Studio or One-Bedroom Condo in Phuket 2026

Studio, one-bedroom or two-bedroom: which condo type to buy in Phuket

As of October 2026, studios in well-located developments such as Bang Tao and Kamala have historically delivered the highest gross yields, 9-10%, while the one-bedroom (59% of the 12,009 released units on the developers’ price lists, median 6,048,000 THB) is the best format for combining personal use and letting. Prices, sizes and counts below are from the price lists; yield figures are a MORE Group benchmark, and the method sits in the rental yield guide.

MORE Group benchmark based on the rental history of properties owned by our clients in Phuket. Past results do not guarantee future returns: changes in Thai law, tourism flows, global events and the market can change income.

Quick answer. If the property is purely an income asset, a studio or a compact one-bedroom in a proven letting corridor gives the best return per baht committed. If you will use it yourself for more than about two weeks at a stretch, buy the one-bedroom: it is the format that works both ways and the one with the deepest resale audience. A two-bedroom is a family decision rather than a yield decision, and it lowers the percentage while raising the absolute income.

Condo type	Best for	Main risk
Studio	Entry budget, best return per baht	The smallest resale audience
1-bedroom	Balanced letting, personal use, resale	7,102 released units competing with yours
2-bedroom	Families, long stays, owner use	Lower percentage yield, thinner buyer pool

Choosing a format is one of the most consequential decisions a Phuket buyer makes, and one where the advice is often shaped by which inventory an agent is holding. What follows is the arithmetic from the released price lists, then the reasoning that the arithmetic does not settle.

Condo Type Comparison Table

The table below is not an estimate. It is every apartment unit carrying a price in the project data behind this site: 12,009 units across 108 condominium projects, grouped by the format the developer assigned. It describes what is on sale, which is a different and more useful question than what the market average is.

Format	Units released	Projects offering it	Size, median (range)	Price, median (range)	THB per sqm, median
Studio	1,571	45	31 sqm (21-84)	4,593,600 THB (1,450,000-13,500,000)	140,000
One-bedroom	7,102	105	41 sqm (13-127)	6,048,000 THB (1,800,000-27,750,000)	150,000
Two-bedroom	2,778	108	66 sqm (25-316)	10,335,480 THB (2,850,000-120,220,000)	154,507
Three-bedroom	558	49	123 sqm (70-417)	23,186,100 THB (8,200,000-112,410,000)	165,867

Three things in that table are worth more than any yield projection.

The one-bedroom is the market. 7,102 of the 12,009 released units are one-bedrooms, and 105 of the 108 projects sell them. That is why it lets easily and why it is the safest resale: a future buyer knows exactly what it is. It is also why your unit will be one of thousands listed on the same platforms in the same week, and why the differentiator has to be something other than the floor plan.

Bigger costs more per square metre here, which is the opposite of what happens inside one building. Across the market the rate climbs from 140,000 THB per sqm for a studio to 165,867 for a three-bedroom, because larger formats sit disproportionately in the more expensive buildings. Inside a single building the pattern usually inverts: the smallest unit carries the highest rate, because developers price small units against a yield story and large ones against a buyer’s total budget. So compare rates within a project when choosing a unit, and across projects when choosing a format. Mixing the two comparisons is the most common pricing mistake buyers make.

The three-bedroom is rare. 558 units in 49 projects, against 7,102 one-bedrooms. Thin supply cuts both ways: less competition when letting to families, and a much smaller pool of buyers when you sell.

Comparing condo layouts?

We will show the trade-off between yield, personal use and exit liquidity before you reserve.

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Studios: cheapest entry, limited lifestyle

A studio suits a pure investor with no intention of living there, or someone who visits alone for short stretches and wants the most return per baht deployed. On that basis it works, and the return arithmetic is the best of any format because the entry price is the lowest: a median of 4,593,600 THB against 6,048,000 for a one-bedroom.

