Article Category - Property in Phuket

BEFORE he moved to Phuket, businessman Warren Crowe was a biker, a cowboy, a successful real estate manager and a trail-blazing restaurant owner. He grew up on Sydney’s North Shore, but when he was sixteen, he headed to the Gulf area of Queensland where he became a stockman, which is an Australian cowboy. “I worked on the largest cattle station in Queensland which had more than 25,000 head of cattle,” he said.

IT is not easy these days to find good quality villas right on the beach, but this week’s Pick of the Crop at Rawai is only a short jump from the sea and the sand. This contemporary beach-front villa features three levels with spectacular sea and island views. It is part of a private resort development managed by Outrigger, which is renowned throughout the world for providing secure, customer-friendly, well-managed estates.

PHUKET developer Gulu Lalvani picked up his second accolade in as many months when he was voted ‘Best Boating and Yachting Personality of the Year’ in the International Boating Awards at Boat India earlier this month. The Hong Kong tycoon and founder of Thailand’s most exclusive luxury lifestyle yachting community, was honoured at a glittering award ceremony at Le Meridian Hotel in Cochin, India.

SURIN Park, a luxury sea-view condominium in the heart of Surin village, provides the ultimate in life-style options at prices which enable an optimum return on investment. The exclusive neighbourhood is a guarantee of superior capital growth, and the rental program ensures excellent rental yield. Property comes in all shapes and sizes with prices to suit the most moderate to the most extravagant of budgets, but at the very high end of the property market, a good location is not always synonymous with luxury property.

Home is where the heart is, and this week’s Pick of the Crop is the sort of place that would capture any home-lover’s heart. The villa overlooking Nakalay Bay, is set in an exclusive enclave, just outside Kamala. This beautiful Thai-influenced villa has been lovingly crafted from a variety of fine woods, and has a unique character all of its own.

AUTHOR F. Scott Fitzgerald once remarked to Ernest Hemingway that ‘the rich are different to you and me’. “Yes,” replied Hemingway. “They have more money.” But the rich don’t necessarily have it all their own way. They are often just as time-stressed and sleep-deprived as the rest of us, and they too, need somewhere to chill out and recharge their batteries.

PROPERTY developers, resort owners and agents selling expensive properties throughout Asia, are adding cutting-edge, digital media to their arsenal in the battle for buyer attention. Just as a picture was once worth a thousand words, they now believe that digital ‘fly through voyages’ and 360-degree camera trips around their properties will be more convincing than static, albeit luscious, colour photography. The Puravarna luxury villa development overlooking Rawai Bay, launched a breathtaking campaign even before the development was breaking ground. They bombarded their target audience of high net-worth retirees and holiday-homers around Asia, with a barrage of lavish marketing material, including the more conventional printed brochures and plans in a boxed ‘by invitation’ set.

INTEREST in the Phuket property market has increased in recent weeks despite the troubled financial markets as savvy, cashed up investors focus on Thailand’s most popular island. According to Martin Phillips from Engel & Volkers (Thailand) Ltd, the attraction is simple.

PHUKET was the big winner at this year’s annual Thailand Property Awards, which were announced at a lavish gala dinner at the Conrad Hotel in Bangkok earlier this month. The Thailand Property Awards, now in their third year, saw a record turnout for the dinner, with more than 550 real estate and business executives representing more than 92 companies keen to see who won this year’s 21 awards. The large group of Thailand’s major movers and shakers in the property market included developers from Phuket, Pattaya, Koh Samui, Hua Hin and Bangkok.

Phang Nga Bay is a miracle of nature, a special place created by master storytellers. Soaring pinnacles of limestone karsts and beach-rimmed mountainous islands set the scene for a Tolkien inspired folktale that draws many visitors and residents to fall effortlessly en rapture with the surreal beauty and timelessness of the region. French impressionist Claude Monet was one of the first advocates of en plein air — the style of outdoor painting — and he would have been in his own personal heaven in Phang Nga Bay, where sunrise and sunset turn the surreal into fantasy. With over 100 islands in the bay of Phang Nga, fringed by Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi and Trang provinces, the region is famed for breathtaking views and diverse natural ecosystems.

There are a few different ways you can go about dividing land that you would like own in Thailand. You may find a plot of land with a land owner willing to sell you a smaller plot to build a house. Many people purchase a large plot and later decide to subdivide the land and sell it off in smaller parcels. The first step in the land dividing process is to make sure there are no outstanding loans or liens on the land. Usually, but not always, any lien or loan on the land title will be listed on the back of the land title. This should be checked at the local land office. Make sure you have the latest copy of the land title. It is always wise to double check the land at the subdistrict office, too.

Final stages of construction are under way at one of the most eagerly anticipated five star luxury developments in Phuket. The 52 unit $26 million Outrigger Serenity Terraces Resort in Rawai ushers in yet another major player in hospitality management to the shores of the south coast. With the imminent arrival of the Four Seasons Hotel, the established Evason in a 5km to the Friendship Beach area of Rawai, this once sleepy expat retreat is fast evolving into a sought-after haven from developers and investors. Punctuating this point is news that Formula One reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen has purchased a 279sqm beach front loft villa at Serenity Terraces Resort due to open April 2009. Speaking at the ribbon cutting ceremony of phase one of the project, on 4 October, Raikkonen announced to real estate agents, fellow purchasers and developers: “I’m pretty sure that I made the right decision, and I’m also very impressed with the whole progress of Serenity Terraces. It’s been a while since I’ve been in Phuket, and I’d forgotten how beautiful it is. I’m definitely going to enjoy more holidays with my family and friends whenever I have the chance.”

