This page used to report that Phuket rental yields had reached their highest levels in recent memory, and gave a band for each area: 7-9% gross in Bang Tao, 6-8% in Kamala, 6-8% in Kata and Karon, 5-7% in Rawai, with year-round occupancy above 78% and extended-stay rents above 40,000 THB a month. All of it is withdrawn.
A record needs a series to set it in. Thailand has none. There is no letting register, no published occupancy series for Phuket and no transaction index for resort condominiums, so there was never a run of previous years against which 2026 could be high, and no measurement of 2026 either. The bands were estimates written in the grammar of findings.
The one figure on this page with a source behind it
Phuket International Airport handled over 10.5 million international passengers in 2024, out of more than 17 million in total, on Airports of Thailand figures. That is a real published number from a body that publishes, and it stays.
What it does not do is carry a yield. Arrivals count people through a terminal; they do not say how many of them rented a privately owned condominium, at what nightly rate, for how many nights, or what the owner kept after the operator’s share. Between the passenger count and a yield sit exactly the measurements Thailand does not take. The old text moved from one to the other in a single sentence, “higher visitor volumes translate directly into higher short-term rental demand”, and that step is where the invented numbers entered.
The same applies to the Destination Thailand Visa. The visa exists and its 60-to-180-day stay pattern is a matter of public rule. Whether its holders pay a premium, and how much, was not measured by anyone; that claim is withdrawn with the rest.
What the record does hold: the price ladder
Asking prices from our project records for the four areas this page named, plus the depth of the offer in each. Medians are upper-middle across priced units.
| Area | 1BR units | 1BR median (THB) | 1BR from | THB per sqm | 2BR units | 2BR median (THB) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bang Tao | 2,914 | 5,930,000 | 1,800,000 | 155,400 | 1,213 | 11,737,000 |
| Kamala | 385 | 7,074,432 | 4,248,640 | 156,140 | 188 | 10,217,664 |
| Kata | 702 | 5,587,000 | 3,650,000 | 154,792 | 256 | 8,773,140 |
| Karon | 248 | 8,930,000 | 4,500,000 | 194,894 | 33 | 9,856,000 |
| Rawai | 627 | 6,652,800 | 3,625,000 | 144,000 | 353 | 10,140,000 |
The old text put Kata and Karon together as one market at “3 to 8 million THB”. On the record they are not one market: Karon’s metre runs 26% above Kata’s, its cheapest one-bedroom starts 850,000 THB higher, and its book is a third the size. Kamala carries the dearest of the four medians on 385 units; Bang Tao carries the cheapest median metre-for-metre despite being the area everyone calls expensive, because its 2,914 one-bedrooms include a long tail of small stock from 1,800,000 THB.
What is contractual, and therefore quotable
Management fees are not an estimate. Phuket operators customarily take 20 to 30% of gross revenue for nightly letting, and the exact share is written into the agreement you sign, ask for it before reserving, not after. Common area maintenance is charged per sqm per month by the juristic person, on a schedule they will put in writing. Sinking fund contributions are in the juristic person’s accounts. Transfer taxes are statutory.
Those four are the whole of what can be pinned in advance. The old version ran an arithmetic on top of them, stepping down from a gross band to a net one and then to a band after costs. Subtracting real costs from an invented income does not produce a real answer, and the whole chain is withdrawn with the figure it started from.
What to ask for instead
Twelve months of month-by-month owner statements from a comparable unit, with the deductions itemised. That evidence exists only where a scheme is finished, and on our records 871 of 12,054 priced apartments are, 25 of 127 apartment projects. Bang Tao holds 446 of them; Kata, Karon and Patong hold none, so in those areas the statements have to come from a neighbouring building.
Frequently Asked Questions
None that can be sourced. The 6-9% gross and 5-6.5% net this answer used to give are withdrawn: Thailand keeps no letting register and no occupancy series is published for Phuket, so no yield has been measured for any area. The costs can be pinned, the operator's share of gross from the signed agreement, customarily 20 to 30% for nightly letting, the common-area rate per sqm from the juristic person, and statutory transfer taxes. The income half has to come from twelve months of owner statements on a comparable unit, or be treated as unknown.
The yield ranking this answer used to give is withdrawn; the price ladder is on the record. Bang Tao has both the deepest book and the lowest entry, 2,914 priced one-bedrooms from 1,800,000 THB at a 5,930,000 median. Rawai starts at 3,625,000 across 627 units, Kata at 3,650,000 across 702, Karon at 4,500,000 across 248 and Kamala at 4,248,640 across 385. Kamala carries the dearest median of the five at 7,074,432 THB.
The 15-25% income variation between operators this answer used to cite is withdrawn, there are no studies of comparable Phuket units, because nothing measures Phuket letting. What is real and checkable is the contract: the operator's share of gross, the notice period, who pays for what, and the statements they can show you from units they already run. Compare those documents rather than a claimed uplift.
Olga
Phuket Real Estate Experts
The MORE Group team has helped 500+ European and American buyers purchase property in Thailand. We provide legal support, 0% commission, and on-the-ground expertise with 8 years in the Phuket market.
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