In 2023 Koh Samui has once again become a real estate hotspot. This idyllic tropical island, about 80 km from the mainland, is home to around 50,000 Thais and is also popular with expats.
International and domestic tourists flock here, drawn by a broad range of places to stay, a plethora of things to see and do, excellent food and entertainment activities, good infrastructure, and a relaxed, easy-going lifestyle.
Good news, according to our Lazudi Regional Manager, Sam Bonel, "the growth in Samui and the surrounding islands are set to continue for some time."
Let's take a closer look at the factors driving the growth.
Rental Market Boom
It's no secret that the pandemic crippled Thailand's tourism and hospitality sector. Destinations heavily reliant on the tourist dollar, like Phuket, Koh Samui, Koh Tao, and others, suffered significantly.
This caused business closures (some permanently), including hotels, resorts, restaurants, bars, tour operators, travel companies, shops, and airlines. The real estate market was also negatively impacted by falling sales, rentals, and a significant reduction in new projects coming online. Since Thailand reopened for tourism, businesses have commenced trading, and new establishments have popped up.
Fortunately, the tourism sector is recovering. Thailand expects to welcome approximately 20 million visitors in 2023, up from over 11 million in 2022 to 428,000 in 2021. From most accounts, the southern islands are where the action is, with a marked upsurge in visitors. For example, Samui welcomed approx. 200,000 in January 2023, with nearly half arriving by air.
An interesting trend has emerged, with people now staying longer and renting apartments, villas, and condos.
Lazudi's Sam Bonel explains, "The rental market is booming, with hardly any properties available and prices higher than they've been in a long time. This is leading to investors receiving huge net returns." If you are considering investing in Thailand, Samui offers excellent value for return on investment.
Remote Workers
Another side effect of the pandemic was the uptick in the number of people working from home, including employees and students. Some organizations have continued this practice, and many Bangkokians have made Samui the perfect Bangkok getaway.
Digital nomads have also moved away from their heavily restricted homelands. Countries with fast broadband internet speeds are of most interest, and Thailand is consistently in the world's top 10. Combining this with a fantastic lifestyle and relatively low cost of living, it's little wonder that Thailand has increased in popularity.
And Sam Bonel attests to this. "As remote working is such a big thing across the world, more and more people are relocating to Samui full-time."
Naturally, people working remotely, whether for a few days, weeks, months or permanently, are renting or buying property in Samui with practical home office solutions. The increase in digital nomads has added pressure to the rental market too.
Samui Lifestyle
Our local property expert Sam says, "It's now such a comfortable place to live. There are international schools, good hospitals, shopping malls, and almost every type of restaurant that you could think of."
And Sam is right, with Samui boasting five international schools, two catering to 2 to 18-year-old students, giving families confidence in children receiving a quality education. Several Thai schools are located around the island as well.
The east coast of Samui is the most populated and where most of the larger shopping malls are located. Central Samui, near Chaweng, has a range of stores with clothing, homewares, sports, food and grocery, health and beauty, electronics, and a food court and restaurants. The Big C-Samui mall has a huge grocery store and speciality stores.
7-Eleven's conveniently located, plus local family-run shops and markets selling fresh fruit, vegetable, seafood, meat, and homewares are in villages around the island.
Foreigner-friendly medical centres, dental, optical and speciality clinics, and five hospitals, including the JCI-accredited Bangkok Hospital, are readily accessible.
Recreation and sporting facilities include two golf courses, fitness centres, swimming pools, tennis, football and many other sports. Water sports are very popular, with good snorkelling and diving, particularly on outlying islands.
Being a tourist hotspot, there are some cool adventure activities. Think quad biking, ziplining, parasailing, and football golf, to name a few.
Most expats live in the northeastern neighbourhoods of Samui from Maenam, Bophut, Choeng Mon, Chaweng and Lamai. Some find the cost of living a little higher than the mainland but still more economical than their home country.
The range of housing is fantastic. Imagine studios and multi-bedroom apartments in well-equipped condominium projects presenting breathtaking views and luxury villas with pools and lush gardens. Whether you are single, a couple or a family, there are homes to keep you happy and chilled.
Accessibility
There are a few ways to get to Samui. From Surat Thani, car and passenger ferries take less than two hours. Samui Airport, owned by Bangkok Airways, can see you touching down in Bangkok in about 1 hour with their direct flights.
It's about 50 km to drive the island's 'ring road' Route 4169, and public transport is limited to the main roads. Most expats buy or rent a car or motorbike to easily get around.
Considering buying a property in Samui? Contact Sam Bonel or our Lazudi real estate team. We have some fantastic properties for sale, starting from as little as 2.5 million THB or 72,000 USD.
