Schools in Phuket and best places to lease a house

Hi looking at schools would love to know if anyone knows about the school Head Start and what area would we look at to lease a house not too far from the school. We would prefer a new home just a few years old. I know of Surin,Kamala,Bang Tao,Karon,Kata,Nai Harn and Chalong but do not know if any of these are near the school.We were keen on QSI school but we can not afford it.

head star school is in phuket town exactly Wichit near MAKRO super market . so u should look for some house in phuket town or kathu area .

Thankyou I really appreciate you responding. How long have you lived in Phuket if you dont mind me asking

for just 8 months

How are you finding it living in Phuket are you planning on staying for a extended time. Are you leasing a villa etc and how did you find that experience,  was it a easy process. Do you work in Phuket or do you work Offshore.

You could easily live in Chalong as well. Not that much further of a drive.

Hi Jade Karaf,

I assume you probably work in Songkla but I can tell Phuket is the best part to live and you can enjoy all activities with your family as long as your husband has a rotation The areas you mentioned are good to go anywhere in a short distance (ie. beaches, restaurants, recreational facilities, etc) except schools. If you are looking for a family-oriented environment (not tourist areas as your mention), I think Kathu or Chalong may be  your choice. It does not take you long to go anywhere as long as you have a car.

If you want to live somewhere is close to schools, you will probably be far from the rest of facilities. Just keep that in mind. There is nothing perfect, but if I were you, I would live in either Kathu or Chalong.

Hope that helps.

Hi,

Head Start and QSI are good international schools with fairly fair cost. Others schools that many family choose for their kids are PIA (Phuket International Academy and BISP (British International School Phuket). Place to lease is Kathu, Koh Kaew, Town, Thalang, Laguna. I don't recommend Chalong or Rawai if you have to send kids to these schools. It's not a long way and yes, Phuket is such a small Island but a lot of traffic. There is a construction going on at main junction between Chalong and School area. This big project, making underground tunnel to reduce traffic, will be going on for 2 more years. If you don't want to live in the car for many hours a day, just choose Kathu, Phuket Town or Koh Kaew area.

Hope that helps.

Traffic should get better in the future, because there are plans to have a connection at Phuket airport to a jetty, so tourists staying in the south of the island will be transported by water and not road. I just wondered when you visited Phuket and if you are aware that the climate is idyllic for about 4-5 months of the year (hot and dry), but the remaining months are very rainy and stormy indeed.

Thankyou so much my husband and I both drive in Phuket so we would be happy to drive to the beach. With the school aslong as it is 20 minutes away. We have to get back over there as soon as we can I am itching to find a school find  a house and settle in.

Do you mind if I ask you some questions, do you have children and if so what school do they attend and also what area did you choose to live and also how log have you lived in Phuket. I would be very appreciative of any advice you are willing to give me.

We were there in  July, September and November and I quiet like the stormey weather. I love watching the change of seasons, it would be boring if it was hot all year round with no rain.

Any sugestions about schools and locations to live with my family I have a 7 year old and a 10 year old. We live in Perth Australia and we all need a change and are so keen to get to Phuket but it is so overwhelming in regards to the organization in getting there. Any advice I would really apreciate it.

Thankyou so much do you have children and how long have you lived in Phuket

Hi I am flying over to Phuket in the next two months to look for a home to lease for a year. Headstart is the school our children will attend if they are accepted of course. Would Chalong be a suitable area close enough to the school. At the moment my husbands work pays for his flights to work he works on a Oil Rig so he flys twice a month. If we move we would have to pay for his flights just wondered if anyone else was in the same sitiuation, my husband thinks he should be able to find cheap flights. Wanted to know if there is any other fly in fly out workers living in Phuket and how they cope with the expences of paying for flights.

As you don't mention where the rigs are located, the flights may go through Bangkok or even KL or other hubs. The prices are generally high most of the year, because Phuket is a main tourist destination. Driving to the airport can take at least 1 hour from Chalong at many times of the day. Immigration and processing on arrival is a bit of a nightmare, because the airport does not have sufficient facilities to cope with the passenger volumes i.e. 7-8 planes can arrive an hour at the tourist peak seasons.

Oh no we have taken 6 months of talking about the move and now are very excited and the children are to. We live in Perth and the Oil Rig is of the coast of Broome or Exmouth. He would have to fly to the Perth Airport and then his work would fly him out to the rig. The school fees for the Headstart school are very high compared to what we are paying now it is about $12,000.00 Australian dollars more per year than what we pay now. We love the school and we feel it is worth the money but our finances would not be able to cover another expence like paying for my husbands flights. I will have to talk with him so he understand what we are up for. Thankyou if you have any other imfo that may help that would be great.

I guess you have looked into what kind of visa you would need to apply for, to be able to live in Thailand and if there are income taxes to be paid there as well?  Some countries i.e. Malaysia, do not tax income earned outside the country, but I am not sure of the Thai situation and whether it has a kind of double taxation treaty with Australia?

The flights are either over Bangkok, KL or Singapore it seems. The cheapest are with Tiger Air over Singapore, but the flight time is anything from 9.5 hrs to 13.5 hrs. A fair budget would seem to be anything from AU$500-900 per round trip.

I want to learn Thai so I had heard that would allow me a year without having to fly in and out. We have not looked into the tax situiation we pay so much here in Australia, there is no way we could pay more we will have to find out the tax laws. I really have been focussing on if we could afford the school system and then where would be the best area to lease a house. I really do have my homework cut out for me I am sure we should not have to pay tax again but you never know. I will google the tax laws now. We really want to relocate for a year or more it,s a great experience for the children and I felt Phuket would be a safe place and beautiful but I might have to look at other locations. If you have any suggestions it would be very much appreciated.

"Taxpayers are classified into “resident” and “non-resident”. “Resident” means any person residing in Thailand for a period or periods aggregating more than 180 days in any tax (calendar) year. A resident of Thailand is liable to pay tax on income from sources in Thailand as well as on the portion of income from foreign sources that is brought into Thailand. A non-resident is, however, subject to tax only on income from sources in Thailand."

http://www.rd.go.th/publish/6045.0.html

So it looks like you may be expected to pay tax on the cost of your property rental, school fees and your living expenses that are paid in Thai Bhat as the money is earned in Australia. 

http://www.taxrates.cc/html/thailand-tax-rates.html

Would we be classed as non residents as we would be flying in and out of Phuket. Why would we have to pay tax on housing would that be included in the rent of the home/villa,