What the entry price actually is, from the list
The summary this page used to carry put Phuket’s second-home entry at “USD 110k-560k”. On MORE Group’s price list the band is wider at both ends and much deeper at the bottom than that suggests. 778 priced apartments sit at or under $100,000, 170 at or under $80,000, and the cheapest is a 24 square metre studio in a finished Kathu building at 1,450,000 THB, about $44,343. Under $200,000 there are 5,760 (47.8% of everything on the list) including 2,014 in Bang Tao itself. At the top, the list runs past $12 million for a beachfront residence.
Two things follow for a second-home buyer specifically. First, the budget that matters is not the entry price but the floor area it buys: the sub-$80,000 band has a 29 sqm median, which is a holiday base for one or two people and not a home, and below roughly 35 sqm a twelve-month tenant is generally unavailable if you ever want the place to earn while you are away. Second, the depth is real in a way no other market on this page can match, a buyer choosing a Bang Tao one-bedroom is choosing among 2,914 priced units, which is what makes the eventual resale a market rather than a search for a buyer.
What each market actually publishes
Before any comparison, the honest first step is to ask what evidence each market produces, because the answer runs against the way these pages are usually written.
| Market | Foreign ownership | Published price or transaction data | Letting register |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phuket | Freehold condominium within a 49% floor-area quota | None. Thailand publishes no transaction index for Phuket | None |
| Bali | Leasehold only; freehold closed to foreigners | Patchy; no consistent index | None |
| Koh Samui | Same Condominium Act as Phuket; villas leasehold | None | None |
| Boracay | Condominium within a 40% foreign cap; land closed | Philippine statistics agency data, thin at resort level | None |
| Maldives | Leasehold on designated islands; freehold closed | None useful at unit level | None |
| Goa | Restricted for non-residents under FEMA | State registration data exists | None |
So no market in this table lets a buyer check a rental yield against a published series, and the yields this page used to quote for each of them were assembled rather than measured. What Phuket has that the others mostly do not is a freehold title a foreigner can hold in their own name, and, for MORE Group’s buyers specifically, a unit-level price list of 12,054 priced apartments and 2,268 priced villas that can be interrogated before a deposit. That list is the evidence base for every Phuket figure on this page, and there is no equivalent for the other five.
Asia’s resort property market is one of the most compelling investment categories in global real estate, and also one of the most misunderstood. The combination of tropical beauty, lower land costs than comparable European or Caribbean destinations, and strong tourism demand creates conditions where well-chosen resort properties can generate meaningful income while providing a lifestyle asset that European, American, and Middle Eastern buyers use for 4-8 weeks per year.
The challenge is that Asia’s resort markets are not equal. The legal frameworks differ dramatically, from genuine freehold in Thailand to leasehold-only in Indonesia to outright foreign ownership restrictions in parts of the Philippines and India. The flight connectivity ranges from direct routes from 50+ international hubs to expensive multi-stop journeys that make spontaneous visits impractical. And the monsoon calendars affect rental occupancy in ways that fundamentally change the yield calculation.
This is a structured, data-driven comparison of the six Asian resort markets that attract the most second home buyer interest: Phuket, Bali, Koh Samui, Boracay, Maldives, and Goa. We evaluate each on legal ownership, entry price, rental yield, flight connectivity, lifestyle quality, and the risks that marketing materials tend to omit.
What Second Home Buyers Actually Need?
Personal use + rental income: Second home buyers typically want to use the property for several weeks per year and rent it the rest of the time. This means the property needs to be in a professionally managed rental program during owner absence, and the rental income needs to cover a meaningful portion of holding costs.
Accessible from home: A second home that requires 24+ hours of travel with connections is practically difficult to use spontaneously. Flight connectivity, specifically direct flights or single short connections, matters for actual usage frequency.
Legal certainty on ownership: Second home buyers are often first-time investors in Asia. They need to be confident that their ownership is legally secure and that they can sell or pass on the property without complications. Leasehold-only structures create long-term uncertainty that informed buyers increasingly reject.
