Living in Phuket: visas, budget, schools and the move
I have lived on Phuket for more than five years, so this page is written from receipts and from watching clients move rather than from anything online. The island is cheaper than Europe and more expensive than most people expect, and the difference between those two statements is where your budget lives.
Buying an apartment here does not give you residency, and living here is a separate decision from investing here. Plenty of my clients do only one of the two. But the two decisions influence each other more than people expect, so it is worth having the whole picture before the deposit rather than after.
Status comes first
There are several long-stay routes and they suit very different people: an investment-linked route tied to a property purchase, the ten-year LTR processed through the Board of Investment, the paid Thailand Privilege membership, the retirement route from the age of fifty, and DTV for remote workers. Each differs on what it asks you to evidence, how often you renew, and, critically for families, whether a spouse and children take status alongside you or separately and later. The map of the routes and who each one suits is in Thailand visa options for property buyers.
Visas are not my area and I do not pretend otherwise. I work with a partner visa agency on the island, I know the people there personally, and I introduce clients directly so you are speaking to the specialist. What I do owe you is the shape of the options before you choose a unit, because the visa route you intend to take can change which property makes sense and at what price.
What a month actually costs
Housing sets everything else. A year-long lease is noticeably cheaper than renting month to month in high season, and inland areas cost less than the beach strip. If you own, rent is replaced by common area fees at around 80 THB per square metre per month plus utilities, and the monthly figure drops sharply. Food is where two apparently identical lives diverge: local markets cost very little, imported groceries a great deal more. Then transport, and health insurance, which is not optional.
- Lean. One person, housing inland, local food, a scooter, basic insurance.
- Comfortable. A couple, housing closer to the sea, a mixed kitchen, a car, proper insurance, sport and restaurants.
- Family. Two adults and a child in international school, where the school fees easily become half the budget.
The three scenarios, with the lines that people consistently underestimate, are worked through in the cost of living in Phuket. The one rule I would put above all of them: do not build a budget from what you spent here on holiday. A holiday and a life are different economies.
Moving with a family
With children the deciding factor is not a calculation, it is the school and the drive to it. The common mistake is buying in an area someone liked on holiday, then choosing a school, and living with an hour and a half in the car every day. Distances here are deceptive. The right order is to shortlist two or three schools, visit, secure a place, and only then look at housing within a sensible radius. Strong schools have waiting lists and admissions often run a year ahead. The school types, family areas and a six-month plan are in moving to Phuket with children.
Families concentrate in Cherng Talay and Bang Tao, in quieter Layan, around Rawai and Nai Harn, and in the more affordable Chalong and Kathu. Rental demand behaves differently across those same areas, which is why the family map and the investment map are worth reading against each other. I compare them district by district in the best areas in Phuket to buy property.
Test the island before you buy on it
My standard advice to anyone considering a move is to come in September or in May rather than in January. High season makes everyone fall in love with the place; the decision made in the rain is the one that holds. Then rent for a year in the area you think you want and let the island correct you. In my experience the buyers who wait a year almost never change their mind about Phuket, but a good number change their mind about the area. A year of rent costs far less than a well-meant purchase in the wrong place.
Where living and investing meet
A family home and a rental asset are not always the same purchase. A studio in a strong rental building is an excellent investment and a poor place to raise a child; a two-bedroom near the school is right for the next eight years and will rent less well. Decide which job the property is doing before you look at floor plans, and if it has to do both, we design that compromise deliberately. The trade-off between formats is in condo or villa in Phuket.
And as always: the visa, the tax position and anything legal go to the vetted partners I work with here, whose contacts I hand over personally. I count the property side, net rather than hopeful.
Articles in this section
Legal, visa and tax work is not mine — it belongs to partners I use constantly
I am an investment strategist: I select the property, calculate the net return, check the developer and run the transaction. Anything that needs a legal, immigration or tax qualification goes to specialists I have worked with for years.
- Thai lawyers — document and contract review, land title, registration at the Land Office, wills, powers of attorney, corporate questions
- Visa partners — choosing and filing the right route for your situation: investment-based, LTR, Thailand Privilege, retirement, DTV
- Tax specialists — reporting in your country of tax residence, treaty credit for Thai tax, declarations on foreign assets
- Company formation in Thailand — when a structure is genuinely needed and lawful
- Rental management and concierge — letting the property, transfers, yachts, events
I introduce partners personally, matched to your actual question, so that you speak to the specialist who handles it rather than to a general inbox. Message me and I will make the introduction.
Lyubov Fortunova
Investment strategist and founder of Fortunova Capital Group. I have lived on Phuket for more than five years and run every deal myself: I select the property, calculate the net return, check the developer and hold the process together until the keys are handed over. Lawyers, visa and tax specialists come from my own circle.
“I count net, not dreams”
Read the visa routes first, then the monthly budget, and the family article if children are part of the plan. When you are ready to turn all of that into a specific purchase, that part is mine.
I answer personally, within the working day, in any time zone. No calls unless you want them. A question about the article is free and commits you to nothing.