It does not suit a couple or anyone wanting a comfortable base. The median released studio is 31 square metres. Two months in 31 square metres wears on people in a way that is easy to underestimate from a floor plan, and a studio bought as a lifestyle asset disappoints reliably.

Note also the supply position. Only 45 of the 108 projects release studios at all, so the format is scarcer than the internet suggests, and the resale audience is correspondingly narrow: investors buying on yield, rather than the much broader pool who buy somewhere to stay. Where the budget allows, the step up to a one-bedroom is about 1,450,000 THB at the medians; historically it has cost about 1-1.5 points of yield, and it buys a property you will use and a buyer pool four times deeper.

One-Bedrooms: The Hybrid Sweet Spot

The one-bedroom is the most versatile format for a buyer who wants both use and income, and the data says the market agrees: 59% of everything released.

Two details inside the format matter more than the label. The first is a genuinely separate bedroom rather than a studio with a dividing wall, because guests and owners both want real privacy between sleeping and living space, and that shows up in review scores, which set the occupancy achievable in the shoulder season.

The second is size within the range, which is wider than most buyers realise: released one-bedrooms run from 13 to 127 square metres, with a median of 41. A 60 sqm one-bedroom photographs better, feels larger in person and earns better reviews than a 41 sqm one at a similar nightly rate. Where the budget stretches, size up inside the category rather than buying the smallest unit in a better building.

The offsetting fact is competition. Seven thousand comparable units exist, and in low season a great many of them list on the same platforms in the same week. What separates yours is position, presentation and a documented letting record, none of which comes from the format.

Two-Bedrooms: Better Personal Use, Lower Yield Percentage

Two-bedrooms cater to a different guest: families, two couples travelling together, or anyone wanting space. They command higher nightly rates and lower percentage yields, because the purchase price rises faster than the rate does.

The median released two-bedroom is 66 sqm at 10,335,480 THB, which is 71% more money than the median one-bedroom for 61% more space. That relationship is the yield gap in one line: the rate a guest pays does not scale with floor area the way the purchase price does. A quality two-bedroom in Kamala has historically let for $140-180 a night against $95-120 for a one-bedroom, roughly 50% more revenue for a property that costs 60-80% more.

Where the format earns its keep is personal use. A two-bedroom is a materially more comfortable base for two or three months a year, particularly for a family, and a proper guest room matters more than people expect once friends start visiting.

So the format suits buyers planning to be there two months a year or more, especially with family, and investors deliberately targeting the family rental market rather than falling into it.

Do You Need Pool Access in a Phuket Condo?

This question comes up constantly and the answer is consistent: pool access is essential for both personal enjoyment and rental performance. A tropical apartment without one is competing on price against every apartment that has one.

No percentage is offered here for what a pool is worth, because nobody publishes the letting data that would support one. Check it directly instead, in about twenty minutes:

Open a booking platform and pick a week in September, which is the month that decides an annual figure.
Filter to the beach you are considering and note the nightly rate for four buildings with a pool.
Do the same for four without, at a comparable size and distance to the sand.
Take the gap over a year, not over a week, and set it against the price difference between the two kinds of building on the developers’ own price lists.

A private pool is a different proposition from shared access, and it carries its own maintenance cost and its own guest expectation. Units with a private pool have historically let for $180-300 a night against $90-150 for equivalent shared-pool units. Before paying for one, ask a villa or condominium manager in the area what servicing a private plunge pool costs annually, and set that against the rate difference you found on the platform.

The quality of the shared pool matters more than buyers expect, because it is what the listing photographs show and what a guest sees first. Go and look at it. A small, narrow or poorly maintained pool costs you in ratings, and ratings cost you in occupancy through the months that decide a year.

Is a Sea View Worth the Premium?

A sea view carries a purchase premium, and the honest question is whether it carries a matching rental premium. In our experience it does not fully: a view is worth more to the person who owns the apartment than to the guest who stays four nights in it, and the purchase premium is typically the larger of the two.

