Phuket real estate expands to inland areas

Phuket’s real estate market has experienced unprecedented growth over the past few years, driven primarily by the strong recovery of tourism following the Covid-19 pandemic. Another hugely important factor contributing to this market buoyancy has been the increase in Russian investors, who led the way...

12 hours ago

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  • B9mn allocated for pier improvements

    B9mn allocated for pier improvements

    PHUKET: A budget of 9 million baht has been allocated to spruce up Chalong Pier with plans to improve facilities for the hundreds of tourists who visit the ferry point daily. Transportation Division Chief Prasit Yotharak of the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (PPAO) said last week that renovation plans include more seating, more toilets, shower …

  • Across the land: Expats hit by Brexit fallout

    Across the land: Expats hit by Brexit fallout

    PHUKET: Two days after the United Kingdom held a referendum to leave the European Union (EU), now famously known worldwide as ‘Brexit’, the global financial markets suffered US$3 trillion in paper losses. The aftermath is eerily quiet. The consequences of Brexit will unfold in the coming months and years ahead, and they will be far-reaching. …

  • Property Watch: Implications of Condo Act and Hotel Act for Phuket

    Property Watch: Implications of Condo Act and Hotel Act for Phuket

    PHUKET: It can be completely legal to operate a hotel in a condominium, but there are lots of laws, regulations and requirements to comply with and meet. Recently, there has been controversy stirred up by announcements of enforcement of existing laws where unlicensed and non-compliant hotel operations are being thrown out of condominiums. I note …

  • By the book: The market is ripe for the picking

    By the book: The market is ripe for the picking

    PHUKET: “The time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets.” – Baron Rothschild. “You pay a very high price… for a cheery consensus.” – Warren Buffett. While there certainly isn’t blood in the streets here in Phuket, the property market remains slow with a consensus to wait on the sidelines. A faltering global …

  • Land & Houses brings new residential project to Koh Kaew

    Land & Houses brings new residential project to Koh Kaew

    PHUKET: Property developer Land & Houses has opened new doors for families in Phuket with the residential development ’88 Land & Houses Koh Kaew’. Construction of the gated community is set to be completed by 2018. About 50 per cent of the 140 units have already been sold and new owners have started to move …

  • Properly maintaining granite counter tops

    Properly maintaining granite counter tops

    PHUKET: If you buy new or upgrade, most likely you will choose granite counter tops. First remember that not all granite is equal. Granite is a lot harder than marble and easier to maintain, but experience shows, liquids can soak in to polished granite. If you notice a spill, clean it up right away and …

  • Boat Pattana announces new luxury villa project

    Boat Pattana announces new luxury villa project

    PHUKET: Boat Pattana Co Ltd announced a new ‘limited edition’ high-end villa construction in progress in Phuket on June 13. “The project, named ‘Deva Escape’, will be located on the Bypass Road (Chalermprakiat Ror 9 Road) near IKEA, starting at 34 million baht for villas ranging 1157.6-1642.92 square meters,” said Panupong Kritchanarat, chief executive officer …

  • Property Watch: Unanswered questions in the Thai property market

    Property Watch: Unanswered questions in the Thai property market

    PHUKET: I will admit, to anyone who asks, that consultancy services often involve assisting people with the kind of matters for which they should perhaps go to the authorities to receive assistance and guidance. Nevertheless, for one reason or another, consultancy services often involve providing advice to clear up uncertainties over laws, rules and regulations …

  • Lub d hostel opens in Phuket

    Lub d hostel opens in Phuket

    PHUKET: Lub d Phuket Patong is a new hostel set to open on July 19 with the aim of attracting modern-day backpackers who are looking for a laid back, affordable and convenient travel experience. Although the concept is a relatively new one for Patong accommodation, it is the latest in a line of similar successful …

  • Across the Land: Property drivers for high season

    Across the Land: Property drivers for high season

    PHUKET: Who will be the market drivers for property this coming high season in Phuket? Phuket has always been a hotpot mix of nationalities, whether it be the long-term residents, holiday home buyers or tourists. Long-term residents in Phuket basically fall into two broad segments. The first segment tends to be families from the surrounding …

