REAL ESTATE
Welcome to Fantasy Island
By Kerrie Hall - Thailand Property Report
Nov 10, 2005, 03:37

Many islands in the bay are waking to the tune of eco-tourism dollars and catering to this emerging niche market. Tourism trends show growth in the independent free traveller market, which includes those who desire a more personal experience. Vacation villas are ever more popular in the Andaman region with many island resorts catering to this trend. Islands such as Koh Lanta (voted 2004 'World's Sexiest Island' by Forbes Magazine) in Krabi province, with its stunning white powder beaches and low-impact tropical resorts are attracting their fair share of villa buyers who, in turn, rent their property to like-minded clients through managed property services.

Franck de Lestapis - general manager of Koh Lanta's Pimalai Resort and Spa will launch Pimalai Pool Villas in December 2005. The 32 elegantly appointed one, two (19.5 to 24.5 million baht) and three bedroom villas - all with private infinity-edge pools - are located on the hillside behind the main resort. At 60 metres above sea level, the villas enjoy breathtaking Andaman Sea and tropical jungle views. A member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, the stunning development was designed by Thailand-based Habita Architects with interior design by P49 Design.

"In line with the Pimalai philosophy, a great emphasis has again been placed by the architects to preserve the environment when designing the low rise southern Thai- style villa and this enables the estate to complement the natural setting rather than to compete with it," says French hotelier de Lestapis.

At the other end of the scale, Mango House on Fisherman's Pier in Lanta Old Town - a quaint and charming 100 hundred year old fishing village on Lanta's south-west coast - is a new-concept mini-hotel cum haute B & B. Emerging from a row of renovated timber Chinese shop-houses on a pier directly facing the fantastical island views of southern Phang Nga Bay, the new community will eventually host a series of upmarket, private access villas and suites, and a waterfront seafood restaurant and wine bar in keeping with the historic cultural landscape of the area.

"The Mango House concept follows a trend based on discreet, 'home away from home' mini-hotels now to be found in some of Europe's most fashionable neighbourhoods," says developer Duane Lennie. "Many people now, when they travel, do not like to stay in large impersonal hotels so the mini-hotel idea is a great alternative".

With the road system now completed on Koh Lanta, the island can be traversed from north to south in just 20 minutes from the vehicle ferry port in the north. Several small villa estates are now in the planning stages or are currently in initial development around the island. Due to the close proximity of Krabi International Airport on the mainland coupled with the quiet nature of this eco-destination, Koh Lanta has a large fan base of European visitors plus full-time and part-time residents from around the globe.

Phang Nga Bay is a miracle of nature - soaring pinnacles of limestone karsts and beach-rimmed mountainous islands draw many visitors and residents to fall effortlessly en rapture with the surreal beauty and timeless existence of the region. French Impressionist painter Claude Monet was one of the first advocates of en plein air - the style of outdoor painting - and he would have been in his own personal heaven in Phang Nga Bay where sunrise and sunset turns the surreal into fantasy. With over 100 islands in the bay of Phang Nga, fringed by Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi and Trang provinces the region is famed for breathtaking views in all directions.

Twenty six years ago, a French social anthropologist happened upon Koh Yao Noi, a stunning island one-hour equidistant between Phuket and Krabi. Jean Boulbe was so entranced by the Monet-esque views that he bought land and visited on occasions for peaceful picnics. Just five years ago, with failing health, Boulbe sold the land to Swiss banker Markus A. Frey who, in collaboration with French architect and former anthropology student of Boulbe - Georges Cortez - designed the environmentally friendly Koyao Island Resort - a collection of 15 discreet, luxury sea view villas.

The Koh Yao duo are now independently developing their own distinctive properties: Cortez, a seafront property of four luxury serviced villas - Koh Yao Pavillions - based on his unique Asian-style designs and his signature island villas tailor-built for well-heeled European clients; Frey is constructing a villa resort to be managed by Six Senses operating as the Evason Hideaway Resort and Spa. Other new expat residents are building dream island homes which will serve as a second-home away from busy careers in the US and Europe.

The island has full infrastructure, including electricity, water, telephone, internet access, a hospital, police station, schools and government offices. Koh Yao Noi like many other inhabited islands in Phang Nga Bay, is primarily populated by small, peaceful Muslim villages. Many of the 4000 residents are of Malay ancestry and earn their living from the sea or from rubber plantations that dot the lower reaches of interior mountains. Most of the island's family's fish, tap rubber, grow rice or work in an emerging tourism industry in the region.

"The people are some of the warmest people I have ever met. You can still be walking down the road and be asked, if you would like a lift or borrow a bike free of charge," says Brett Moffitt - Managing Director of Phuket Real Estate Partners.

Moffitt says the less-developed but equally idyllic sister island of Koh Yao Yai, next to Koh Yao Noi, will be connected via a bridge in the near future and government money has been set aside to start the project. He says that smaller beach front plots still sell for under 3 million baht per rai and larger plots can be as little as 700,000 baht per rai.

"I currently have over 4000 rai for sale in differing sizes and locations and I would say [since] I have been selling land on Koh Yao for seven years, I have seen an increase of over 500% in property prices in that time".

Closer to Phuket, islands such as Maphrao (Coconut island), Naka Yai, and Koh Racha Yai are attracting investor interest. Just a kilometre offshore, only five minutes by boat to a public jetty, and minutes to Phuket's Boat Lagoon and Royal Phuket Marina, Koh Maphrao offers small-island living with the modern infrastructure and facilities close to the doorstep. According to the Andaman Property website, the developers of Burasuri and Katathani resorts will soon commence resort construction on the island. Mainland electricity is due in the near future and the local Or Bor Tor awaits approval of a future bridge to the mainland. Several residential estates are in the planning and construction stages.

Presently, Koh Naka Yai - just 10 minutes off Phuket's east coast - has just one luxurious fully serviced, private villa available for short-term lease. The close proximity to Ao Po pier on the mainland, just twenty minutes from Phuket International Airport, gives this dream island a prospectively attractive future. At least two resorts are under construction but currently building has ceased due to company circumstances. Several Phuket-based realtors represent beachfront land vendors on the island. Currently populated with several small fishing villages, Naka has the feel of an island that time forgot.

This writer recently heard on the grapevine of a few well-placed, uninhabited bay islands on the market. I don't know about the price tag, but if peace and solitude are at top of your wish list … don't leave it too long to seal the dream.

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