ao Sane and Nakkerd Mountain under DSI investigation for encroachment

    Ao Sane and Nakkerd Mountain under DSI investigation for encroachment

    The DSI deputy director-general, Pol Lt Col Prawut Wongsinil, along with his DSI team, Forestry officers and local authorities, visited two alleged encroached land plots including at Ao Sane Beach (Baan Laem Krating) near Nai Harn beach and Nakkerd Mountain in Karon. The first spot visited was Nakkerd Mountain following complaints about an illegal land …

  • Should you pay more for a sea view?

    Should you pay more for a sea view?

    While Phuket is an island, most property buyers are led to believe that sea views or proximity to the ocean are a key driver of real estate value. Fact or fiction? According to data from leading online marketplace FazWaz.com the answer lays inside the numbers. Looking at Phuket’s primary and secondary condominium sector and analysing …

  • DSI checking alleged Phang Nga National Park encroachment

    DSI checking alleged Phang Nga National Park encroachment

    The DSI (Department of Special Investigations) are checking two luxury houses located on Pa Kuantohla and Pa Laemsam mountains alongside another 2,000 rai of land that is alleged to have an illegal land deed. After checking the land document at the local land office, DSI have found that the names of landlords are a famous …

  • Hi So Hill in Chiang Mai ends up being an expensive scam

    Hi So Hill in Chiang Mai ends up being an expensive scam

    Story from Thai language ‘Manager Online‘ The enticing advertisement online promised a dream: quiet retirement in the beautiful hills of Chiang Mai. Many foreigners thought this was what they deserved after a life of saving so they eagerly signed up to buy houses in the luxurious, quality development. Now they are left with illegal properties that they can’t …

  • Phuket Waterworld – New ‘off beach’ condo for Bang Tao

    Phuket Waterworld – New ‘off beach’ condo for Bang Tao

    A new 555-unit hotel managed residence project named Phuket Waterworld is now offering apartments for sale. Located ‘off beach’, near to Casuarina Shores and the Outrigger Laguna Beach Resort, the project is being developed by the New Nordic Group. Phase one units range for studios from 26 square metres, one bedroom apartments and two bedrooms …

  • Sell now or sell later?

    Sell now or sell later?

    Property insights from Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com One of the most common mistakes by property developers in hot markets or with premium properties is the misconception that a fast sell-out is good. It’s often hard for real estate sales people whose mantra follow’s the ABC’s (always be closing) to understand the big picture, or more …

  • Urban push is on in Phuket’s Cherngtalay area

    Urban push is on in Phuket’s Cherngtalay area

    Phuket tourism is no longer just about the beach and the urban push is ‘game on’. One leading example is Cherngtalay which is near to the destination resort Laguna Phuket and Bangtao Beach. Upcoming in the fourth quarter of this year will be the X2 Vibe Bangtao that is set to usher in a rush of …

  • Is Bangkok’s property market cooling off? No, says Bloomberg.

    Is Bangkok’s property market cooling off? No, says Bloomberg.

    An update on the Bangkok property market from Bloomberg. “We’re still undervalued as a country, compared to Singapore and Hong Kong. And China, in a lot of major cities.” Click the chart to watch the Bloomberg report on Thailand’s biggest property portfolio. PHOTO: fazwaz.com

  • Defamation case against BBC’s Jonathan Head has been dropped

    Defamation case against BBC’s Jonathan Head has been dropped

    The Phuket lawyer, Pratuan Thanarak, who brought defamation charges against BBC broadcaster Jonathan Head, has dropped his criminal defamation suit. Head investigated foreigners being scammed of their retirement homes in Phuket in a 2015 BBC report. Jonathan faced up to five years in jail over the charges. His report detailed how two foreign retirees had their …

  • What makes a good rental villa?

    What makes a good rental villa?

    Not everyone who has gone through the process of owning or building a villa will want to rent it out. Even if you don’t, rentability can have a significant impact on the asset and resale value so it’s well worth being aware of a given property’s potential appeal to the rental market. Here are a …

  • From Russia with Love. Russian buyers on the rebound.

    From Russia with Love. Russian buyers on the rebound.

    From Russia with Love might is a James Bond 007 thriller but it has also been a mantra for island developers as the past nine months has seen a strong uptick in demand in Phuket real estate by Russian buyers. According to the recently released Phuket Russian Tourism Market report, over 51% of Russian travelers …

  • Do we need a new airport at Phang Nga?

    Do we need a new airport at Phang Nga?

    As Thailand’s Phang Nga Province recorded a record high of nearly 4.5 million visitors in 2016, the lack of a gateway airport is looking to be a key stumbling block, according to a new report by consulting group C9 Hotelworks. Annual arrivals growth has slowed since 2014, but the compound annual growth rate for the …

  • Phuket Report Card August 2017

    Phuket Report Card August 2017

    Story from c9hotelworks.com Phuket’s Provincial government is undertaking a large-scale initiative to tackle the problem of unlicensed hotels. Since the campaign started, a total of 1,007 hotels have now applied for official operating licenses with just six approved to date. The main challenges for the process are the strict regulations associated with the Building Control …

  • Property Lawyer Matthew McEvily Passes Away

    Property Lawyer Matthew McEvily Passes Away

    Well-known longtime Phuket real estate lawyer Matthew McEvily passed away in the United States on June 20th. He was 59 years old. McEvily was actively involved in the real estate sector in Phuket, Bangkok and Samui. For a number of years he was a a partner in McEvily & Collins law firm, and later on …

  • Malaysia considers restricting foreign property purchases

    Malaysia considers restricting foreign property purchases

    A hot topic over the past month has been the Malaysian government’s review and possible increase of the set minimum of investment in property by foreign buyers.Currently the level for the most part is RM1 million (approximately USD225,000), The trigger of the issue has been the weakening Malaysian currency, the ringgit, which has been on …

  • Smart solar roofs. Is this the start of free electricity?