That is a judgement rather than a measurement, so here is how to test it on the specific unit you are considering rather than taking it on trust.

Ask the developer for the price of the same layout without the view, on a different stack in the same building. The difference is the premium, in baht, and it is usually visible on the price list.

Historically, the high-season nightly rate premium for a sea view over a garden view has run 10-20%.

Then look at what the view actually earns. Pull three comparable listings in the area with a sea view and three without, and compare their nightly rates for the same week in low season. If the rate gap over a year does not come close to servicing the price gap, you are buying the view for yourself, which is a perfectly good reason as long as you know that is what you are doing.

A sea view is worth paying for when:

You will use the apartment yourself and the view is a reason you are buying
It is panoramic from the main living space, not a sliver from one corner of the balcony
The land between the building and the water cannot lawfully be built up, which is a planning question with a documented answer rather than a reassurance

It is not worth paying for when:

You are a pure investor who will rarely visit
The “sea view” needs a description to be found
Nobody can tell you what the plot in front is zoned for

Which Floor Should You Buy, and Does It Change the Income?

Higher floors carry a premium for view and reduced street noise, and for personal use they are often preferable. For letting, the correlation is weaker: in any building with working lifts, floor level does not move rental performance much, and many guests care more about reaching the pool easily than about height.

Buy the floor that gives you the view and the noise level you personally want, rather than paying a premium on the assumption that height maximises yield.

Ground floor units are the interesting case, and they cut three ways:

For letting they are often good value, because they are commonly discounted and guests reach the pool without waiting for a lift
For personal use they are worse, since privacy is lower and some buildings hold humidity at that level
The deciding factor is the layout, specifically whether the building’s design gives genuine separation between the unit and the pool deck, which you can only judge by standing in it

Budget-Specific Recommendations

Budgets are set out in baht below, and each figure is the median for that format on that beach from the released price lists rather than a target we have invented. Medians move as inventory sells, so treat them as where the middle of the market sat when this page was written, not as a quote.

The beach changes the format you can afford more than anything else does. Median released one-bedrooms:

Beach	1BR median	1BR median size	2BR median	1BR + 2BR units released
Patong	3,480,000 THB	31 sqm	5,600,000 THB	755
Ao Yon	2,759,400 THB	28 sqm	5,518,800 THB	377
Nai Yang	5,376,735 THB	37 sqm	8,768,100 THB	461
Kata	5,568,500 THB	38 sqm	8,773,140 THB	958
Bang Tao	5,930,000 THB	39 sqm	11,737,000 THB	4,126
Rawai	6,652,800 THB	46 sqm	10,140,000 THB	980
Kamala	7,074,432 THB	46 sqm	10,217,664 THB	573
Layan	7,917,142 THB	54 sqm	16,733,752 THB	1,057

A median one-bedroom costs 2.9 times as much in Layan as in Ao Yon, and the size moves with the money: 28 sqm at the bottom of that list against 54 at the top. So “a one-bedroom in Phuket” is not one product, and a budget decides your beach before it decides your layout.

Around 5,000,000 THB

The choice narrows to a studio or a compact one-bedroom, and the decision that matters is the building rather than the format. Bang Tao, Kata and Nai Yang all have released one-bedrooms with medians near this level; Patong and Ao Yon sit below it.

Do not drop pool access to stay inside the budget. A pool-less apartment is worth less on resale and lets for less, and the right adjustment is a smaller unit or a different beach, not a building without one.

Around 7,000,000 to 10,000,000 THB

This is the hybrid band. It buys a full one-bedroom in Kamala, Rawai or Layan, or a two-bedroom in Kata, Nai Yang or Patong. What to look for is a building with an established letting operation, a pool worth photographing, and enough units under coordinated management that rates hold through low season.

Sea view is optional at this level and should be evaluated on the specific unit rather than as a category.

