The benefits and temptations of buying residential property on Koh Phangan, Thailand and switching your life towards a tropical style
THE TROPICAL SCENE
Imagine waking up with the view over a turquoise white-sand beach, surrounded by the evergreen wild jungle, your sun-kissed skin and slightly salted hair is blown by the gentle sea breeze, as you ride your bike towards the new adventure of the day, following the never-ending sense of freedom!
Undoubtably this sounds like either a dream of a perfect paradise fantasy or at least like a holiday-gateway experience. However, this is just an ordinary daily routine of an average expat living on the island of Koh Phangan, Thailand.
In 2023, Koh Phangan has become a prominent feature on the Thailand’s real estate map. About 30,000 people live in this tropical paradise, located 80 kilometers away from the coast. The calm and uncrowded atmosphere of the island attracts the attention of expats and investors across the world.
The southern islands of Thailand is the area of the most prominent growth in the number of visitors. For example, the province of Surat Thani, in which Koh Phangan is located, received two million tourists in the first five months of 2023, and one and a half million of them were foreign visitors.
LIFESTYLE ON KOH PHANGAN
Koh Phangan is an ideal place for a comfortable modern life. There are two international schools, high-quality medical facilities, and restaurants for all tastes.
Three large supermarkets are conveniently located on the island: Big C, Makro and Tesco Lotus, offering a wide range of goods. All areas have 7-Eleven stores, as well as local family shops and markets. Village shophouses throughout the island stock fresh fruits, vegetables, seafood, meats, organic and household items.
Sports infrastructure includes fitness centers, swimming pools, tennis courts, football fields and other venues. Water sports such as kite surfing, wind surfing, snorkeling and diving are very popular.
The island is also famous for its strong sense of supportive community, offering a variety of educational and personal growth activities: people from all over the world come here to up-level and express their creative skills, visit international music, dance events and quality-time family activities.
Koh Phangan has a sense of the perfect balance between the gift of untouched nature with its eco-living benefits, and a smart and convenient infrastructure.
The island has always been a famous destination for its retreat and gate-away facilities, where travelers from across the world would come for various healing, detox and yoga centers, some of them being world-famous and ranking at the top positions of the industry.
However, in recent years, the foreign tourism tendency of the island has dramatically shifted from just short-stay travels to visitors who prefer to stay longer periods of time (up to 6 months a year) or relocate here permanently. And there a few legit reasons for that.
RELOCATION TENDENCIES
Firstly, in our post-pandemic world, the trend for a digital nomad life style has globally made a giant leap of growth, it is not only the IT sector that is no more dependent on the office location and hours for work. During the previous year of 2022, there has been a significant inflow of relocators to Koh Phangan within the marketing, education, digital art and crypto currency sector, which created a strong community of younger yet resourceful trendy community from all over the world.
Secondly, the recent geo-political events in the West has also created an influx of the new long-term residents of the island, who are mostly seeking for a more peaceful atmosphere and softer climate for the comfort of their family, with the opportunity to provide children with a quality education. These are commonly middle-aged families, with a strong professional background and capital, generally interested in new business and investment opportunities.
And of course, the significant proportion of the recent Koh Phangan foreign residents has moved post-covid, since Thailand has lifted its restrictions in 2022 and has been very welcoming for tourists and visitors even since.
The lockdown has seriously affected the tourism and hospitality sector in popular traveler’s destinations dependent on tourism such as Koh Samui, Phuket and Pattaya, where the restrictive measures have led to the closure of many companies, including tour operators, hotels, restaurants, bars and shops. Surprisingly enough, during that time Koh Phangan has mostly seen a surge in its development, infrastructure and real estate. This is due to the fact that a signifiant proportion of foreign population on the island is not just short-term tourists, but are mostly permanent residents, therefore could continue their businesses as usual and avoid the outflow of the capital.
With all these factors in retrospect, it is safe to say that Koh Phangan is currently going through its full-on thriving stage and the economic growth.
THE REAL ESTATE MARKET
Though the high-season on 2022 and 2023 the demand for permanent housing has significantly risen, consequently the prices for both short-term and long-term accommodation have gone up by at least 200% on average.
“The rental market is in a thriving state. There is virtually no available housing here, and prices have reached record levels for a long time. This trend leads to the fact that investors receive higher returns. When investing in real estate on the island of Koh Phangan, we offer favorable conditions for obtaining a return on investment,” noted Michael Skiba, the director of Koh Phangan Real Estate Company
With the demand for a better quality housing is rapidly growing, the idea of a real estate investment project is both tempting and the fruitful.
There are 3 main categories of real estate buyers on the island:
- Private owners, existing long-term residents or future expacts, who are purchasing land or villas for their private use.
- Investment project seekers: the island's real estate is considered to be a high ROI project, as an early-stage construction investment is predicted to become at least 50% more expansive upon the 6 moths completion period.
- Long-term business opportunity: Some investors prefer to buy a ready-made property as a renting out opportunity, with a forecasted payback within 4-5 years.
Another signifiant aspect contributing to the rise of the real-estate demand is the relatively easy legalization and ownership regulations for the foreigners in Thailand. The process can be managed within a couple of months when working with a reliable lawyer.
CONTACT
If you are planning to invest in property on Koh Phangan — seek advice from experienced professionals. Koh Phangan Estate has several unique properties available, starting from 2.7 million THB. You can find out more about our projects using the links:
- Alma Terra Villas — Sea view two-level villas with a payback period of 4-5 years.
- 7 Palms — Three-story villas with units ranging from 30 to 40 m2
- Land for construction in Chaloklum in a beautiful forest area near a mountain river at the foot of the largest peak Khao Raa on the island of Koh Phangan.
OUR PROJECTS
Alma Terra Villas
2-bedroom
High yield investment property with the payback period 4-5 years.
Alma Terra Villas
3-bedroom
3-level villas with garage are fully furnished and equipped with all necessary appliances.
7 Palms
Premier modern residence estate. Three-story villas with a shared swimming pool and a private outdoor area.