Why Rental Yield From a Phuket Holiday Home Is Harder to Earn Than Buyers Expect

Phuket received 9.2 million visitors in the first eight months of 2026, according to Tourism Authority of Thailand figures reported by Khaosod English. Some of them come back as buyers. They pick a condominium or villa with a simple plan: use it for a few weeks a year and rent it out for the rest.

That plan sounds sensible, and for some owners it works well. For many others, the rental income turns out lower and harder to earn than they expected. The gap usually has less to do with the property itself and more to do with how it runs once the owner goes home.

Who Is Buying Property in Phuket Right Now

Foreign buyers bought 6,533 condominium units across Thailand in the first half of 2026, worth THB 28.3 billion, according to the Real Estate Information Center (REIC). Chinese buyers still spent the most, at THB 6.9 billion, although their spending fell 27.7 per cent compared with the same period in 2025.

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Why Rental Income Is Part of Almost Every Buyer's Plan

For most overseas buyers, a Phuket home is part holiday house and part investment. The owner visits for a few weeks, and for the rest of the year the property is expected to cover its running costs and ideally earn a return. Sales brochures often support that idea with yield figures, and the visitor numbers make demand look certain.

Demand is real. The harder question is how much of it reaches the owner after a year of running costs, empty weeks and repairs.

Where the Yield Gets Lost

To understand that gap, we looked at several property management companies in Phuket and read reviews from local owners before speaking to Lofty Property Management, which has managed villas and condominiums in Phuket since 2015 and now looks after more than 250 properties. According to the company, an average villa on the island earns about THB 8,000 to 15,000 a night and can bring in up to THB 180,000 a month. Several things eat into that income before any money reaches the owner, and each one needs a different fix.

The first is the season. Phuket's high season runs roughly from November to April, and bookings drop during the rainy months from May to October. The company handles this with a pricing team that adjusts rates every day and lists properties on Airbnb, Agoda, Booking.com and its own booking website, so a quiet week on one platform can still fill through another.

The second is cost. Commission, platform fees, cleaning, laundry, utilities and repairs all come out of the booking income. The market is also levelling off. The company charges repairs at actual cost, asks owners to approve any job above THB 5,000, and shows every expense in an owner app as it happens.

The third is trust. An owner who lives abroad hands a manager the keys, the guests and the income, then relies on that manager's judgement for months at a time. Most people buy a holiday home so they don't have to deal with a power cut or a broken pump themselves. That makes the manager's response when something goes wrong more important than anything written in the contract.

The fourth is the law. Under Thailand's Hotel Act, renting out accommodation for less than 30 days counts as running a hotel and needs a licence. Many condominium buildings also ban stays shorter than 30 nights in their house rules, so buyers should check both before assuming a unit can earn nightly rates.

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Long Term Lease or Short Stays? A Property Manager's View

Faced with these costs, many property owners decide a long term tenant is the safer choice. One tenant, one contract and one monthly payment feel simpler than a steady flow of guests. The company argues that this feeling of safety is often misleading in Phuket.

The first reason is income. According to the company, well managed short stays usually earn considerably more over a year than a long term tenant pays, even after empty weeks and higher running costs.

The second reason is the condition of the property. A long term tenant may live in a villa for eight months without reporting a slow leak, and by the time they leave, mould can spread through the walls. The company says it regularly sees owners face repair bills of THB 50,000 to 80,000 after a long lease ends, for damage that would have cost around THB 2,000 - 5,000 to fix in the first week. With short stays, the team inspects the property after every checkout, so small problems get fixed early, and guest deposits can cover part of the cost.

The third reason is flexibility. An owner with short stay bookings can block dates and spend a holiday in their own villa. With a tenant on a one year lease, the owner cannot use the home until the lease ends.

What to Settle Before Signing the Purchase

Buyers spend months comparing locations, views and prices. Far fewer spend time on the question that decides their rental income: who will run the property once they fly home, and how.

Before signing, it is worth checking whether the building allows stays under 30 nights, how income changes between high and low season, and what a year of cleaning, repairs and management will realistically cost. It also helps to ask any manager how often they inspect the property, how quickly they respond at night, how they set prices and whether they need approval before large repairs.

Phuket's property boom is real, and so is the demand from visitors. For buyers who plan to rent out their new home, the yield will depend largely on how well someone runs the property during the months they spend elsewhere.

[GP/VP]

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