THAILAND - Villas in Phuket

phuket.com, 14-12-2006

Luxury villas in the tropics, he points out, need good maintenance and this comes at a price; to maintain a large home with four to six bedrooms, on two or three rai of land (a rai is two fifths of an acre, or 1,600 squaremetres) costs around 100,000 to 150,000 baht a month. There are two levels of villa management company. The first is the company that ensures that the property is always clean, in good shape and ready to be used by the owners or their guests.

A typically premium property has upwards of 300 square metres of interior space, a sea view or at least a mountain view, two to four bedrooms and a private swimming pool.
High-end premium villas are larger - 400 square metres or more of living space on a plot of at least 800 square metres - and are generally oceanfront or have a very good sea view. Each has between three and five bedrooms, and a private swimming pool, usually an infinity-edge pool.

Currently, one of the most interesting developments, he said, is Jumeirah Phuket Private Island Resort, formerly called Barama Bay. It is to be built on a private island in Ao Po, in Phang Nga Bay. It has plots-plus-villas touching the five-million-dollar mark," Mr Barnett said. "It will combine a top-tier international hotel, luxury private villas and a private yacht club. This turns a new page in [the story of] luxury homes in Phuket.

Adrian Zecha, the man behind Aman Resorts, probably has the best claim to have started the luxury villa market in Phuket. He opened Amanpuri in 1988 as a high-end resort, but also included in the property were a number of luxury villas for private ownership

>>Full article