Phuket: the island where people settle
The average foreign buyer's condo ticket in Phuket reaches THB 5.12 million. Schools, hospitals, airport: what makes settling on the island possible.
Phuket has stopped being a place people visit and become a place where people settle. In 2025, a foreigner buying a condominium in Phuket spent on average THB 5.12 million (about €133,300), against THB 2.78 million (€72,400) in Pattaya — a calculation based on the transfers recorded by the REIC, the Government Housing Bank's real estate information centre. People are not buying the same thing, and they are not buying it for the same reasons. Behind this gap lies a shift that professionals on the island have been describing for three years: the move from buy-to-let to buy-to-live.
From buy-to-let to buy-to-live: what buyers ask for now
The movement is first a matter of duration. Families who used to come for three weeks in February come back three times a year, then stay a whole season, then enrol the children in school. At a moment nobody can date precisely, the second home becomes the main residence and the flat in Paris or Geneva becomes the pied-à-terre.
Remote work made this shift materially possible, and a detail of geography made it comfortable: Phuket shares its time zone with Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. Someone who works with Asia's financial centres lives there on the same clock as the people they deal with, which Europe does not allow. Someone who works with Europe keeps their mornings free and takes their calls in the afternoon.
These buyers buy differently. They most often pay cash rather than borrowing, which gives the island's market a different footing from markets driven by bank debt. They also think on a different horizon: keeping the asset and using it themselves matter as much as the rent it could produce.
Above all, they ask for something else. A holiday apartment makes do with two bedrooms, a kitchenette and a view. A main residence needs space, a real study, a kitchen that lets you shop at the Kamala market in the morning and cook for six in the evening, a guest room for visitors from France. In the first half of 2026, the average floor area of a condominium transferred to a foreigner in Thailand was 43.9 m² (REIC, release of 11 September 2026): the measure of a market still largely sized for short stays. The gap between that average and what a family moving in is looking for is the space into which the Phuket market is moving.
The trajectory shows in the official figures. Over the first nine months of 2023, Phuket accounted for 6.4% of units transferred to foreigners in Thailand. Over 2025 as a whole, it accounts for 8.0% — 1,190 units for THB 6.087 billion (about €158.6 million). The province is gaining ground in volume, and gaining more in value: 10.0% of national value for 8.0% of units.
What turns a holiday destination into a place to live?
Two things, and they are very concrete: where the children spend their days, and where you go when someone breaks a leg.
Schools. Two institutions currently structure the island's international offer. British International School Phuket (BISP), based in Koh Kaew, follows the English National Curriculum, with IGCSE in Years 10-11 and the IB Diploma in Years 12-13, and offers boarding from Year 4. Its 2026-2027 fees are published: THB 750,000 (€19,500) in Years 1 to 3, THB 755,900 to 767,700 (€19,700 to €20,000) in Years 4 to 6, THB 977,900 to 982,700 (€25,500 to €25,600) in Years 7 to 10. Full boarding is added at THB 473,550 to 509,300 (€12,300 to €13,300) a year. UWC Thailand, in Thalang, offers the full IB continuum from Nursery to Grade 12, for day and boarding students; it is a not-for-profit school that provides more than USD 6 million in financial aid each year, according to its own publications.
For French families, there is also an AEFE-accredited school in Phuket: BCIS Phuket, in Chalong, accredited from the first year of nursery school to the final year of secondary school, with 212 pupils according to the official AEFE directory. Its status is not that of the Lycée français international de Bangkok: BCIS is a partner school, the LFIB is conventionné (under agreement). The difference lies in the agreement with the AEFE and the presence of seconded staff — it is worth understanding before enrolling a child.
And a third school is on its way. On 14 May 2026, North London Collegiate School International signed an agreement with the hotel group VLC to open a school in Cherng Talay, in the north-west of the island. Opening is announced for the third quarter of 2028, co-educational, day and boarding, about 1,000 pupils at the start and up to 1,500. The agreement is signed; the school is not built, and neither the fees nor the age range have been published.
