Start a beach business.

The structure

A Thai company, a registered lease, the right licences.

The land lease can be in your own name, but the business itself almost always sits in a Thai limited company. The company holds the hotel or food licence, employs staff, banks locally and sponsors your work permit. Foreigners may hold up to 49% of an ordinary company outright; majority foreign ownership is possible for restaurants and hotels with a Foreign Business Licence or, more commonly for hotels, a Board of Investment promotion, which also brings tax holidays in second-tier provinces such as Nakhon Si Thammarat and Phang Nga.

A registered superficies keeps the buildings you put up in your company's ownership for the term. The whole package, lease, superficies, company and licences, is routine for Phuket law firms and typically takes two to four months to assemble.

Licences you will need

Hotel licence

Required for letting rooms to the public under the Hotel Act. Very small operations of a few rooms qualify for a simplified registration. Issued by the provincial governor's office after a building inspection.

Food and liquor

A restaurant licence from the district office and a liquor licence from the Excise Department. Both are straightforward with a compliant kitchen and a Thai company.

Building permit

From the local administrative office, for anything permanent. Light structures, tents and pavilions are simpler but still need a permit.

Environmental

Hotels of 80 rooms or more, or within 50 metres of the shore at any size, need an Environmental Impact Assessment. Smaller schemes may need an Initial Environmental Examination. A restaurant or beach club normally needs neither.

Work permit

Your company sponsors it once it has the registered capital and Thai staff ratio. Directors of BOI-promoted companies get faster processing.

Music and signage

Public-performance licences for music, a signboard tax, and local noise rules for beachfront venues. Minor, but budget for them.

Natai: what the numbers look like

Natai is a quiet, upscale stretch of the Andaman coast twenty-five minutes from Phuket airport, shared with Aleenta, Iniala and Baba Beach Club. Our parcel is 7.7 rai with 144 metres of west-facing beach, walled, with road access, offered on a ten-year registered lease, first year rent-free if you build.

Suited to

A beach club with restaurant; a restaurant with a few rooms; glamping or a light-touch retreat; a boutique stay of four to ten keys; a wedding and event lawn.

Capital

Light structures on a walled, serviced plot: realistic budgets run from about EUR 300,000 for a beach club and kitchen to EUR 1–2 million for ten well-finished keys with a pool.

Season

November to April is high season on the Andaman coast, with strong winter demand from Europe, the Gulf, Australia and East Asia via Phuket's direct flights. Wet-season trade is weekend Thai and Phuket residents.

Payback

With year one rent-free and light structures, a well-run beach club or small stay in this location can recover its capital in three to five seasons, leaving five or more years of return inside the term. Renewal after year ten can be discussed.

The honest part

The beach in front of the wall is public, as everywhere on this coast. Local fishermen use the pier next door. The site is offered as-is; the tenant rebuilds the fence and landscapes. We say this first, not last.

Sichon: for the larger idea

If the plan is a 30–60-key resort, a wellness estate, a glamping village on a real kilometre of beach, or branded villas alongside Banyan Tree's arrival in the district, our Sichon holding is the canvas: 241 rai, lease terms of up to 30 years, and BOI's eight-year tax holiday for tourism investment in Nakhon Si Thammarat. Phase one can open on a few hectares while the rest stays under the palms.

Questions foreign buyers ask us

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