Monsoon management: Resort markets with severe monsoon seasons (October to April) see occupancy collapse in those months. A property that generates income for 6-7 months and sits empty for 5-6 months has a fundamentally different cash flow profile than one with year-round demand.
Healthcare and safety: Second home buyers, particularly those in middle age or older, need to know that adequate healthcare is accessible. Destinations where medical evacuation would be the only option for a serious medical event create risk that some buyers will not accept.
With these criteria established, here is how each market performs.
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Phuket: The Clear Leader
Legal Ownership
Thailand’s Condominium Act allows foreigners to own up to 49% of any condominium building’s sellable floor area in freehold. This is genuine, legally secure ownership, registered at the Land Department, transferable, inheritable, and enforceable. It is the closest equivalent to European freehold property ownership available in Southeast Asia.
Villas require different structures (leasehold or Thai company), but for condominium-format second homes, which represent the largest segment of the Phuket market, freehold is directly available.
Price and Yield
Quality condominiums in established areas (Bang Tao, Kamala, Surin) range from THB 4 million to THB 20 million (approximately USD 110,000-560,000). Luxury branded residences and beachfront positions scale higher.
Gross rental yield: not published. The band this line used to give for managed programmes, and the occupancy band beneath it, are withdrawn, Thailand keeps no letting register, so occupancy and achieved rates for privately owned units are held only by the operator. What a buyer can obtain is twelve months of statements from a comparable unit and the programme’s fee schedule, which is contractual. The high season runs November to April; the shoulder season (May-October) sees reduced but still viable occupancy in well-managed properties targeting year-round international visitors.
Flight Connectivity
Phuket International Airport receives direct flights from major Asian hubs (Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, just 80 minutes), the Middle East (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha), and Europe (via direct seasonal routes and convenient connections through Gulf carriers). For European buyers, Phuket is reachable in 11-13 hours with one stop, comparable to or better than several Caribbean destinations.
Lifestyle Quality
Phuket offers 12 international-standard beaches, world-class scuba diving, a mature restaurant and nightlife scene, international schools (for buyers with children), and private hospital facilities that rank among the best in Southeast Asia. Bangkok Hospital Phuket and the Vachira regional hospital handle international patients, and medical evacuation to Bangkok is 80 minutes by air for anything requiring specialist care.
The Verdict
Phuket is the benchmark. Every other market in this comparison is evaluated relative to what Phuket offers.
Bali: Beautiful but Structurally Limited
Legal Ownership
Indonesia prohibits foreign freehold ownership of land. Full stop. Foreigners can access the Bali property market through:
- Leasehold: 25-30 year terms, typically extendable once. At the end of the lease, the property reverts to the Indonesian landowner.
- PT PMA structure: A foreign investment company structure that can technically hold land title. Complex to establish, requires genuine business registration, and does not provide the clean personal ownership most second home buyers seek.
What this means in practice: when you “buy” a villa in Bali for USD 300,000, you are purchasing a 25-year lease, not an asset. In 25 years, you own nothing unless you can negotiate an extension on terms that the landowner controls.
Price and Yield
Seminyak and Canggu villas: USD 200,000-800,000 for leasehold, a market figure. The peak-month yield band this line used to cite is withdrawn; a yield quoted for peak months on a leasehold that amortises to zero is not a yield in any sense a Phuket freehold can be compared with. Annual occupancy runs well below the peak, Bali’s monsoon season (November to March) creates significant vacancy. Realistic annual occupancy for self-managed properties runs 45-60%.
Flight Connectivity
Bali (Ngurah Rai Airport) has good connections from Asia and Australia. From Europe, it typically requires 16-22 hours with connections, making spontaneous visits difficult. Direct charter routes exist seasonally but are not consistent year-round.
The Verdict for Second Home Buyers
Bali is a wonderful place to visit. As a second home investment, the leasehold structure is a significant constraint for buyers who understand asset ownership. The lifestyle is excellent, but you are paying for something you will not own in 25 years. Buyers who proceed must fully understand this trade-off and price it into their decision.
