Koh Samui Apartments

While there are many types of residential offerings on Koh Samui, not all are within the budget of most people. However the alternatives are always being developed. Initially most developments in Koh Samui were the more high-end type villas, as the island strove, unofficially, to make a name as five star resort island. While many of these developments are still being built, the size of the market, twinned with the actual size of the island have leant itself to other types of development, such as apartment buildings. It had also become apparent that Koh Samui needed to cater for many different types of visitors and residents, and the building of apartments has played a large part in this.

It is important at this point to mention the condominium market in Thailand. The definition is important to clarify with the real estate agent or owner that you deal with as there are certain advantages to owning a condominium as a foreigner. That is to say condominiums can be owned outright by foreigners, unlike other property in Thailand that must be leased or owned by a Thai company. The reason for this is that the a condominium is mainly Thai owned (51%), so the building as a whole is classified as Thai owned, allowing foreigners to fully own the individual units in the rest of the building.

While the definitions of apartments and condos can get confusing - many people believe the definitions to come from the various facilities and services available - it is important to clarify exactly what the ownership rights are within any apartment / condominium development that you may be interested in. It might be the case that the development is not classed as a condominium, but the legal aspects to the ownership are well enough developed to properly cater for foreigners wishing to own their apartment. In fact, if ownership is a big issue for you, which it probably is, then this a good way to narrow down the choice you have.