Condos in Rawai and Nai Harn under 5M THB

The southern metre at five million baht

Rawai’s apartments run at 145,000 THB per square metre and Nai Harn’s at 125,000, according to our Nai Harn vs Rawai comparison, against 161,000 in Bang Tao. Below five million baht that difference shows up as floor area: a one-bedroom here is often the size a buyer would expect to call a home, rather than a holiday studio. Put in numbers, five million baht buys about 31 square metres at the Bang Tao median metre, about 34 in Rawai and about 40 in Nai Harn.

Within the south the choice is between the bay and the town. Nai Harn is one sheltered beach with a lake behind it and little room to build; Rawai is a working seafront with a resident population and far more stock, so most of this list is in Rawai.

Finished buildings to visit

Of the 12 projects here, 2 are finished, more than in most west-coast collections at this price. A completed building lets you stand in the unit, look at the view and read the accounts before you commit, and the transfer can follow within weeks.

Rawai has 47 finished apartments with a price on our records and Nai Harn 5, per the Nai Harn vs Rawai comparison, so for a buyer who wants keys rather than a payment plan, Rawai offers the wider choice.

Names that recur in the south

Two developers appear more than once in the southern price lists. The VIP group sells VIP Space Odyssey, a large furnished scheme between the two beaches, and The Title sells The Title Cielo, a low-rise furnished building a few hundred metres from Rawai Beach. On the Nai Harn side, Utopia Mini is a completed building of 30 square metre studios a short drive from the bay.

A repeat developer is useful at this price because it lets you walk through something it has already delivered. Ask each one for its finished southern buildings, and look at how they have aged. Wallaya Residence, near Nai Harn Beach, and The One Naiharn, with its managed rental pool, complete the Nai Harn side of the list.

Who rents a small apartment in the south

Our Rawai vs Nai Harn investment comparison describes Rawai’s tenants as long-stay foreigners, remote workers and families, and its short-stay visitors as people who picked the south for its prices, staying from about five days to a fortnight. In Nai Harn the guest comes for the beach, mostly in the dry months.

For a unit at this budget that points to the size to aim for. The Scandinavian buyers guide sets the threshold for a monthly or seasonal tenant at about 35 square metres, so a unit above it can fall back on a long-stay let when holiday demand is thin.

The drive to the airport and the west coast

The south is a long way from the airport, about 45 to 60 minutes in traffic, and the west-coast beaches of Kata and Karon are a short drive north. For an owner who flies in often that is part of every arrival; for a long-stay tenant it hardly matters.

Title and nightly letting

Each unit can go into a foreign name at the Land Department, provided the building’s foreign share, measured in square metres, is below its 49 percent ceiling and the payment comes from overseas. In a building popular with long-stay foreigners, check what remains of that share before you reserve.

Nightly letting needs a building with a hotel licence for any stay under 30 days, and the co-owner rules may forbid short stays anyway, as our Nai Harn vs Rawai comparison notes. Ask for both answers in writing.