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Koh Samui: The Thai Alternative with Complications
Why It Falls Short of Phuket
Monsoon timing: Koh Samui’s monsoon season runs October to December on the Gulf of Thailand side and creates a period where the island receives heavy rainfall that affects both tourism and rental occupancy. The monsoon timing is different from Phuket (Andaman Sea), which means the two markets are not interchangeable by calendar.
Leasehold prevalence: Despite being in Thailand, a significant portion of Koh Samui’s villa market is structured as leasehold because many popular areas sit on land where the condominium structure (which enables freehold foreign ownership) has not been used. Buyers should verify title structure carefully.
Developer quality and market depth: Koh Samui’s developer market is smaller than Phuket’s with fewer internationally credentialed projects. The resale market is thinner, making exit more complex.
Flight connectivity: Koh Samui’s airport (Samui Airport, private) is significantly more expensive to fly into than Phuket International. Budget airlines don’t operate into Samui; Bangkok Airways holds a near-monopoly. This inflates effective travel costs.
The Verdict
Koh Samui suits buyers who specifically want Koh Samui’s lifestyle (quieter, more lush, different vibe from Phuket). As a pure investment second home purchase, Phuket’s superior connectivity, developer quality, and market depth make it the stronger choice for most buyers.
Boracay: Philippines Restrictions
Legal Ownership
Philippine law limits foreign land ownership significantly. Foreigners cannot own land directly. Condominiums can be owned by foreigners up to a 40% foreign quota (versus Thailand’s 49%). The legal mechanisms for villa ownership are more complex and less standardised than in Thailand.
Additionally, the Philippines has periodically enforced restrictions on short-term rentals and has imposed environmental regulations that have at times shut down or restricted Boracay’s tourism activities (the government closed the island entirely for environmental rehabilitation in 2018).
The Verdict
Boracay’s beauty is real and the beach is exceptional. But the legal framework is more restrictive than Thailand, the regulatory unpredictability is higher, and flight connectivity from Europe requires multiple long connections. For second home buyers outside the Philippines, it is a difficult market to recommend over Phuket.
Maldives: High-End Only
Legal Framework
The Maldives operates a leasehold model for foreign buyers. Island leases are available to foreign investors for resort development, but residential freehold ownership is not available to foreigners in the conventional sense. Some branded residence programs within existing resort developments offer long-term leasehold rights attached to resort room entitlements.
Price
Branded residence units in Maldivian resort projects start at USD 1 million and scale to USD 5 million and above. This is not a broad-market second home investment, it is a luxury niche for buyers in a specific wealth tier.
The Verdict
Phuket is accessible and investable for buyers with USD 150,000-500,000 in capital. The Maldives is a different market entirely, suitable only for buyers at the USD 1 million-plus level who specifically want the Maldivian product. Not a direct competitor for most second home buyers.
Goa: India’s Restrictions
Legal Framework
Indian law prohibits foreign nationals from owning property in India (with narrow exceptions). Foreign nationals of Indian origin (OCI/PIO card holders) have limited rights. For most European buyers with no Indian ancestry, direct property ownership in Goa is not legally available.
Workarounds exist (long-term lease structures, indirect holding mechanisms) but are complex and carry significant legal uncertainty.
The Verdict
Goa is structurally inaccessible for most foreign buyers as a property ownership market. It is an excellent holiday destination but not a competitive resort property investment option for non-Indian nationals.
Red Flags and Checklist Before You Commit
| Red flag | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Leasehold marketed as ownership | You may have zero equity at term end |
| No foreign quota confirmation | Freehold condo purchase may be impossible |
| Gross yield quoted without occupancy | A peak-month figure annualised over the monsoon half of the year collapses to a fraction of itself; ask for the twelve months, not the best one |
| Developer with no completed projects | Completion and title transfer risk |
| Weak flight connectivity from your home | Property sits empty because visits are too hard |
Insider tip: Ask for the net yield after management fees, occupancy, and taxes, not the developer brochure percentage. Markets that look equal on headline yield diverge sharply once you apply realistic vacancy and leasehold depreciation.
