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A Simple Guide for Life in Thailand.

Curated places, trusted professionals, and the insurance to back it all up — one home base for expats living here, from the day you land.

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Phuket is smaller than it looks, and five parts of it hold almost everyone

You can drive the whole island in ninety minutes. Where you land first tends to decide how the first year goes, so here is what each part is actually like.

Bang Tao and Laguna, Phuket

Bang Tao & Laguna

The most built-up of the expat areas, and the easiest place to arrive with children in tow.

Rent, one bed
฿30–55k
To the airport
25 min
Draws
Families

Rents are indicative monthly asking prices for an unfurnished one-bedroom on a twelve-month lease. Drive times assume ordinary daytime traffic.

The Local List

Places worth knowing about, picked by people who actually live here. It's not a scraped list of everything that shows up on a map.

Longtail boat in turquoise water beneath limestone cliffs, Phra Nang Beach, Krabi

Beaches

The coves worth the drive, mapped by people who've actually been.

 Aerial view of Phang Nga Bay's limestone formations and mangroves

Viewpoints

Where to watch the sun go down without fighting a crowd for it.

 Street food vendor grilling skewers at a Bangkok night market

Restaurants

Street stalls to the table you book ahead.

 Pool loungers overlooking the ocean at a hotel resort

Hotels

For visitors, or a weekend away from your own place.

 Woman practising yoga on a poolside deck overlooking the tropics

Wellness

Studios, spas, and retreats worth the trip.

 Aerial view of longtail boats in turquoise water at Phi Phi Island

Boat tours

Small boats, early starts, and islands before the crowds.

Supermarkets & malls

The familiar brands and home comforts.

Homeschool & learning

Co-ops, tutors, and the paperwork explained.

Tours & experiences

Cooking classes, ziplines, and day trips on land.

Sports & activities

For kids and adults: the clubs, gyms, and lessons worth showing up for.

Some categories take more than a good photo

Accountants, lawyers, real estate agents, and schools go on the list only after we've actually checked them out. That makes this part of the guide smaller — on purpose.

A desk with a passport, visa stamp, and documents in a Phuket office

Checked before they're listed

Every name on this page has had an actual conversation with someone on the team, not just a good storefront photo.

Accountants

Tax season, made survivable — for local filings and cross-border income alike.

Lawyers

Visas, contracts, and property, handled by someone who'll return your calls.

Real Estate Agents

Buying, renting, or leasing — someone who explains the foreign-ownership rules before you sign, not after.

Schools

For families putting down roots, not just passing through.

What a month here actually costs

One person, living the way most expats end up living after the first year — a condo rather than a villa, local food most nights, a scooter rather than a car.

Rent, one bed

฿0

Food and groceries

฿0

Health insurance

฿0

The line most people leave off the spreadsheet, right up until a motorbike spill turns into a ฿400,000 hospital bill.

Scooter and fuel

฿0

Power, water, internet

฿0

A month

฿0

An open-air café in Phuket with timber tables and louvred openings

Roughly ฿40,000 a month buys a comfortable, unhurried life on this island — about what a single room costs in most of the cities people leave behind.

Indicative figures for a single person in 2026, drawn from what people in the guide report paying. Your own numbers will move with the area you pick.

Your first ninety days, in order

Almost every problem new arrivals hit comes from doing these in the wrong sequence. This is the order that works.

A rider on a scooter heading down a shaded lane lined with rubber trees in Phuket
  1. 1

    Week one

    A Thai SIM and a fixed address

    Everything after this asks for one or both. A short-term rental receipt counts as an address, so get one in writing before you move on.

  2. 2

    Week three

    Work out your visa runway

    Know which extension you are heading for while you still have weeks to spare, not days. The options narrow sharply once you are inside the last fortnight.

  3. 3

    Week four

    Get covered before you need it

    Private hospitals here are genuinely excellent, and they bill like it. Cover bought after an incident covers nothing.

    Start a quote
  4. 4

    Month two

    Open a Thai bank account

    Take every document you own, then take a second copy of each. Branches differ on what they want, and a wasted morning is the usual price of guessing.

  5. 5

    Month three

    Sign a lease, not another booking

    By now you know which side of the island you want. A twelve-month lease costs roughly half what the same place costs by the month.

Where this started

Insurance — protection built for a life abroad

Expats & Co. began as a referral point for AA Insurance Brokers, a Thailand-based firm regulated by the Office of Insurance Commission for over 20 years. It's still the most trusted card in the deck.

  • Full health and travel cover, done properly
  • Built for expats, wherever in the world that is
  • A licensed broker's name on every policy
  • One contact, from your first quote to your last claim

Get a free consultation

Someone from AA Insurance Brokers will follow up directly, usually within a day.

Sent straight to Expats & Co. — shared only with AA Insurance Brokers to prepare your quote.

Every kind of cover we place

All arranged and issued directly by AA Insurance Brokers — priced for your situation, not a generic bracket.

Everyday life

Health Insurance

In-patient and out-patient cover at private hospitals, with options that follow you abroad.

Travel Insurance

Medical, baggage, and trip cover for however often you actually fly.

Personal Accident

A payout if an accident stops you from working, regardless of fault.

Property

Home Insurance

Cover for the house you're renting long-term or bought outright.

Condo Insurance

Built for condo living — contents, liability, and what a standard policy misses.

Getting around

Car Insurance

Cover for driving here, sorted in a language you actually understand.

Motorbike Insurance

The cover most new arrivals skip, and regret skipping.

Boat Insurance

For owners, not just renters — hull, liability, and everything between.

Work & extras

Business

Cover for a company registered here, from day one.

Employee Benefits

Group plans for teams, not just individuals.

Golf Insurance

Equipment, liability, and the odd hole-in-one payout.

Drone Insurance

Cover for flying legally, and for when something goes wrong.

OIC

Licensed broker
ว00023/2550

0+

Years
on the ground here

0

Offices
Hua Hin, Pattaya, Phuket, Samut Prakan

EN

English-speaking
no jargon, no runaround

Vetted, not just listed

Every professional on this page got a real phone call and a real check before their name went up.

Built from actually living here

Every beach, café, and viewpoint in the guide has been visited by someone who lives on this island.

One home base, wherever home is now

The same guide and the same broker, whether you're settling in Phuket or resettling somewhere else.