Langham Hotels International is launching Langham Place Miora Resort and Spa, the first branded hotel at Kalim Bay, Phuket. Scheduled to open in early 2010, it will offer luxury hotel services with fine views of the Andaman Sea. Andrew Jessop, Vice President of Langham Hotels International (Thailand), says the new boutique hotel is the first of five developments the group plans to establish in Thailand over the next five years. Langham Place Miora Resort and Spa presents 78 luxury villas and a penthouse on peaceful Kalim Bay. The hotel was designed by Clint Nagata, a famous Hawaiian-American architect associated with Blink Company, Bangkok. The development is set on a prominent point, providing spectacular views from every villa and combining a sense of privacy and peace in spectacular natural surrounds with contemporary interior design suitable for modern lifestyles.

The drive up to Rising Sun Residence hardly hints at the rewards that await at the top of a foothill of Nakkerd Mountain. Turning off of the access road, which leads off of Chaofa West Road a couple hundred metres north of Wat Chalong, the entire sweep of Chalong Bay comes into view from the entrance to the development. And that’s how Rising Sun Villas came to be, explains Methee Tanmanatragul, developer and managing director. A longtime general manager of Karon’s Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort and Spa, Khun Methee says he and his wife fell in love with the plot of land as soon as they saw the view. He built his home there, which stands at the entrance of the current development, topping out a few metres short of the 80-metre building limit imposed island-wide shortly after he finished construction. When he expanded by building a collection of one- and three-bedroom villas that cascade down the steep hill, the plan of the development took care to retain the magnificent views, which peer down over Wat Chalong and out to the bay beyond, with Koh Lon rising in the distance. The effect is like a box seat in an opera house, with all of Phuket on a stage at your feet — Wat Chalong a colourful set piece in the foreground. But the overall impression of Rising Sun Villas isn’t one of drama. Rather it’s a sense of hospitality, of home-like comfort and neighbourly friendliness.

Born into a business family, resort and property developer Eam-On Likit-ittiruks ventured into business on her own, founding a car rental business after graduating in law from university. Recently she parleyed that successful venture into a resort on the north end of Patong, and now into a condominium development next to Jungceylon.

The advert for Villa Suksan in Rawai claims that “it is inspired by the desire to eliminate all the superfluous, achieving natural order, calm and tranquillity”. Actually, that pretty much sums it up. A five-minute drive up into the hills from Viset Road and you are among the rubber plantations and quiet little back roads. There, tucked discreetly into the mountainside, you will find Villa Suksan. Extremely private, the outside is camouflaged well with palms and grasses that break up the regimental perimeter wall that usually accompanies any private villa. The wooden entrance doors are not that obvious and sit comfortably among the carefully placed flora. It would be easy to drive by and miss the place entirely. I speak from experience!

The Residence is the Richmond Group’s initial outing into the pool villa market. The company already has other hotels located around Phuket, but for luxury private villas and townhouses, Richmond chose the booming Bangtao area. Located within five minutes of the beach and five minutes from Tesco Lotus, the location is as beautifully scenic as it is convenient. Nathanial Bibby, Richmond’s sales and marketing coordinator, is confident in the future of the region. “Over the last few years, land prices have risen 300 percent,” he says. Surin and Bangtao are not as developed as other parts of Phuket, but they do appear to be very sought after areas. Just look at the many developments in the early stages to confirm that a lot of investment and property transactions are taking place at the moment.

After the tsunami of December 2004, the tourism market was a little slow in 2005. However, the property market in Phuket remained attractive among buyers and investors, with the increasing number of tourists in 2006 and 2007 proving this. Location is a key factor for sales, and people pay a lot attention to the site, the scenery, as well as the surrounding atmosphere of the project. The demand for residential units originally focused on the western coast of the island. However, there is a major shortage of oceanfront and good sea view land in Phuket. Beachfront land is a finite resource that is all but exhausted, and that leaves panoramic ocean view land as the next most desirable option. Even that is becoming increasingly scarce. This is a nonreplaceable resource under the current building code, which restricts residential construction at elevations greater than 80 metres above sea level.

Phuket’s strong tourism markets support the fast-growing real estate market. Although Phuket is a relatively small island, some real estate in Phuket could cost millions of baht. For those wishing to make Phuket a holiday home as well as an investment, there are many areas to be chosen according to their lifestyles. Much of the high-end development for the international market over the last 20 years has been along Phuket’s western coastline, particularly between Bangtao and Patong, and near to the island’s most popular tourist beaches and resorts. However, with land prices along this stretch now very high, developers have begun to look at other areas of the island. Phuket is a relatively small island, and for many property professionals on Phuket, a leasehold agreement has become the main alternative to the now heavily regulated company freehold purchases.

The journey to reach the entrance of Rawaiya Suites includes venturing down a dusty, secluded road. While travelling down to this new complex, the metaphorical and literal feeling of turning off the busy and more travelled road into something quieter is both very real and apparent. The complex is located within five minutes of the beach and very close to Phuket City. There is also a real feeling of things being under development in the area. Villa and resort poster advertisements adorn the side of the roads attempting to attract the attention of investors and serious tourists. Indeed, even the Rawaiya Suites is still under development ahead of an opening date of November 1, just in time for the start of high season.