Healthcare. The island has one JCI-accredited hospital, Bangkok Hospital Phuket, and is building a second. Bumrungrad International, Thailand's leading private hospital group, is building its first campus outside Bangkok in Phuket: THB 4.3 billion (about €112 million), 16.5 rai less than ten minutes from the international airport, 120 beds in the first phase and 212 eventually, integrating its VitalLife preventive-medicine centre and operating as a network with Bangkok for complex cases. The piles were driven in February 2025; opening is announced for 2027 (Bumrungrad release of 11 December 2025).
That is what turns a holiday destination into a place to live. A beach keeps no one twelve months a year; a school that takes a child from nursery to the end of secondary school and a hospital where you can have surgery keep a family for fifteen years.
Does Cherngtalay's "15-minute city" exist?
The term circulates widely around Cherngtalay and the Laguna estate. It is worth knowing where it comes from.
"Cherngtalay is Phuket's 15-minute city — schools, hospital, shops and beach less than fifteen minutes away."
as of 24 September 2026, only one documented use of this label could be found: a residential guide page published in 2026 by Banyan Group Residences, that is, by the developer and owner of Laguna Phuket itself. No municipality, no university and no independent body uses the term for Cherngtalay. The document that uses it does not measure any of the distances it invokes, and the facilities it cites as evidence — international schools, hospital — are all located outside the estate. The "15-minute city" is an urban-planning concept formalised for municipal public policy; applying it to a private, car-dependent integrated resort changes its meaning.
It is not very serious, and it is even instructive: the phrase added nothing the facts do not already provide. Two international schools in operation, a third signed for 2028, one JCI hospital open and a second under construction — that is measurable, dated and sufficient. What matters to a family is not a neighbourhood's label but the real distance between their future living room and the school gate.
What the market says, beach by beach
Phuket International Airport handled 8.8 million passengers in 2025 (AOT data reported by C9 Hotelworks, March 2026), and 3,919,885 over the first five months of 2026, i.e. −0.1% year on year: a plateau, not a drop.
The hotel sector is a good leading indicator for residential. In 2025, occupancy fell by 6% on the island while the average daily rate (ADR) rose by 5%. The beach-by-beach detail says more than the average: Kamala lost 24 points of occupancy but posts an ADR 40% above Bang Tao's; Surin lost 9 points for an ADR +21%; Bang Tao lost only 2 points with an ADR +20%; Patong lost 8 points and keeps the highest occupancy on the island. Fewer people, paying more: the profile of a market moving upmarket.
The pipeline confirms the direction: 41 hotel projects for 2026-2030, about 30% of them in Bang Tao and Cherngtalay (C9 Hotelworks). In residential, Phuket has 3,465 branded-residence units in 2026 — Asia's largest resort market by number of units (we have covered this market in detail here).
Prices, for their part, need to be dated carefully. In May 2025, C9 Hotelworks measured in Phuket a median of THB 144,000/m² for condominiums across all segments (about €3,750/m²), THB 141,000/m² (€3,670/m²) for unbranded units and THB 181,000/m² (€4,720/m²) for a condominium backed by a hotel brand — a 28% premium. For villas, the median is THB 70,000/m² (€1,820/m²), and a branded villa THB 162,000/m² (€4,220/m²). No public update has appeared since; Phuket remains the only Thai destination outside Bangkok with a price-per-m² series based on an explicit methodology.
One last point, often misreported. Phase 2 of the airport — about THB 10 billion, to raise capacity from 12.5 to at least 18 million passengers a year — is not under construction. According to AOT (May 2026), it is at the design stage, with approval sought by 2027. Neither the construction start date nor the completion date has been published.
