Buying property in Thailand. Phuket or somewhere else?

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beautyremind

New Member
Hello,

I am a Thai citizen who is planning to buy a house in Phuket & this amount of money will be paid by me (my husband is the foreigner). The market price has been increasing for many years, and the number of selling properties owned by foreigners has been recently increasing as well. I am wondering if Phuket is still a good place to live and has good investment in a long term though many people sell their properties a lot lately (not sure if something going on with the safety or natural disaster that may happen?).

It looks like many real estates agents try to sell a massive price for foreigners. A decent villa with 2-3 bedrooms & 2 baths would probably cost over 7 M & the most expensive areas would be West Phuket. I heard lots of clamdown illegal property in Phuket, so I am not too sure if Phuket would be the place to live and invest. Also, frauds and crimes are a lot in Phuket though we all can see these everywhere in the world. I heard that when buying property in Thailand, if they see foreigners own the house, they will be firstly targeted for robbery.

My plan is to buy a house near the beach somewhere with a good long term investment (if consider to sell in the future). Convenience, safety, property value, recreational facilities, malls and good schools for kids.

Due to many concerns (safety, price market, neighbourhood, laws, etc),do you think Phuket is still a good place to live and good investment? If it is, which area would be best to buy? (I concern about Tsunami or things like that so living somewhere safer would be advantage). The other option is to buy a house in Hua Hin, Samet or Koh Chang, but I am still not sure. I am open to any opinions.


Thank you,
 
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juls

New Member
First of all - the prices for real estate on Phuket is not high just for foreigners. They are just high because it's an island with limited land resources. I have many Thai friends who complain to me about property prices here.
If you are a Thai owner living in a somewhat decent neighbourhood your house is still might be a target for thieves. Thieves don't care and don't know the nationality of the owners.

If you want the beach and good infrastructure with less crowds try smth in the north-west.

Phuket is great place to live and have a family. I'm not sure about Samet, Koh Chang or smth like that because of the transportation issues (how you are going to get out if you need to do so urgenly) and limited infrastructure.... May be Hua Hin, but I'm not so sure if the prices there are lot differ to Phuket.
 
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beautyremind

New Member
First of all - the prices for real estate on Phuket is not high just for foreigners. They are just high because it's an island with limited land resources. I have many Thai friends who complain to me about property prices here.
If you are a Thai owner living in a somewhat decent neighbourhood your house is still might be a target for thieves. Thieves don't care and don't know the nationality of the owners.

If you want the beach and good infrastructure with less crowds try smth in the north-west.

Phuket is great place to live and have a family. I'm not sure about Samet, Koh Chang or smth like that because of the transportation issues (how you are going to get out if you need to do so urgenly) and limited infrastructure.... May be Hua Hin, but I'm not so sure if the prices there are lot differ to Phuket.
Thank you for your reply, Juls. I can see that there are many projects in Kamala areas, but lots of crimes as well (lesser than Patong area). It would be great if you could give me some names of safe areas where has less crimes, easy to access to any facilities/schools & good price of the house for a long term investment.

Thanks,
 
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juls

New Member
Thank you for your reply, Juls. I can see that there are many projects in Kamala areas, but lots of crimes as well (lesser than Patong area). It would be great if you could give me some names of safe areas where has less crimes, easy to access to any facilities/schools & good price of the house for a long term investment.

Thanks,
No problem at all! Kamala is good for vacation and retirement but not so good to live with family long-term. It's far from schools, hospitals and shopping malls. I wouldn't live there with my family. Bangtao, Layan, Naithon are much better options in such case. Everybody has his/her own good price of the house so I don't think I can name anything for you at this point. There are several developments in those areas that might be suitable for you. Just make sure that you choose really wisely if you want to resell later. If there are a lot of properties in the area it's not always a good place to invest because for you as a seller that means a lot of competition and you may have more difficult time selling your property.
 
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Wesley Lorn

New Member
One of the most important things to remember about wanting to live in Phuket or anywhere in Thailand is, “don’t go around showing off your wealth everywhere”, as there may be some locals who get jealous and want a slice of your assets.
 
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beautyremind

New Member
One of the most important things to remember about wanting to live in Phuket or anywhere in Thailand is, “don’t go around showing off your wealth everywhere”, as there may be some locals who get jealous and want a slice of your assets.
Thank you, Wesley Lorn. I know what you meant. Even though a Thai lady walking with a western man can be targeted even though they try to dress up in very low-class. That is a shame, but some of those bad people always think that whoever walks with western men are assumed to be the rich.
 
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Wesley Lorn

New Member
Many people who have purchased their condos or apartments who have had no problems yet. The important word is “yet” because who knows what scams someone will try and pull on some of them in the future.
 
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Sincere

New Member
Time to buy property in Thailand has come

Thailand is still safe than most of the countries in the world when it comes to crime!
Bangkok and Pattaya have been the one of the most sought destination for retired foreigners as well as holiday homes seekers.
The prices too are very well placed looking at the Quality of Infrastructure.

Sincere
 
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hkexpat61

New Member
I “ invested” in an apartment in Phuket in 2006. It was never completed, as far as I know it is still a partly built ruin overlooking Bangtao beach. The development was called Tamarind Hills. Along with many others I paid about THB9M and have got nothing. The contract is not worth the paper it is written on. This can happen to anybody who invests in Thailand, be warned.
 
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diyhelp

Active Member
How do crime figures in Phuket compare with Europe and the rest of the world? I was under the impression crime will relatively low compared to the rest of the world?
 
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hkexpat61

New Member
The biggest issue is corruption. Wealthy Thai people will have become even wealthier from the failure of developments such as Tamarind Hills, Turtle Cove, Infinity Heights etc.
 
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