Buying property on Koh Samui as a foreigner

Koh Samui is Thailand's second-tier island that has quietly built a first-tier foreign-buyer market. Direct international flights through Bangkok Airways' USM hub, a deep wellness and hospitality economy, and a foreign-resident population that has been compounding for three decades have produced one of the country's most resilient holiday-home markets.

The structural story of recent years has been the branded-residence acceleration. Six Senses Samui, the Conrad Koh Samui residences, the W Koh Samui residences, Four Seasons private residences at Laem Yai and a small but growing pipeline of further brands have all added inventory or pipeline projects. Pricing for sea-view villas in established northeastern and western estates has held remarkably well through Thailand's broader 2025 slowdown, supported by the cash-buyer character of the Samui pool.

What sets Samui apart from Phuket is scale and tone. The island is smaller, the foreign-resident community more long-stay than holiday-home, and the lifestyle infrastructure weighted toward wellness, yoga, slow-living and culinary rather than nightlife. For buyers who want a beach-side second home that genuinely feels residential, Samui is often the better fit.

Phuket buyers want a villa. Samui buyers want a home. The legal mechanics are the same. The decision-making takes longer here, and that is usually a good thing.

The Thai legal framework is the same across the country. A foreigner can own a condominium unit outright on freehold, in their own name, with the same title as a Thai national, subject to the 49 percent per-building foreign quota. The quota applies to total saleable floor area in a building, not individual units. In Samui's newer foreign-oriented condominium projects (Bophut, Choeng Mon, Chaweng Noi) the quota typically fills relatively easily; mid-market local buildings often have ample quota.

Foreigners cannot own land directly. Houses, villas and detached residences are typically acquired through long-term leasehold (thirty years initial term, contractual renewals) or via a Thai company structure that holds the land with the foreigner as 49 percent shareholder plus controlling preference shares.

A Samui villa transaction looks identical in structure to a Phuket one, but the documentation discipline of the local developer pool is more variable. Samui has both institutional developer products with well-documented long-term leases and bespoke land deals where the buyer must drive the documentation quality through their own counsel. Choose lawyers who know Samui specifically.

Samui is geographically smaller than Phuket and the foreign buyer markets concentrate in a handful of corridors. The northeast is the established foreign-resident heart of the island. The west coast carries the premium sunset-view villa market. The south and the southeast offer value and a more local Thai feel. Chaweng is the volume tourism centre, useful for yield-focused condo buyers.

Owning property on Samui does not give you the right to reside in Thailand. The visa routes are the same as the rest of the country.

A Samui purchase typically runs six to ten weeks from signed reservation to title transfer at the Surat Thani Provincial Land Office, with some flexibility around the Samui sub-office processing times.

1. Reservation agreement. Typically THB 100,000 to 500,000 deposit. Read carefully before signing, including the conditions under which the deposit becomes non-refundable.

2. Due diligence by Thai counsel. Land title verification, foreign quota check for condos, developer or lessor verification, lease document review, site survey. Two to four weeks for serious due diligence.

3. Sale and purchase agreement. For condos, a freehold or leasehold SPA. For villas, the SPA pairs with a separate lease document for the land or with share transfer documents for the Thai company structure.

4. Foreign Exchange Transaction Form (FETF). Required for freehold condominium purchases. Purchase capital must be wired into Thailand from overseas in foreign currency and converted to baht by a Thai bank, which issues the FETF. The Land Office requires it for the freehold transfer.

5. Land Office transfer. Title is registered at the Samui sub-office of the Surat Thani Provincial Land Office. Long-term leases are registered the same way. Both parties or their authorised representatives attend. Transfer fee and taxes paid in cash or bank draft.

Samui taxes are the same as the rest of Thailand. The one-time costs at purchase are the transfer fee (2 percent of Land Office assessed value), either stamp duty (0.5 percent) or specific business tax (3.3 percent, applicable when the seller has held the property under five years), and withholding tax on the seller side. By custom these are split between buyer and seller, though allocation is negotiable.

Annual recurring costs include the Land and Building Tax (single-digit per thousand on assessed value, modest in absolute terms), common-area fees for villa estates (typically THB 25 to 50 per square metre per month for premium estates, plus separate pool and garden charges in some structures), and personal income tax on rental income. For Thai-company villa structures, allow THB 30,000 to 60,000 per year for accountant and tax filing fees.

Unregistered leases. A 30-year lease must be registered at the Land Office to be enforceable beyond three years. Some Samui sales galleries promise registration that never happens. Verify the registration document before final payment.

Vague renewal mechanics. Two thirty-year renewals are not statutorily guaranteed. They are contractual promises by the lessor that depend on document quality and lessor continuity. Renewal clauses must be specific, with clear renewal triggers and unambiguous terms.

Nominee Thai shareholders. Using Thai nationals as nominees in a company structure (without genuine economic participation) is illegal under current enforcement guidance. The risk has been rising. Use specialist counsel and either structure genuine Thai participation or use the long-term lease route.

Pre-launch deposit risk.Samui's developer pool ranges from institutional to undercapitalised. Verify developer financing, completion history and bank arrangements before committing pre-launch deposits. Deferred or cancelled mid-build projects are the realistic risk with undercapitalised developers.

Water and infrastructure. Some Samui villa estates rely on private water systems, septic tanks and standalone electrical infrastructure. Verify what is connected to municipal services and what is private, and what the ongoing maintenance arrangements are. This affects long-term cost and resale.

Samui rental economics are stronger than Bangkok and comparable to or slightly above Phuket on a like-for-like villa basis. Premium sea-view villas in established northeastern and western estates deliver 5 to 7 percent net yield to the owner with active management programmes. Owner-direct rental via Airbnb or villa-direct platforms can push gross yields to 8 to 12 percent with substantially more owner workload.

Branded-residence pools (Six Senses, W Samui, Conrad, Four Seasons) deliver 4 to 6 percent net with full operator management and capped owner usage (typically 30 to 60 nights per year, peak season blocked).

Condominium yields run 4 to 6 percent gross for long-stay residential rental, 5 to 8 percent for short-stay holiday rental in foreign-buyer condo buildings. Lower than villa yields but with passive management and easier remote ownership.

Samui's international school presence is smaller than Phuket's but established. The main international schools are Panyadee British International School, the International School of Samui (ISS) and PrePrep International School. The school cluster supports full-time foreign-family residency on the island but is not comparable in depth to Phuket or Bangkok.

Medical infrastructure includes Bangkok Hospital Samui and the Samui International Hospital, both with strong foreign-resident programmes. Complex cases are referred to Bangkok or Phuket.

Getting on and off the island is the practical constraint of Samui life. The USM airport is operated principally by Bangkok Airways, which prices its USM routes at a premium. Alternative routes via Surat Thani airport plus ferry add travel time but reduce cost. The ferry from Donsak (mainland Surat Thani) to Nathon (Samui) takes 90 minutes and runs throughout the day; private yachts and speedboats fill the ultra-premium segment.

Lifestyle infrastructure is wellness-weighted compared to Phuket. The island hosts one of Asia's deepest concentrations of detox retreats, yoga schools, vegan and plant-based dining, and spa facilities. Sailing, kite surfing, and golf (Santiburi Samui Country Club) round out the recreational set. The pace is meaningfully slower than Phuket. Many full-time foreign residents cite this as the primary reason they chose Samui over the Andaman alternative.