    Smart solar roofs. Is this the start of free electricity?

    There’s always plenty of sun here in Phuket, even in the wet season and particularly in the dry season. For owners of villas and condominiums the changes in weather signal a sharp escalation of electric bills which continue to be one of the leading costs of living in paradise. One new innovation that has caught …

  • Property Watch: Welcome to Phuket’s Darwinian season

    Property Watch: Welcome to Phuket’s Darwinian season

    PHUKET: I love nature, the environment, and all it has to offer. However, I know that my shark fin soup eating ways aren’t popular, and my Darwinistic sympathies applied to nature will be mocked on social media as simplistic and outdated. However, Darwin’s Theory and Phuket are linked. Phuket has it’s own environments – natural …

  • By the Book: Property market ripe for a rebound

    By the Book: Property market ripe for a rebound

    PHUKET: Timing in life is everything but timing markets is always difficult. Buy low and sell high is easier said than done. At the top of the market is when most are buying, media news is positive and the consensus is cheery, while at the bottom people are fearful the market will go lower still. …

  • Property Watch: The island that never gives up

    Property Watch: The island that never gives up

    PHUKET: Phuket is an island in which the motto “Never Give Up”, rings true. At one time, t-shirts and souvenirs could be seen listing the issues that businesses in Phuket had faced year after year, and yet through the human trait of perseverance and resilience, Phuket and its people carried on. So far as property …

  • Infinity Condominium launches new project in Bang Tao

    Infinity Condominium launches new project in Bang Tao

    PHUKET: Infinity Condominium held the grand opening of its seven-storey condo project in Bang Tao late last month. The project will comprise of 78 units ranging from 59 square meters to 60.6sqm and include one bedroom, two bedroom, and two bedroom deluxe condominiums. “Construction will start by end of the year and is expected to …

  • Property Watch: Thailand at a crossroads in property investment

    Property Watch: Thailand at a crossroads in property investment

    PHUKET: Thailand is and will remain an attractive property market to invest in. The geography lends itself well to a good quality of life, especially if income to support that lifestyle isn’t an issue. However, it does have neighboring competition and is in the process of assessing its options to revise laws to continue developing …

  • Across the Land: Luxury villa rentals picking up in Phuket

    Across the Land: Luxury villa rentals picking up in Phuket

    PHUKET: This year, the luxury villa rental inquiries are coming in early. By March, agents had already started calling around asking for rental rates over the holiday season of December 2017 to April 2018. Luxury villa rentals over the last two holiday seasons have been somewhat disappointing, with villa owners either not achieving any rentals …

  • By The Book: Property market trends in the second quarter

    By The Book: Property market trends in the second quarter

    PHUKET: As we enter the second quarter of 2017, the real estate market in Phuket remains slow. There are ‘pockets’ of demand: there is demand for freehold condos and discounted resale properties. Inquiries from the Thai domestic market are picking up and the condo market in Bangkok is doing well, with many developers there reporting …

  • Across the Land: Latest trends in Phuket hospitality

    Across the Land: Latest trends in Phuket hospitality

    PHUKET: Based on C9 Hotelworks’ Phuket Hotel Market Update last month, total inbound passengers through Phuket International Airport in 2016 were 7,549,346, with 54 per cent from international flights and 46 per cent from domestic arrivals. This is an 18 per cent growth rate in 2016, compared with 13 per cent in 2015. The top …

  • Property Watch: Keeping Phuket property dealings honest

    Property Watch: Keeping Phuket property dealings honest

    PHUKET: I have written quite a few articles over the years, hopefully in a balanced way, on reservation deposits, property investments and purchases in Phuket, which have always included a word of caution about how practices in Thailand on property deposits can vary significantly from other Asian property investment destinations, such as Hong Kong and …

  • By The Book: Market signals in the new year

    By The Book: Market signals in the new year

    PHUKET: Last year, Thailand experienced a record number of tourist arrivals – 32.6 million (up 9 per cent year-on-year), generating 1.6 trillion baht in revenue (up 12.6 per cent year-on-year). As we go further into 2017, occupancy rates for rental properties over the high season look good – albeit slightly lower than previous years – …

  • Property Watch: Seeing through Phuket property transience

    Property Watch: Seeing through Phuket property transience

    PHUKET: There are many themes of life in Phuket that are either interwoven or operate independently. It is possible, as many local Phuketians will testify, to exist in Phuket without even meeting your friends on a regular basis because you live on ‘different sides of the island’, or ‘don’t like driving over the hill’, or …

  • Across the Land: Evolution of high season property market

    Across the Land: Evolution of high season property market

    PHUKET: The last two months have been particularly ‘different’ from the past years’ norms in Phuket in more ways than one. Firstly, the weather has not been as predictable. Hot, sunny days are now interlaced with cloudy, rainy days and the weather forecast is hardly ever accurate. If you think the weather forecast in Phuket …