Before signing anything in Thailand, read can foreigners buy property in Thailand and the Condominium Act foreign quota rules.
Buyer Scenarios: Decision Framework
Scenario A, holiday home that offsets holding costs: a managed Phuket condo in the holiday home corridor whose letting covers part of its annual fees, how much depends on an occupancy nobody publishes, so model it from the fee schedule, which is contractual, and from a manager’s statements rather than from the two percentages this scenario used to carry; a profile that Koh Samui rarely matches on liquidity and flight access.
Scenario B, First Asia purchase, remote buyer: Start with a completed freehold condo under USD 400,000, verified foreign quota, and a developer with 2+ delivered projects. Phuket’s resale depth makes exit planning realistic; Bali and Boracay do not offer the same secondary market for foreigners.
Scenario C, buying primarily for personal use over a long horizon: The ownership structure matters more here than the yield, because you are buying something to keep rather than to trade. A lease that expires within your own lifetime, or your heirs’, is a different proposition from a title that does not, and that difference is invisible for the first decade and decisive afterwards.
Scenario D, buying to diversify a portfolio held elsewhere: Cap the allocation. A single unit in a single tourism-dependent economy, paid in a single currency, is three concentrated bets rather than one diversifying position, and the correlation benefit disappears if it becomes a large share of your assets.
Conclusion
Bali is the most common alternative considered, and it is a legitimate lifestyle choice, but buyers must understand that leasehold is not ownership. Koh Samui works for buyers who specifically want Thailand’s legal framework with a different island character. The Philippines, Maldives, and India present structural barriers that effectively exclude them from consideration for most international second home buyers.
For buyers who want to own a real asset in a world-class tropical resort destination, use it freely, rent it effectively in their absence, and sell it cleanly when the time comes, Phuket is the answer that stands up to scrutiny in 2026.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Only Thailand among major Asian resort markets allows foreigners to own condominium units in freehold (up to 49% of a building's sellable floor area). Bali offers leasehold only (25-30 years). The Philippines restricts foreign ownership significantly. India prohibits foreign ownership for non-Indian nationals. The Maldives offers only leasehold attached to resort programs.
Phuket delivers 7 to 10 percent gross yield on professionally managed short-term rental properties, with strong annual occupancy of 65 to 75 percent. Bali can show higher gross yield percentages (10 to 15 percent) during peak months, but severe monsoon seasonality and leasehold structure significantly reduce the risk-adjusted return. Phuket's combination of yield and legal security makes it the strongest option.
Bali offers exceptional lifestyle appeal and high gross yields during peak months, but foreigners can only purchase leasehold (25 to 30 years), not freehold ownership. Phuket offers genuine freehold for condominium units, better flight connectivity from Europe and the Middle East, lower monsoon impact on occupancy, and superior healthcare access. For second home investment, Phuket's legal security makes it the stronger choice.
In Phuket, quality condominium second homes with freehold foreign quota range from USD 110,000 to USD 400,000 in established areas like Bang Tao, Kamala, and Surin. In Bali, leasehold villas in Seminyak and Canggu run USD 200,000 to 800,000. Phuket's freehold entry point is more accessible, and the ownership structure is significantly more secure.
Phuket leads. It receives direct seasonal flights from several European cities and excellent connections through Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha (under 12 hours total for most European origins). Bali requires 16 to 22 hours from Europe with connections. Koh Samui has limited and expensive connections via Bangkok Airways. For European second home buyers who want to use the property regularly, Phuket's connectivity is a material advantage.
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Maksim Shchegolev
Founder, MORE Group
Founder of MORE Group. Four years in investment banking before moving to Phuket, where he has worked in the local property market since 2018. Oversees developer relationships and every engagement above $300K.
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