Phuket News / Island’s Latest Updates

Despite pesky political upheavals, Thailand continues to pull in more foreign travelers than any other Asian nation. Which, naturally, has left visitors to Phuket somewhat bereft of peace and serenity. So the Anantara, opening in September, comes as a welcome relief for those seeking a more exotic and secluded holiday in this celebrated resort town. Arranged to sort of resemble a Thai village along the remote Mai Khao beach, the eighty three villas have individual infinity pool and terrazzo tubs, set amongst sculpted gardens and lily ponds.

It is a place of unapologetic luxe, with a signature spa, Thai cooking classes, and the chic yet simplistically monikered Beach Restaurant. But sensitivity has also prevailed—rather than bulldozing the site’s lone banyan tree, a stairway was built around it, leading up to the glorious Tree House Bar, where one can cultivate their inner Bart Simpson while imbibing distinctly sexy cocktails. Read the rest of this entry …

The Shinawatra family plans to develop a luxury residential project comprising a hotel, condominium and villas for sale priced at $2-3 million each on a 160-rai plot on Mai Khao beach in Phuket next year. An industry source said the development was not linked to the family’s property arm, SET-listed SC Asset Corporation Plc.

”If SC were to have resort developments in tourist destinations outside Bangkok, it would be over the next few years, not in the next year. This may be the family’s own investment,” said SC vice-president Kree Dejchai. The property consultant Colliers International estimated the project would require an investment of at least 10 billion baht, excluding land cost. The market price for land plots on Mai Khao beach is 10-12 million baht per rai. Read the rest of this entry …

The only real way to see a James Bond island is from a luxury cruiser with a glass of champagne in hand. That is how we see Koh Ping Gan, a tiny Thai island that played a starring role alongside Roger Moore in the 1974 James Bond movie, The Man With the Golden Gun. Scenes featuring the hideout of the film villain, Scaramanga, were shot here, and it has been dubbed James Bond Island ever since by locals and the tourists lucky enough to visit this beautiful bay.Like the hundreds of other islands in Phang Nga Province, north-east of Phuket, it is a limestone tower topped with lush vegetation jutting dramatically out of the sea. At lower tides, caves are exposed offering tourists sea canoeing and kayaking adventures as well as the usual snorkelling and scuba diving. Read the rest of this entry …

Phuket, Pattaya, Hua Hin show rise in demand despite overall downturn. This year, the property market will likely grow 3-5 per cent, says Real Estate Information Centre general director Samma Kitsin. He said although the property sector in the greater Bangkok area had declined, the overall market was supported by growth in tourist destinations.

Samma said the property market showed a slight drop in the first half of the year following a rise in construction costs and decline in consumers’ purchasing power. However, demand for residential property in Phuket, Pattaya and Hua Hin has shown strong growth.

He also said home-buyers were likely to make their buying decisions before the current tax-incentive package expires next March 30. “At present, local and foreign buyers receive a tax benefit. Due to this, the number of residential-property buyers, especially foreign investors wanting to buy retirement homes in beach destinations, is expected to rise,” Samma said.

A survey conducted by The Nation showed that a number of residential projects in Phuket, Pattaya, and Hua Hin had sold out even at prices of up to Bt10 million a unit. Supharat Group managing director Sumeth Sukahanpatharam, who launched the Pran-a-Luxe luxury-villa project in Hua Hin, said demand for retirement and second homes in that town from both local and foreign buyers had shown strong growth. “Our project, worth Bt660 million, has 47 villas starting at Bt10.5 million a unit. We’ve already sold nearly half of the project’s value,” he said.

Research conducted by CB Richard Ellis shows demand for a luxury residence at beach destinations like Pattaya, Phuket and Hua Hin has risen.

In Pattaya, a number of recently launched projects fall into this category, including The Cove, The Spinnaker and Northpoint projects. About 30 per cent of units in low-rise condominium projects have been sold. Among low-rise projects, the highest sales rates have been seen in units priced at or under Bt5 million inside Pattaya town.

Overall sales for grade-A condominium projects in Pattaya stood at just under 40 per cent for the second quarter. Combined existing and future supply is roughly 3,500 units, but only half of these have been launched since the beginning of last year - a factor in the overall low sales rate. The highest sales rates have been achieved at cheaper projects priced at or under Bt5 million.

In Phuket, demand for residential property has grown, especially in the high-end market, ever since the government announced plans to upgrade Phuket Airport by 2010. Infrastructure improvements have also helped fuel demand for property in Phuket, which has three existing marinas and another three slated to be completed soon.

Written by Somluck Srimalee
Published on The Nation - nationmultimedia.com

Phuket property development boom is expanding to four small nearby islands with total project investments of around 20 billion baht, says Risinee Sarikaputra, head of research at property consultant Colliers International Thailand. ”It’s a trend toward private islands,” she said. ”World celebrities, Hollywood stars and people in the ultra high-end segment love privacy and prefer buying a resort on a private island where no one can interfere with them. That’s why many property developers move to small islands.” Read the rest of this entry …

Constantly rising oil prices have been taking their toll on the travel and tourism industry, especially with airlines raising prices or cutting flights and routes - or both. As a result, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) recently announced a downward revision of its predictions of tourist figures for 2009. This is not to say that the TAT expects the number of tourists visiting the ‘Land of Smiles’ to fall compared with 2007. No, what it means is that the number will not go up by quite as much as originally expected. In fact, even the revised “low” figure of 3.3% growth would be the envy of most other established tourist destinations, and for 2009 the TAT is still targeting a 5% growth in revenue from tourism. Read the rest of this entry …

As we bounced along the streets of this beach side resort town en route to the emergency room, all I could think was that it was a good thing we hadn’t decided to spend our honeymoon on a practically deserted island. When my husband, Bob, and I were planning our wedding, I pushed for a honeymoon trip to a tropical South Pacific paradise. So we researched and nearly signed up for Fiji. But right when we were preparing to put down our nonrefundable deposit in December 2006, Fiji underwent a bloodless military coup. We figured that perhaps it would be better to go where we wouldn’t stand a chance of getting stranded … or worse. Read the rest of this entry …

After becoming the new owner of Koh Raet in Phuket, Dilokpol Sundaravej and his Canadian partner plan to develop luxury villas, a hotel and marina on the island with an investment totalling five billion baht. The Dubai-based hospitality firm Jumeirah Group will be an investor in the hotel, according to Mr Dilokpol, a partner and managing director of TGR Group and a nephew of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. Read the rest of this entry …

Real estate development is booming in Phuket as foreign investors are acquiring vast areas of land for housing projects. A number of foreign developers are to set up companies with Thai business partners to build housing estates and residential projects on the resort island, which has entered what officials call the ‘golden age of real estate development.’Homestay, a type of lodging offering facilities and lifestyles close to those typical of Thai families, has emerged as a popular choice. Swedish businessmen are the latest group to express strong interest in this kind of project. ”Foreigners highly admire the scenery and weather here,” said Phuket governor Niran Kalayanamitr after talks with the Swedish firms. He said the investors saw an opportunity for homestay development to serve Swedish travellers. A number of new homestay facilities have sprung up in Ban Layan and Ban Naitorn in Thalang district as well as other areas around the island. Read the rest of this entry …

Tourism prospects in the approaching high season in Phuket and Phang Nga may not be as brisk as anticipated earlier, as continued rising oil prices are expected to deter some travelers. Maitree Narukatpichai, president of Phuket Tourist Association, forecast that average hotel occupancy in Phuket in the coming high season from November to April would be 70% this compared with 75% in the 2006-07 high season. Read the rest of this entry …