Phuket or Bali: an honest comparison for an investor
I am asked this most weeks, usually by someone who has already spent holidays on both islands. I live and work in Phuket, so take that as declared. What follows is the comparison I would give a client who might well be better off in Bali, because there is one difference that outweighs all the rest, and it is not the price.
The difference that outranks everything: what you actually own
In Thailand a foreigner registers an apartment in a licensed condominium in their own name, in full ownership, with no expiry date. That is freehold, and it lives inside a foreign quota of 49% of a building's residential floor area. Land is closed to a foreign individual, so a villa is normally held as the house in your name with the land on a registered lease. The full picture is in what a foreigner can and cannot buy in Thailand.
In Indonesia there is no freehold for a foreigner at all. Hak Milik, the full ownership title, is reserved for Indonesian citizens. What is open to you is Hak Pakai, a right of use tied to residency status, a leasehold from an Indonesian owner, or Hak Guna Bangunan through a PT PMA, a foreign-owned company with its own capital, reporting and running costs. These are real, lawful instruments and many people use them. None is a title in your own name that never runs out.
That difference changes everything downstream: how the asset is priced, how quickly it sells, who may buy it from you, and what your heirs receive. On Bali you are almost always buying a term, and the term shortens every year you hold it. On Phuket a term is a choice rather than the only option, which is the subject of freehold or leasehold in Phuket.
Entry price and what the money buys
In Phuket the market begins at around 4.5 million baht for a studio of 35-40 square metres. A one-bedroom of 50-55 square metres starts from about 6.5 million, a two-bedroom of 85-95 square metres from about 10.8 million, villas from roughly 18 million, around 550,000 dollars. Off-plan, the instalment plan is usually about 30% down and the balance every six months across some two years, interest-free. There are no mortgages for foreigners here.
- On Bali the headline entry often looks lower, and frequently is, but that compares a lease with a set number of years against a freehold with no clock.
- The dominant product differs. Bali is a villa market at heart; Phuket has a deep condominium market alongside its villas.
- Management is priced differently. In Phuket an operator takes 20-30% of revenue, and anyone quoting 10-15% as the norm is quoting a fragment of the service.
- Building on Bali is often part of the plan. That can work well, but it is a construction project with a builder's risks, not a purchase.
So the usual first comparison, a cheap Bali villa against a dearer Phuket apartment, is not like for like. Put both on the same footing and the gap narrows far more than the listings suggest.
Yield, and how it is actually earned
In my practice a realistic net figure in Phuket is 6-8%, and in Bang Tao and Laguna 4-6% net against 7-9% gross, at 60-70% occupancy on a well-placed unit. The gap between gross and net is the management fee, the void weeks, the running costs and the tax, and I count the net one because that is what reaches your account. The arithmetic is in how to calculate net rental yield in Phuket.
Bali earns its income the same way and, in the strong pockets, earns it well: nightly demand is genuine and a good villa with a good operator performs. What differs is the asset behind the income. On a lease, part of every year's return pays for the years you are losing, and unless you model that, a Bali yield and a Phuket yield are not the same number even when they look identical.
Infrastructure, flights and seasonality
This is where Phuket has a quieter advantage, and it is the part investors underweight until they own something.
- Flights. Phuket has a large international airport with direct routes across Asia, the Gulf and, seasonally, Europe. Bali is well connected too, but more of its traffic is leisure-only.
- Roads and services. Phuket's road network, hospitals, international schools and utilities are, in my experience, more predictable day to day.
- Seasonality. Both islands have a green season. Phuket's high season runs roughly November to April, with a year-round business layer built around it.
- Rules for short letting. In Thailand nightly letting sits within a licensing framework, and the cleanest answer is a project holding a hotel licence.
- Partners on the ground. Legal, visa and tax questions belong with vetted local professionals, and I hand those to mine personally.
Exit: the part people plan last and regret first
In Phuket there are two normal exits. Before handover you assign the contract to another buyer; after handover you sell the unit. Exposure runs from a few months to a year, agent commission on a resale is 5-10%, and off-plan growth to handover in my practice is 20-30%. That is a market with a working second-hand layer, which is what liquidity actually means. I went through it step by step in selling property in Thailand.
On Bali the exit is the sale of the years left on a lease, and the pool of buyers for a part-used term is narrower than the pool for a freehold. A PT PMA sells as a company, so the buyer's lawyer opens the whole corporate file. None of this makes an exit impossible. It makes it slower and more dependent on finding the right buyer, and that belongs in your plan from the first day.
Who each island suits
- Bali suits someone buying a lifestyle they already know, comfortable with a term-limited right, happy to run or build a villa, and planning to use it rather than trade it.
- Phuket suits someone who wants a title in their own name, a standardised product, a predictable exit and an income they can model before they pay.
- Both punish the buyer who counts gross, skips the paperwork and mistakes a holiday impression for analysis.
I am not going to tell you Bali is a bad market, because it is not, and people I respect do well there. The two islands simply sell different things: one sells a term with a lifestyle attached, the other an asset you can register, let, model and eventually hand to someone else. To see whether the second is your case at all, read whether buying property in Thailand is worth it, then come and argue with me about the numbers.
- Investment property selection — net yield calculated on specific units
- Yield calculator — run your own numbers in a minute
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
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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”
Send me your budget and what you want this purchase to do, and I will put a Phuket option and its net numbers next to the Bali scenario you are considering.
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.
