Krabi’s growth over the past five years has been quite impressive, with the opening of the new international terminal in November 2012 opening up the region to an increasing number of direct flights. New direct flights have been added from Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, Moscow, Chengdu and Guangzhou China and added service from Air Asia from Singapore and upcoming flights from Macau and Hong Kong. These compliment the existing direct flights from Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, and Helsinki as well as Kuala Lumpur.

The influx of new tourists has also created new demands for second homes and retirement residences. Since the re-sale market in Krabi is limited due to lack of supply, many newcomers are opting to build their own homes. With an excellent infrastructure of roads, water supply and electric, Krabi has become an attractive, and less expensive alternative to its more developed neighbor in Phuket. Large plots of land are more readily available, and homeowners can find land with spectacular views of the limestone cliffs and be just minutes to the beach.

One draw back to finding land plots in Krabi is that they are usually of quite large size 5 rai (9000 square meters) to 10 rai (16,000 square meters) or even larger. Finding lots of 1 rai (1600 square meters) or less has been difficult and there have been a limited number of projects that have buildable lots. The Na Thai Estates project was one recent example where buyers could buy plots of 475 to 800 square meters with electric and water supply available. However these lots have sold out, and a second subdivision of 500 square meter lots is being planned for early 2016. In the meantime, small buildable lots have been hard to come by.

Pierre Yves Loriers, Managing Director of Ton Co. has been building homes in Krabi since 2000. A pioneer in the luxury villa market, he has seen many changes over the years. One trend that he has noticed is for increased demand for buildable lots of 400 square meters to 800 square meters with electric and water supply hook ups on site. “The recent trend in Krabi is to build smaller houses on smaller plots with lots of luxurious upgrades and details. But it is all about location. A small house in a good location Ao Nang or Na Thai is easier to maintain, rent and has better resale potential than a large home 20 kilometers away from Ao Nang beachfront.”

The real estate market in Krabi is in a less developed stage than its peers in Phuket and Samui, and this is part of the attraction of living in a quiet, peaceful environment. The downside is a lack of a supply of re-sale homes, but the local developers, seeing the demand for buildable lots, have started to subdivide larger properties to fill this need.