Phuket against the other destinations, in actual transfers
Condominium transfers to foreign nationals, 2025:
| Province (city) | Units | Value (THB m) | Average ticket (THB m) | Average ticket (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangkok | 7,029 | 35,386 | 5.03 | €131,200 |
| Phuket | 1,190 | 6,087 | 5.12 | €133,300 |
| Chon Buri (Pattaya) | 4,164 | 11,590 | 2.78 | €72,500 |
| Chiang Mai | 848 | 2,409 | 2.84 | €74,000 |
| Prachuap Khiri Khan (Hua Hin) | 491 | 2,249 | 4.58 | €119,400 |
| Surat Thani (Koh Samui) | 212 | 552 | 2.60 | €67,900 |
| National total | 14,899 | 60,921 | 4.09 | €106,600 |
The table says two things. First, Phuket has the highest average ticket in the country, ahead of Bangkok. Second, Phuket and Pattaya are two opposite markets: Chon Buri records 3.5 times as many units for 1.9 times the value. Pattaya is a volume market with a low ticket; Phuket a value market. The choice between the two is a question of plan, not of taste — we developed this in our overview of the Thai market.
A note on reading: these figures only measure condominiums acquired freehold within the 49% foreign quota. Villas, very common in Phuket, almost always go through a long lease or a Thai structure and fall entirely outside this statistic, which no public series replaces.
What sets a good project apart from an average one?
When you buy to live, the criteria are not those of a rental purchase. Four deserve checking before signing, and all four can be checked.
The real distance, not the stated one. The journey that counts is the morning one, with the children, at the hour when the whole island is driving in the same direction: from a precise address to the school gate, then from that address to the hospital. A brochure gives minutes; only the journey made at 7:30 a.m. gives the answer.
The reference beach. The differences in occupancy and ADR recorded in 2025 by C9 — Kamala, Bang Tao, Surin, Patong — describe micro-markets that do not behave the same way. The beach you live in front of determines value, seasonal crowds and traffic.
The ownership regime. Freehold within the 49% foreign quota, long lease, Thai company: three distinct legal situations, with different consequences on resale and inheritance. The quota is checked building by building, not development by development. And for a French resident, the tax question plays out on both sides — we have dealt with it separately.
Charges, and the inflation behind them. The charges of a branded residence pay for a level of service; they should be read over ten years, not the first year. A benchmark: in April 2026, southern Thailand posted the highest price increase in the country, +3.91%, against +2.89% nationally (Ministry of Commerce). These are changes, not levels — but they show where the cost of living is rising fastest, and Phuket is part of it.
One last benchmark, and it is a matter of method: no institutional annual air-quality average is published for Phuket. IQAir publishes a national PM2.5 average of 17.8 µg/m³ for 2025 and a value for Chiang Mai — not for the island. The "least polluted" city rankings in circulation come from commercial aggregators that do not name their primary source: we do not reproduce them.
When we model a family making the switch
Profile. A Franco-Swiss couple, two children aged 9 and 13. Four stays in Phuket between 2023 and 2026, first two weeks, then a month, then two. He works for a Singapore-based group. They have been renting year-round for eighteen months and want to buy.
The school constraint first. Two day-pupil enrolments at British International School Phuket, in Year 5 and Year 9, come to about THB 1.74 million a year at the published 2026-2027 rates, or €45,300: the largest item in the annual budget, ahead of housing. It also fixes the geography — the home will have to be on a practicable daily route to Koh Kaew.
The healthcare constraint next. There is no social security agreement between France and Thailand, and the French State does not cover the healthcare costs of its nationals treated abroad (French Embassy in Thailand, updated 21 April 2026). Cover therefore has to be built entirely. The Caisse des Français de l'étranger (CFE) offers a subsidised category at €228 per quarter, subject to registration on the register of French nationals living abroad and income below €24,030 a year for 2026 — a ceiling this couple exceeds. They budget for private international insurance, for which no public source compares prices.
The housing envelope. They are looking for 110 to 130 m², three bedrooms and a separate study. At the condominium median measured by C9 Hotelworks in May 2025 — THB 144,000/m² — 120 m² comes to about THB 17.3 million (€450,000); the same size in a residence backed by a hotel brand, at THB 181,000/m², rises to THB 21.7 million (€566,000). The difference pays for a level of management, not square metres.
The decision. They choose a development in the Bang Tao–Cherngtalay area, after having the foreign quota checked on the building itself and timing both journeys — school and hospital — on a Tuesday morning in January. They give up on the villa, which would have required a long lease or a Thai company. They sign freehold, in cash, in a building whose quota was still 38% open. School starts in August.
