Best Area in Phuket to Buy a Condo for Rental Income: How to Choose for Your Goal

The best area in Phuket to buy a condo for rental income depends on who you plan to rent to. For short-stay tourist lettings, Bang Tao with Layan and Patong lead the island on rental enquiries. For steady income from expats on twelve-month contracts, Rawai and Chalong fit better. In Kamala a premium coastal strip sits alongside family neighbourhoods further inland; a unit at Fantasea Condo there returned 9.2% net over an incomplete first season, and prices in the project rose by roughly 30% in two years. The individual property narrows the choice further: distance to the beach, the class of the development and your entry price move the return more than the district does.

What the market looks like in 2026

Phuket property investment 2026 is measured on several variables. Rental demand shows a district's income potential. Purchase demand shows liquidity — how easily you will be able to exit. Tourist arrivals set the seasonality and occupancy of short-stay lettings. The volume of new projects shows how much competition for tenants there will be in a few years.

Over a year, property portals recorded 54,628 enquiries from renters and buyers across the island; the district breakdown of that data was published by The Thaiger in June 2026. C9 Hotelworks put 2025 tourist traffic at 8.8 million airport arrivals: the island's average room rate rose 5% while occupancy fell 6%. Forty-one projects are announced through 2030, distributed unevenly across districts.

How your goal narrows the choice of district

Start with the tenant. A tourist rents for a week, pays a nightly rate and disappears in low season — that demand concentrates on the west coast, close to the beaches and the infrastructure. An expat rents for a year on a contract, pays less per night and creates no seasonal gaps; that demand goes to Rawai, Chalong and Kathu.

The second question is your horizon. If the property is bought to resell in three to five years, look at the depth of the purchase market: how many buyer enquiries the district generates, not only rental ones. If you plan to hold, look at how stable rental demand is and how much is being built there.

The third question is supply. Where many new projects are launching, competition for tenants grows and rates soften over time. Where little land is left to build on, limited supply holds up the price of what already exists. Along the west coast, few plots remain for new projects, so this factor works across districts rather than within one. Capital growth is set at project level: how many units it holds, what is going up next door and the price you paid to enter.

Answers to these questions narrow the list to two or three districts. The return on a specific unit is then calculated on the unit itself: where it sits inside the district, the class of the development, the entry price and the payment schedule.

Demand and prices by district

The best place to buy property in Phuket depends on your goal. Below are the four districts with the largest volume of demand on the island, from The Thaiger's breakdown. Medians are for condominiums; dollar figures are converted at 33 baht.

The absolute number of enquiries reflects two things at once: how popular a district is with renters and how much supply it holds. That single figure cannot separate them. The ratio of rental to purchase enquiries does not depend on district size and shows what people come to the district for: the higher it is, the stronger the tilt towards rental interest over buying interest.

The same reasoning applies to the rest of Phuket's districts — we work across more than fifteen. What a specific budget buys in them we covered using $200,000 as the example. Three worked examples follow: Bang Tao for liquidity and volume of demand, Kamala for rental income and resale, Rawai for living on the island and long-term letting.

Bang Tao for rental income and a quick exit

Bang Tao property investment rests on the volume of demand. Cherng Talay, which takes in Bang Tao, Laguna and Layan — the beaches tourists head for first — recorded 6,628 rental enquiries and 3,326 purchase enquiries, around 18% of all demand on the island and first place in both directions. A property here is easier to let and easier to sell when you decide to exit.

The square metre costs more than anywhere else in the sample: ฿126,600 ($3,840) at the median. C9 Hotelworks reports that the average room rate in the district's hotels rose 20% while occupancy slipped just 2%: rooms became more expensive and the flow of guests barely changed.

Of the 41 projects announced across the island through 2030, around 30% are in Bang Tao and Cherng Talay. Competition for tenants here will grow faster than in other districts, and that belongs in any rate forecast for the fifth and tenth year of ownership.

Kamala for rental income and resale

Kamala condo investment looks different depending on which part of the district you are looking at. A premium strip runs along the coast, with the villas of Millionaire's Mile pulling the median up to ฿107,142 ($3,250) per m², second in the sample. Prices inland are different, and people live there as families rather than seasonally.

The absolute number of enquiries in Kamala is lower — 2,718 against 6,628 in Cherng Talay — but the district itself is smaller and few projects launch there, so that figure says little about how intense demand is. The ratio is more telling: every purchase enquiry here comes with 2.3 rental enquiries, above Cherng Talay (2.0) and Rawai (2.1), and close to Patong (2.4). Rental interest in Kamala is spread across a smaller volume of supply.

In March 2024 our client took three apartments at Fantasea Condo as a package and secured a 15% discount from the developer. The two-bedroom unit returned 9.2% net over an incomplete first season of letting. The studios were bought at ฿2.95 million; comparable units in the project now sell at ฿3.8 million, around 30% in two years. The deal shows both sides at once: rental potential and capital growth. Full breakdown of the deal.

Figures like these come from three things: the district, the specific property and the moment of entry. The property and the entry usually contribute more. We set out the method of calculating returns separately: what goes into the costs and what occupancy is assumed.

Rawai for living on the island and long-term letting

Rawai property Phuket rests on demand from people who live on the island year-round. The district is consistently second on the island by volume: 5,108 rental enquiries and 2,428 purchase enquiries. The enquiry profile is villa-led and long-stay — people come here to live. Expats rent all year, without the low-season gap that tourist districts feel, and that produces steady cash flow at a lower nightly rate.

The median is ฿91,666 ($2,780) per m² for condominiums and ฿68,000 ($2,060) for villas. The mix of enquiries confirms the profile: three-bedroom homes account for 23% of enquiries, against 21% in Kamala and 18% in Cherng Talay.

What we check before recommending a district

First, the buyer's brief. The goal: rental income, capital growth, a home for yourself, or a combination. The budget and what it is made of: own funds, a developer payment plan. Lifestyle preferences — the sea within walking distance, schools nearby, quiet, restaurants and life around you. Separately, Undersun Estate asks whether the buyer has an investment strategy: the length of the hold, whether the property will be kept or resold, whether they are prepared to manage letting. When there is no strategy yet, we help build one — the district and the type of property both follow from it.

Properties are then selected within the chosen districts. The Undersun Estate database holds more than 500 developer projects and more than 200 resale properties, so there is plenty to work with. As co-founders of the Phuket Property Association, we receive developers' special offers before they reach the open market.

We accompany the transaction at every stage, from choosing the property to registration at the Land Department of Thailand.

Costs that do not depend on the district

The transfer fee is calculated on the government appraised value of the property and comes to 2%. On the primary market, buying freehold, the charges together reach 6.3% of the price: a 2% transfer fee, 3.3% specific business tax and 1% withholding tax where the seller is a company. The developer usually covers half, so a buyer should budget 3–3.3%.

Registering a leasehold costs less: a 1% fee plus 0.1% stamp duty, around 1.1% of the value.

The annual land and building tax on residential property runs at 0.02–0.10% of the appraised value: the rate rises with the value of the property, and the lower end applies below ฿50 million. The basis is the Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562. Properties in commercial use are taxed higher, from 0.30%. Check your own position with a licensed Thai specialist: it depends on how the property is held, how you use it, and whether any exemption applies.

Where to start

Tell us the goal — rental income, capital growth or living on the island — and the budget. We will put together a selection across 15+ districts of Phuket, calculate returns on the shortlisted options and request the developer's documents. A shortlist of up to three options can be in front of you within twenty-four hours.