The insider's guide to building on a Thai island. Real costs, legal structures, island comparisons, and how to avoid the mistakes that cost people thousands.
The insider's guide to building your villa on a Thai island
What's Inside
Everything in this guide comes from building four villas on Thai islands, not from a desk in London or a real estate agency's brochure.
Side-by-side comparison of what your money gets you. A 200 sqm villa with pool costs 30–50% of the UK equivalent.
What foreigners can and cannot own, which legal structures work, and which ones will get you into serious trouble.
Infrastructure, costs, labour, lifestyle, rental demand, and zoning compared across the three main building islands.
Water supply crises, ferry logistics, electricity reliability, labour shortages, and monsoon planning.
Real cases including a 400 million THB fraud on Koh Samui in 2024. The red flags and how to protect yourself.
From land search to handover — a realistic 14–20 month timeline with what happens at each stage.
30–50%
less than UK building costs
8–11%
net rental yields on Koh Phangan
14–20
months from land search to move-in
4
villas built by James on the island
About the Author
MEng Structural Engineering
I'm a UK-qualified structural engineer who sold my London house and moved to Koh Phangan to build a different kind of life. I've been involved in the construction of four villas on the island, applying the same engineering rigour I was trained in — adapted to the realities of tropical island construction.
I wrote this guide because I kept having the same conversation with people back home. The same questions, the same misinformation, the same avoidable mistakes. This is the guide I wish I'd had before I started.
Get the Guide
25 pages of honest, first-hand information about building on a Thai island. Free, no obligations, and genuinely useful whether you build or not.