Word: thailand
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...members of the international jet set who dig Phuket are a breed apart from the culture vultures who flock to the Indonesian island. "People are usually either Bali people or Phuket people," says Dominique Gallmann, the Swiss-born director of Exotiq Real Estate, which has offices in both Thailand and Indonesia. "They attract different crowds, so the idea of the two islands fighting over the second-home market isn't really true...
...higher than those in Bali. And for potential buyers who are concerned about cultural authenticity, Phuket underwhelms. Much of the island's vacation-property development follows an anodyne architectural style that could just as easily be in southern California or the Costa del Sol. Phuket may be in Thailand, but large swaths of it don't feel very Thai...
...looking for a stress-free condominium with access to yacht marinas and golf courses, Phuket is the right choice - as long as you have the cash to afford it. "There's a strange situation in Phuket," says Risinee Sarikaputra, head of research for property consultant Colliers International in Thailand. "You have low-end residential units that are bought by Thais, and you have luxury units that are bought by foreigners. But there's no real middle-class level. It's either low or high...
...House Rules Buying property in both places isn't quite as simple as purchasing a house back home. Mortgages are rare. Currency fluctuations make buying at the right time all the trickier. And, most importantly, in both Thailand and Indonesia, foreigners cannot own land. Expatriates have two choices. They can either lease land on a long-term basis, which means the value tends to depreciate as the years pass. Or they can set up legal structures in which a local person or company owns the land but usage rights are held by the foreigner. Although tens of thousands of expatriates...
...Click here for photos of recent clashes in Thailand...