Modelled scenario. This profile is not a client; the parameters are working assumptions.
What you can do now
Only one thing is really useful before visiting anything: draw up the list of addresses compatible with your two fixed constraints — the school and the hospital — and then look only at those.
That is what our database lets you do upstream. We track 7,865 developments in Thailand, Phuket included, each with its measured distances to the beach and to amenities, and its foreign quota checked building by building. What the method allows: ruling out developments whose quota is full, comparing real distances rather than advertised minutes, knowing who is building. What it does not allow: predicting a resale price or a yield, which we do not publish.
Start by exploring Phuket developments with your two constraints in mind, and talk to an adviser once the list is short.
Frequently asked questions
Can a foreigner buy a villa freehold in Phuket?
No, not the land. Foreign freehold ownership is possible for a condominium apartment, within the limit of 49% of a building's floor area. A villa therefore goes through a long lease or a Thai company. That is why Phuket's villa market is almost entirely absent from the REIC's official statistics, which only measure condominiums transferred freehold.
How much does international schooling cost in Phuket?
It is the easiest item to put a figure on, and often the heaviest. British International School Phuket publishes its 2026-2027 fee schedule: THB 750,000 (€19,500) in the first years of primary, a little under a million baht (about €25,500) in the lower secondary years, with full boarding billed separately. For two children, this item comes ahead of housing in an annual budget. UWC Thailand does not publish a fee schedule that can be consulted.
Is there an accredited French school in Phuket?
Yes — BCIS Phuket, in Chalong, listed in the AEFE directory with 212 pupils. Its status deserves attention: the school is a partner, whereas the Lycée français international de Bangkok is conventionné (under agreement). The difference is not merely administrative, since the agreement brings seconded staff. It is the question to put to the school before committing to a full cycle there.
When will the new Bumrungrad hospital open in Phuket?
The group announces 2027, and construction has indeed begun: foundations started in February 2025. The project covers THB 4.3 billion (€112 million) and 16.5 rai ten minutes from the international airport, for 120 beds initially and 212 at full capacity, including the VitalLife preventive-medicine centre. Like any date put forward by an operator, it should be rechecked as it approaches.
Is Phuket airport being expanded?
No, and the distinction matters for anyone buying on the promise of wider air links. The second phase exists on paper — about THB 10 billion to go from 12.5 to at least 18 million passengers a year — but AOT still placed it at the design stage in May 2026, with approval sought by 2027. No construction date has been published. Traffic, meanwhile, stands at 8.8 million passengers.
Why is the average ticket twice as high in Phuket as in Pattaya?
Because people buy neither the same property nor with the same plan. The two provinces read against each other in the 2025 series: Chon Buri records 3.5 times as many units for 1.9 times the value, i.e. THB 2.78 million per transfer against THB 5.12 million. On one side, a market that is easy to enter and leave; on the other, larger floor areas and a strong presence of branded residences.
Method and sources
Sources checked September 24, 2026
Exchange rate used: 1 EUR = 38.374 THB (24 September 2026).
