Looking East To Koh Chang - Part II
Thailand Real Estate Magazine | Issue 60 May 2006
By: Advertorial
Last month, in the first of three articles taking a look at the
property market on the island of Koh Chang, Trat, I looked at
the island’s background, infrastructure and touched on reasons
as to why the price of land here is comparatively high. (In
brief, the combined forces of speculators and simple supply &
demand.)
Anyone, having decided that Pattaya may be just a bit too
‘touristy’ for them (tough decision, I know.) and who is
planning to head to Koh Chang to look for island property will
need to know where to look for land and what to expect
price-wise. And, by pure coincidence, these are the very topics
that this article covers.
Koh Chang is a big island, it’s larger than Samui. So the first
thing to do is forget any notions you had of walking beach to
beach looking for land. You’ll need your own wheels. Coming from
Pattaya you’ll find it’s easy to rent a small car in Pattaya and
bring it to Koh Chang. The car ferries are cheap and run between
6am – 7pm. Once on Koh Chang the single road that
circumnavigates 90% of the islands perimeter is paved and poses
no problems, other than a couple of steep hills, for a Honda
Jazz. On Koh Chang automatic bikes can be rented for 250
baht/day or awful Suzuki ‘jeeps’ for 1200 baht/day. However, as
your real estate search will probably take you all around the
island, having a vehicle with four wheels is infinitely more
comfortable than one with two.
“Ahhh, but can’t I simply walk into a real estate agency once I
am on Koh Chang. They will have details and photos of dozens of
plots in my price range?” You may well be thinking. In theory
this is true, in practice it isn’t, due to the distinct lack of
both real estate agencies and affordable plots for sale.
You will find a handful of roadside offices in Whitesands, Klong
Prao & Kai Bae, advertising a small number of plots. What you
will also find is that:
1) The offices mainly having real estate listings as a sideline
to their main business which is selling snorkeling and elephant
trekking trips to tourists
2) Staff have never seen the land and have limited knowledge of
the plot, the owner or are simply unable to provide any
information other that written on a piece of paper in front of
them
3) Any request to view a plot of land any distance from the
office is met with a sigh and demand for payment for transport,
just in case you aren’t a serious buyer. (How can you be until
you see the land in person???)
However, these minor obstacles can always be overcome. What is
harder to get round is the realization that firstly, most agents
have got the same plots of land on their books and secondly,
that there is a shortage of small plots of Chanote, NS3K or even
NS3 titled land available. In fact when a Pattaya based agency
is advertising a 1 Rai plot on the west coast of Koh Chang, with
3 bungalows, by a stony beach, for 27 million baht; this should
make you sit up and realize that you’ll have a job on your hands
to find suitable spot for the beachfront house of your dreams,
unless you start buying lottery tickets by the dozen.
The availability of land is a major problem on the west coast.
As a rule of thumb, 90% of land on the right of the road as you
travel south will have recognized title deeds and 90% of land on
the left will be farmland or, in Whitesands owned by the Thai
military. You won’t find a small plot of titled land (1 – 2 Rai)
on any of the main beaches unless money really is no object to
you. You may find this size plot roadside, but figure on 5-8
million baht/Rai and don’t expect any beach access or sea views.
Many buyers will have already researched their land titles and
know that building on ‘Por Bor Tor 5’ farm land is technically
prohibited and buying such land is generally regarded, by both
lawyers and expats you meet in beer bars, as “dodgy”. However,
on Koh Chang the lack of land means that farm land has been
heavily developed with shops, private homes, small resorts etc
all built on PBT5 land.
It’s the unavailability of small plots of titled land, let alone
those at realistic prices on the west coast has lead an
increasing number of buyers to opt to buy a Rai or two of
farmland in an inland valley rather than not buy at all. Whether
this is prudent or not remains to be seen. But the choice as to
whether go with an affordable plot on the west coast – which
almost always means no beach frontage, no sea view and the hope
that the title will be upgraded in the future; or look elsewhere
on the island is one every potential buyer is faced with.
This is the point in the article where you give up on Koh Chang
and flick to the ads for Mabprachan Lake properties; as you’ve
read that there are no ‘real’ real estate agencies on the
island, there’s very little land available on the well-known
west coast beaches and any small affordable plots are likely to
be farm land rather than titled land.
But viewing the options on Koh Chang solely in terms of having
to be located on the west coast is taking a very short term
view. Even now, it’s becoming clear that the west of the island
will be developed for tourism and that the east and south east
of the island are the areas that anyone considering a small
scale investment in land should be looking at.
The reasons are obvious: an availability of small plots of
titled land; quiet local villages which aren’t home to dozens of
identical shacks selling beachwear; easy access to the ferry
piers; and some stunning mountain and bay scenery. The main
downside for some may be the fact that the beaches comprise of
coarse, red sand rather than the powdery white variety found on
the west coast; for others the downside may be a total lack of
beer bars and restaurants serving steak & chips in the vicinity.
Upon arrival at the ferry pier you will immediately notice that
the vast majority (90%+) of vehicles turn right, to head around
to the west coast. The east coast road is very quiet; it
meanders south from the piers through a couple of villages, with
the majority of roadside scenery being rubber and fruit
plantations. Two large bays dominate the south of the island.
Salakkok, which has one of the most beautiful views on the
island from the pier – a view over a mangrove lined bay to the
mountains inland, with no hotel, resort, bungalow development of
any kind in sight. The south facing Salakphet Bay has seen more
development, but nothing on the scale of even the quietest west
coast beach. The bay is perfect for sailing or kayaking and
somehow you just know that a huge marina will be built there in
the future. But for now, the resorts remain quiet with the
majority of occupants being weekending Thais for whom a good
beach is secondary to a good seafood meal.
As with the west coast, the days of real bargains have gone, but
land prices are still significantly cheaper than those on the
sunset side of the island. Well located Chanote titled land can
still be had for 1 - 1.5 million baht/Rai. Beachfront you can
expect to pay 4 – 5 million for a single Rai with access from
the main road; and from 3 million baht / Rai up for larger, eg.
3 to 5 Rai, plots of Chanote or NS3 titled land.
Next month, I’ll provide some examples of specific plots that
are for sale and also look at what the future holds for the
island. For more information on Koh Chang please visit http://www.iamkohchang.com
or email me direct at < ian@iamkohchang.com >
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