Moving to Phuket with children
I get asked about moving with children almost as often as I get asked about yield, and it is a completely different conversation. Here the deciding factor is not a calculation. It is the school, the drive to it, and how your child settles into the environment. I have been through this myself and I watch clients go through it, so let me take it in order.
Start with the school, not the apartment
This is the single most common mistake I see. People buy a home in an area they liked on holiday, then choose a school, and end up with an hour and a half in the car twice a day. Distances on Phuket are deceptive: twenty kilometres on the map becomes an hour of driving in the afternoon.
The correct order is to shortlist two or three schools, visit on an open day, secure a place, and only then look at housing within a sensible drive. Everything else adjusts around that. The school decides the area, the area decides the property, and not the other way round.
The kinds of school on the island
- British curriculum, the most common format on Phuket, with internationally recognised leaving examinations
- International Baccalaureate, academically strong and convenient for applying to universities outside Thailand
- American curriculum, less common here, worth looking at if the United States is in your plans
- Bilingual and Thai private schools, considerably cheaper, with a different approach and a different language environment
The spread in fees between schools is very wide, and price does not always reflect the right fit for your particular child. Look at the environment, at the mix of children, at how pupils behave at break time. That tells you far more than the prospectus does.
Where families live
- Cherng Talay and Bang Tao have the densest school and family infrastructure on the island and a large international community
- Layan is quieter and more private, next to the same school cluster
- Rawai and Nai Harn have a strong expat community with children, markets, the marina, a more domestic feel
- Chalong and Kathu are more affordable for housing and central on the island, but without a resort beach of their own
Each of these reads differently in the wet season than in January, which is another argument for a year of renting. I go through the trade-offs area by area in the best areas in Phuket to buy property.
The family's visa status
This is the point where I ask people to look at the fine print early. Different visa routes handle family members very differently. On some, a spouse and children take status at the same time as the main applicant. On others they join separately and later. For a family that is frequently the deciding factor, ahead of cost.
Visas are not my area. I work with a partner visa agency, I know them personally and I introduce clients directly. But the general map is worth having before you buy a home, because it affects both the budget and the type of property that makes sense. It is laid out in Thai visa options for property buyers.
Healthcare and daily life
The private hospitals on the island are good, paediatric care is solid, and English is sufficient everywhere you would need it. Insurance for the whole family is not negotiable. On the everyday side: clubs, sport, swimming, tennis, music are all here and easy to arrange, and children fold into the environment considerably faster than their parents do.
The part that surprises most parents is how quickly the social side resolves itself. The international community on Phuket is large, mobile and used to newcomers, and by the end of the first term the children usually have a wider circle than you do. The adults take longer, and that is normal rather than a sign the move was wrong.
Practical detail worth planning for: school holidays here do not line up with the ones your family at home is used to, and flights out of Phuket are at their most expensive exactly when the school is closed. Families who book that a year ahead spend materially less than families who book it in November.
A six-month plan
- Settle on the schools and book visits, before anything else happens
- Come for two or three weeks in low season and see the schools and the areas for yourself
- In parallel, sort the visa question with the partner agency: specifically, who joins the status and when
- Rent for a year within a sensible radius of the school. Rent first, buy later
- Live one school year, learn your area properly, and only then buy
What the budget looks like
School is the largest item by a distance, and it is paid termly in advance rather than monthly, so plan it as an annual figure. Everything else, housing, food, transport, insurance, behaves much as it does for anyone else living here. I set that out with three worked scenarios in the cost of living in Phuket.
On buying
When you do come to buy, the school radius has already narrowed the map for you, which makes my job easier and the choice better. What I would avoid is buying before that radius exists. A well-located two-bedroom near the school your child actually attends is worth more to your family, and usually more at resale, than a better-looking unit forty minutes away.
One more thing about the property itself. A family home and an investment unit are not always the same purchase. A studio in a strong rental building is an excellent asset and a poor place to raise a child, and a family apartment in a residential area may rent less well while being exactly right for the next eight years. Decide which job the property is doing before you look at floor plans, and if it has to do both, say so and we will find the compromise deliberately rather than by accident.
Moving to Phuket with children is an entirely realistic thing to do. Hundreds of families I know have done it, and nearly all of them say the only thing they regret is not doing it sooner. The key is not to rush the purchase: a year of renting near the school costs far less than an apartment bought in the wrong place. Ask me about schools and areas and I will tell you how it actually is, without the gloss, including which parts of the first year are hard.
- Rentals on the island — if you would rather live here first and look around
- Projects I work with — developments where I hold direct terms from the developer
- Investment property selection — net yield calculated on specific units
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.
Frequently asked
What international schools are there on Phuket?
Which area of Phuket is best with children?
Should I choose a school or buy a home first?
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”
Could you tell me about the schools and which areas would suit my family, and help me find somewhere to rent nearby first?
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.
