Financial Times

Accessible and crowded or isolated and unspoilt? Finding your ideal island home involves trade-offs, writes Nicola Venning.

In Phuket, an established second-home destination with an international airport, two-bedroom apartments now start at £165,000 and some estate agents are beginning to worry about overdevelopment. “Patong beach has become a Mecca of hotels, high rises, bars and all that goes with that,” says David Forbes of Chesterfield.

Less busy beaches can be found on the island’s northwest coast but prices remain steep. Cluttons is selling 18 luxury homes set in a tropical rainforest with ocean views for €2.1m. Luxurious “residential estates” can be picked up on nearby Barama Bay Private Island Resort through Aylesford International from $3m.