  • By the Book: Benefits of professional real estate photography

    By the Book: Benefits of professional real estate photography

    PHUKET: Professional real estate photography is more essential than ever before, when marketing any type of property for sale. Between 2008 and 2012 real estate searches on Google grew over 253 per cent, with 90 per cent of buyers beginning their searches online (nearly 30 per cent of those using mobile devices). Listings with professional …

  • Post-high-season autopsy on Phuket’s luxury property market

    Post-high-season autopsy on Phuket’s luxury property market

    PHUKET: As I sit in my office on a faceless Saturday afternoon heading into low season, a song that flips up on Spotify grabs my attention – Ike and Tina Turner’s ‘River Deep, Mountain High’.My heart nearly skips a beat as Tina grittily sings the lines “And it gets stronger, in every way. And it …

  • Dealing with the trash problem in Phuket

    Dealing with the trash problem in Phuket

    PHUKET: Hygiene and cleanliness are very personal, and judging by the aroma at the airport and on airplanes, often seem to be an optional affair. But living in our environment is a shared community exercise, and Phuket does suffer from the stresses and strains of tourism, as well as a lack of regard by certain …

  • Marriott to launch new resort in Nai Yang

    Marriott to launch new resort in Nai Yang

    PHUKET: Marriott Hotels are launching the Phuket Marriott Resort and Spa, Nai Yang Beach, next month. Inspired by cultural and architectural characteristics of Thailand, the resort is located about a 10 minute drive from Phuket International Airport. It has 180 rooms and is designed as a combination of traditional Thai style and sophisticated, modern architecture, …

  • Across the land: Dealing with water scarcity

    Across the land: Dealing with water scarcity

    PHUKET: Every April, the weather is blistering hot in Thailand, and it’s been no exception this year if not hotter. According to reports, it has not been as hot as this in Thailand for 65 years. Intense heat, attributed to the El Nino weather phenomenon, is causing a severe drought and water shortage throughout the …

  • Airport completion fails again – this time mooted for December

    Airport completion fails again – this time mooted for December

    PHUKET: Completion of construction work on the new international terminal at Phuket Airport has been pushed back to September, admits Airports of Thailand Plc President Nitinai Sirismatthakarn in an exclusive interview with the Phuket Gazette last week. Mr Nitinai was in Phuket to ‘assess progress’ with the new terminal but could not give a fixed …

  • By The Book: Effective ways to sell your property

    By The Book: Effective ways to sell your property

    PHUKET: In our experience 15 per cent of sales will fail, become delayed, or end up incurring higher closing fees than necessary, due to sellers being unaware of the sales process, the documents required, and the options available to them. Before a buyer is found for your property and you begin negotiations, it is highly …

  • Property Watch: The great balcony debate

    Property Watch: The great balcony debate

    PHUKET: Life on the edge is never easy, as Romeo and Juliet would have told you. One of my many (and growing) property nightmares is the great debate over condominium and hotel balconies. Is it really a balcony, terrace, veranda or even that exotically-tinged Hawaiian tropical lanai? Let’s just stick to balcony for now. Through …

  • Chillva Market brings fun, food and excitement to Phuket

    Chillva Market brings fun, food and excitement to Phuket

    PHUKET: After a successful soft-opening, Phuket’s newest container market is officially open to the general public. Located off of Yaowarat Road, the 20-million-baht Chillva Market’s piece de resistance is a shipping container park, situated around a central bandstand and pond. Phakanan Daowatthanakij, the owner, said that the market is arranged into three zones by stall …

  • Property Watch: Impact of tourism on real estate

    Property Watch: Impact of tourism on real estate

    PHUKET: Statistics are regularly reported by tourism organizations – public and private, which break down the number of visitors arriving in Phuket. Are Phuket visitors domestic travelers, or business-people commuting? Do we count arrivals and departures, or just arrivals? How do we know the information received is accurate and are people leaving Phuket by other …