Above 10,000,000 THB

Two-bedrooms open up across the west coast, and the decision shifts from what you can afford to what you will use. At this level a two-bedroom generally delivers more lifestyle per baht than a premium one-bedroom of the same price, and the letting case narrows to families and groups, which is a smaller but less price-sensitive market.

At this level gross yield potential has historically been 6-8%, lower because of the higher price base.

Above about 16,700,000 THB you are in Layan two-bedroom territory, where the buyer pool at resale is materially thinner and the holding period should be planned in years rather than months.

Buyer scenarios: which condo type fits the real use case?

Pure income buyer: start with a studio or compact one-bedroom in a corridor where the operator can prove occupancy month by month. Your metric is net income after management, platform commission, housekeeping and vacancy, not the highest gross in a brochure. If two units project similar rent, take the one with the clearer resale audience.

Lifestyle plus income buyer: the one-bedroom is the safest default. Comfortable for a couple, easy to let, broad on resale. Do not chase the last point of yield if it leaves you with a unit you will not want to use.

Family-use buyer: a two-bedroom can make sense even at a lower percentage. The question is whether the extra room gets used enough to justify the capital tied up. For one to three months a year with children, the lifestyle value often outweighs the arithmetic.

Exit-focused buyer: avoid unusual layouts, weak views, awkward access, and buildings holding hundreds of identical investor units. The easiest resale story is a clean one-bedroom or an efficient two-bedroom in a known area, where the next buyer immediately understands the location, the management and the ownership structure.

Risk checklist before choosing a Phuket condo type

Risk check	Why it matters	Better answer
Too much focus on gross yield	High gross can disappear after fees and vacancy	Compare net yield with the rental yield guide
Studio too small for owner use	Lifestyle buyers may stop using it	Choose 1BR if you plan longer stays
2BR over budget	Higher price can reduce percentage ROI	Buy 2BR only if family use or longer-stay demand is clear
Weak resale pool	A cheap unit can be hard to exit	Check resale listings and comparable project history
No pool or weak amenities	Hurts rent, reviews and resale	Do not sacrifice core amenities just to hit budget
Unclear foreign quota	Legal structure affects exit	Confirm freehold quota before deposit
Buying into the deepest supply blind	7,102 released one-bedrooms compete with yours	Ask how many units in your building are already let, and by whom

Factor	MORE Group benchmark
Net yield	historically 5 to 7% after 20 to 25% operator fees
Peak occupancy	historically 75 to 85% on comparable managed units

Decision framework: studio vs 1BR vs 2BR

The best decision is rarely the cheapest unit. It is the unit where your use case, rental demand, ownership structure and exit buyer all match. Work it in that order: how many weeks a year you will be there decides the format, the budget decides the beach, and the building decides everything after that.

Before you reserve, compare live project inventory, resale evidence, Phuket property prices and the market outlook.

Pros and Cons of Each Format

Studio:

✓ Lowest entry, best return per baht, simplest to manage
✗ 31 sqm at the median is poor for stays over two weeks; only 45 projects offer one; narrow resale audience

One-Bedroom:

✓ Best all-round for the hybrid model; comfortable for a couple; the deepest resale audience on the island
✗ 7,102 released units competing with yours; costs about 1,450,000 THB more than a studio at the medians

Two-Bedroom:

✓ Best for personal use; reaches the family market; higher absolute income
✗ 71% more money for 61% more space than a one-bedroom; thinner buyer pool at resale

How Does a Branded Building Change the Yield?

A unit in a branded building and an identical-spec unit in a non-branded building in the same zone behave differently on both yield and resale, and it is worth understanding why before paying for the label.

Branded buildings pay a franchise or management fee to the operator, usually inside the overall management commission. In return the unit appears on global platforms under the brand, reaches loyalty-programme guests, and gets centralised revenue management that an independent operator rarely matches. Whether that produces higher occupancy in a specific building is a question for that building’s own figures rather than for a general rule, so ask the operator for twelve months of distributions on comparable units before accepting the premium.