- REIC (Real Estate Information Center, Government Housing Bank), 2025 annual report on condominium transfers to foreigners, by province — via Prachachat Turakij, 2 March 2026 — https://www.prachachat.net/property/news-1971437 ; partial corroboration Khaosod English, 4 March 2026 — https://www.khaosodenglish.com/featured/2026/03/04/china-still-tops-thai-condo-market-myanmar-jumps-to-no-2/
- REIC, condominium transfers to foreigners, Q2 and H1 2026, release of 11 September 2026 — https://www.reic.or.th/Activities/PressRelease/289 (average floor area 43.9 m²)
- REIC, January–September 2023 series, via Nation Thailand, 15 December 2023 — https://www.nationthailand.com/business/property/40033835
- C9 Hotelworks, Phuket Hotel & Tourism Market Update, March 2026 (2025 arrivals, occupancy and ADR by beach, hotel pipeline) — https://c9hotelworks.com/market_reports/phuket-hotel-tourism-market-update-2026
- C9 Hotelworks, Phuket holds its ground, but the metrics that matter are shifting, 4 June 2026 (January–May 2026 traffic) — https://c9hotelworks.com/news/phuket-holds-its-ground-but-the-metrics-that-matter-are-shifting
- C9 Hotelworks, Phuket Property Market Update, May 2025 (price per m², branded premium) — https://c9hotelworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Phuket-Property-Market-Update-Report-May-2025.pdf
- C9 Hotelworks, Asia Branded Residences Market Review 2026, 16 June 2026 (3,465 units in Phuket, 26% of Asian supply) — https://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4133005/thailands-branded-residences-market-tops-thb205bn-usd64bn-with-asias-biggest-share-of-launched-supply ; Nation Thailand, 30 June 2026 — https://www.nationthailand.com/business/property/40068062
- North London Collegiate School International, release of 14 May 2026 — https://www.nlcsinternational.co.uk/news/nlcs-phuket-launch/
- Bumrungrad International Hospital, release of 11 December 2025 — https://www.bumrungrad.com/en/blog-news/announces-phuket-create-world-class-medical-and-wellness-hub
- British International School Phuket, 2026-2027 fee schedule — https://www.bisphuket.ac.th/admissions/school-fees/
- UWC Thailand, official website (address, status, financial aid)
- AEFE, official directory — BCIS Phuket entry — https://aefe.gouv.fr/fr/etablissements/bcis-phuket ; LFIB entry — https://aefe.gouv.fr/fr/etablissements/lycee-francais-international-de-bangkok
- French Embassy in Thailand, Prise en charge des frais de santé (coverage of healthcare costs), page updated on 21 April 2026 — https://th.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/social/prise-en-charge-des-frais-de-sante
- AOT, via Nation Thailand, 16 May 2026 (Phuket airport phase 2) — https://www.nationthailand.com/news/tourism/40066296
- Trade Policy and Strategy Office (Ministry of Commerce), regional CPI for April 2026, via Nation Thailand, 31 May 2026 — https://www.nationthailand.com/business/economy/40066875
- IQAir, World Air Quality Report 2025, via Nation Thailand — https://www.nationthailand.com/news/general/40064230
- Banyan Group Residences, Living in Laguna Phuket: The 2026 Resident Guide — https://www.banyangroupresidences.com/news/living-in-laguna-phuket-guide (cited as the object of verification, not as a market source)
What we could not verify
- No public price-per-m² series exists for Pattaya, Hua Hin, Koh Samui or Chiang Mai. Only Bangkok (CBRE, Colliers) and Phuket (C9 Hotelworks, May 2025) are covered by an analyst with an explicit methodology. Any price-per-m² comparison between Thai destinations is therefore impossible as things stand, and is not attempted here.
- No serious rental yield is published for Phuket. Global Property Guide covers only Bangkok and Samut Prakan. No yield is therefore cited here.
- The provincial breakdown of REIC transfers for the first half of 2026 is published only in an unreadable PDF. The latest public provincial breakdown remains the one for 2025.
- The number of units and the value of acquisitions by French buyers are not published; only their rank is (6th nationality by value in H1 2026).
- The enrolment and founding year of British International School Phuket are not published by the school; only the fees are. UWC Thailand's fees and enrolment are in a PDF that cannot be consulted.
- The fees, age range and campus size of North London Collegiate School Phuket have not been published. No building permit or construction start has been documented to date.
- Bangkok Hospital Phuket: bed capacity, founding year, international patient volumes — no primary-source data.
- The construction start and completion dates for airport phase 2 have not been published.
- Phuket's annual PM2.5 average. No institutional measurement is published for the island. The values in circulation come from commercial aggregators that do not name their primary source, and our own blocklist places them at the weakest level of evidence: we publish none of them.
- The actual out-of-pocket cost with the Caisse des Français de l'étranger in Thailand, the prices of private international insurers and the average cost of a hospital stay in Phuket: no source with a published methodology.
- Air France's direct Paris–Phuket route is seasonal (winter). Its renewal for winter 2026-2027 is not confirmed; it is therefore not presented as a given.
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. The rules cited are dated: check with a qualified professional that they are still in force before acting.