  • By the Book: Erecting a ‘For Sale’ sign when putting your property on the market

    By the Book: Erecting a ‘For Sale’ sign when putting your property on the market

    PHUKET: Let people know your home is on the market with a ‘For Sale’ Sign! In real estate markets all over the world, it is common practice for property sellers to erect a ‘For Sale’ sign when putting their property on the market, as it increases the chances of selling. The majority of the time …

  • Across the land: Unusual times in Phuket tourism

    Across the land: Unusual times in Phuket tourism

    PHUKET: A typical ‘high season’ in Phuket is usually from November to April every year, with the ‘peak season’ being December and January. However, this has not been the case for 2015/2016, where the high season and peak season has passed by hitting a large speed bump. Almost all businesses on the island – tour …

  • Property Watch: The property name game

    Property Watch: The property name game

    PHUKET: It’s hard to trace the origin of the practice of naming people, places and things. Arguably you could start with Adam and Eve, and perhaps that first gated-estate village called the Garden of Eden. Yes, the branding gurus were hard at work, even way back then. I’ve been reading about the current backlash in …

  • Cracking Phuket’s hotel industry with reliable mega-data

    Cracking Phuket’s hotel industry with reliable mega-data

    PHUKET: Surveys are often seen as one of the lowest forms of data collection for a variety of reasons. Often respondents may not provide accurate answers or be comfortable providing answers that are perceived as unfavorable. Nonetheless, as STR Global has shown with more than 30 years of data collection in the hotel industry, important …

  • Property Watch: Influence of crime on land value

    Property Watch: Influence of crime on land value

    PHUKET: Reading through the news each week for Phuket, we all see the stabbings; suicides; drive-by shootings; drug hauls; crazed mini-van and other public vehicle smashes; horrific murders and assaults. Some elect to comment on these stories in the hope that those who can do something about the levels of crime will take action not …

  • Phuket to get two of eight new marinas planned for the south

    Phuket to get two of eight new marinas planned for the south

    PHUKET: Two new marinas are to be built in Phuket as part of the government’s plan to stimulate economic growth by turning Thailand into a marine leisure hub in the ASEAN region. The marina development plan, announced by Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, includes construction of eight new marinas – four in the Andaman Sea and …

  • Property Watch: Leasehold vs freehold – revisited

    Property Watch: Leasehold vs freehold – revisited

    PHUKET: Leasehold versus freehold has been a livewire in Phuket and continues to be so. Over 14 years ago when I arrived in Phuket, I saw my first lease offered by a developer to a ‘buyer’ written in English and was shocked. I had been practicing as a commercial property lawyer in London for two …

  • By the Book: Benefits of vendor financing

    By the Book: Benefits of vendor financing

    PHUKET: Although the property market has recently been slow in Phuket, properties are still selling. In previous years, buyers would pay full cash for properties. However, in today’s climate, sellers are being more flexible to achieve a sale. One of the main head winds Phuket’s property market faces is that the majority of foreign buyers …

  • Video Report: Trends in Phuket’s Sustainable Hospitality

    Video Report: Trends in Phuket’s Sustainable Hospitality

    PHUKET: Grace Kang is a managing partner at Greenview, a Singapore-based sustainability advisory company that specializes in tracking and measuring sustainability performance for hotels, convention centers and commercial buildings. Ms Kang shared some pearls of wisdom on sustainable practices with local industry specialists at the recent American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) meeting at the Keemala …

  • Across the land: Is Airbnb taking a slice of Phuket hotels’ profits?

    Across the land: Is Airbnb taking a slice of Phuket hotels’ profits?

    PHUKET: For those not so active in the online community, Airbnb may sound completely alien, and you may well ask what they are selling. According to San Francisco-based Airbnb, it is a trusted community marketplace for people to go online and list, discover, and book unique accommodation around the world, using a computer, mobile phone, …