Non-branded buildings offer more management flexibility and usually a lower headline management fee. Against that, a new non-branded building takes longer to establish occupancy, and the resale audience is narrower because an overseas buyer who does not know the building cannot use the brand as a shortcut for quality.

The segment label carries a price of its own, before any brand is attached. Grouping the same 12,009 released units by the tier the developers assign them, a one-bedroom square metre runs about 135,000 THB in the comfort tier, 150,150 in premium, and 226,788 in luxury. That is roughly half as much again per square metre for the top label, and whether letting income recovers that gap is exactly the question to put to an operator with twelve months of figures in front of you.

For income-focused buyers, an established branded programme generally produces more predictable cash flow in the first two years. For lifestyle buyers who want their own calendar, non-branded buildings usually allow more owner use without blackout periods. Read the owner-usage clause before the yield projection: it decides what the projection is actually describing.

Which Unit Inside the Building Should You Take?

Within one building, unit selection moves income more than most buyers realise, and it is the decision you make once and live with. The variables are pool access, orientation and floor.

Units with direct pool access, at pool level or in a garden position, reach guests who filter specifically for it, which is a real and narrow search. West or sea-facing units reach guests who filter for a view. The building’s own price list is the other half of the comparison: it shows exactly what the developer charges for each of those positions.

Orientation has historically mattered more than floor: west or ocean-facing units have earned 10-20% higher ADR than east-facing or road-facing equivalents in the same building, and a 20,000 USD premium for a pool-level ocean-facing unit has often been recovered in 3-5 years.

So run the comparison the developer has already made. Take two units in the same project that differ only in position, note the price gap, and put it against the rate gap you can see for comparable listings on a platform. If the position pays for itself over a holding period you would accept, buy it. If it does not, take the cheaper stack and spend the difference on the fit-out, which affects every booking rather than the ones that filter for a view.

Frequently Asked Questions

What condo type gives the best rental yield in Phuket?

A studio or a compact one-bedroom, because the entry price is the lowest and nightly rates do not fall in proportion to floor area. Studios in well-located developments such as Bang Tao and Kamala have historically delivered the highest gross yields, 9-10%. Across the released price lists the median studio is 4,593,600 THB and the median one-bedroom 6,048,000 THB. MORE Group benchmark based on the rental history of properties owned by our clients in Phuket. Past results do not guarantee future returns: changes in Thai law, tourism flows, global events and the market can change income.

Is a sea view condo worth the premium in Phuket?

Test it rather than assume it. Ask the developer what the same layout costs on a stack without the view, which gives you the premium in baht from their own price list. Then compare nightly rates for three comparable listings with a sea view and three without, in the same area and the same low-season week. A view is generally worth more to the owner than to a four-night guest, so if the rate gap does not service the price gap, you are buying it for yourself.

Do I need pool access in my Phuket condo?

Yes. A tropical apartment without a pool competes on price against every apartment that has one, and it is harder to resell for the same reason. If the budget is tight, take a smaller unit or a cheaper beach rather than a building without a pool. Check the pool itself before committing: it is the first thing in the listing photographs and the first thing a guest sees.

What is the minimum budget for a hybrid lifestyle-and-rental condo in Phuket?

It depends on the beach far more than on the format. The median released one-bedroom is 3,480,000 THB in Patong, 5,930,000 in Bang Tao, 7,074,432 in Kamala and 7,917,142 in Layan. Around 5,000,000 THB buys a compact one-bedroom on several beaches; the hybrid band where a full one-bedroom or a modest two-bedroom becomes comfortable starts around 7,000,000.

Should I buy in a big development or a smaller boutique project?

The trade is competition against amenity. A large scheme funds better facilities across more households, and it also puts hundreds of near-identical units on the same platforms as yours in low season. A smaller one has less internal competition and a smaller base carrying the same pool and grounds, which shows up in the monthly charge. Ask how many units in the building are already committed to a letting programme and whether one operator coordinates their rates.

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