Investing in Thailand:It's a few hours by plane and boat from Bangkok, in an area that used to be a military zone - but now exclusive holiday villas are being built on an island off the coast of Thailand. Laura Lathamreports

IN A world that feels ever more crowded, the peace and seclusion of Koh Kood, a largely undiscovered island off Thailand's east coast, comes as something of a shock. The long beaches may be perfect ribbons of silver sand and the wide stretches of sea might offer great places to dive but the tourist industry has stayed away.

This is partly because it has always been difficult to reach, involving an hour's flight from Bangkok to the nearest town of Trat and a further hour's boat journey.

However, it is also because the island is near the Cambodian border and, until recently, was classified as a military zone. All of which kept property speculators and mass development in more central locations.

But things are about to change. The restrictions on development have been lifted and Soneva Kiri, a luxurious, eco-friendly residential resort is being built on one of the island's fabulous beaches.

There's a private landing strip to allow owners to fly down from the capital in just 30 minutes.

Soneva Kiri is being developed by Sonu Shivdasani, the man behind luxury holiday resort brands Soneva, Evason and Six Senses Spas. This is his first residential development.

"Lots of our guests ask if they can buy into our hotel resorts," explains Shivdasani, "so we decided to look for the right location for a residential development, somewhere that our guests would like to own. Since we launched, we've had lots of enquiries from people who've holidayed with us."

Phase one of the resort will offer 59 four-bedroom villas with plot sizes of up to 1,000sq m (10,764sq ft), big by any standards, and kitted out with fabulous extras.

For example, your children can have a separate self-contained villa which is connected to the main house by a waterslide to the pool, there are vast open-air bathrooms to each bedroom and a private gym. Each villa has large outdoor terraces, day beds for lounging on, and a fully equipped outdoor kitchen.

There is also a range of on-site restaurants, a floating cinema, "celestial observatory" and a Six Senses spa. The properties sprawl out over a wide area and owners are encouraged to make use of the resort's private plane (an eight-seater Cessna) and yacht.

All of these facilities replicate those found in the Soneva holiday resorts in the Maldives, which aim to offer an authentic desert island experience, albeit one with personal butlers and champagne on tap.

"We work on the basis of intelligent luxury," says Shivdasani, who knows his customers well. "We encourage guests to go barefoot and get closer to the natural surroundings in our resorts. We create accommodation that blends in with nature but we also understand that today's traveller is different to the past; people want access to quality modern comforts wherever they are." Though the appeal is highly contemporary, Shivdasani intends his development to carry a serious message about the need to reduce the environmental impact our lifestyles have. Soveva Kiri employs environmentalist Louis Thompson, who ensures that all the wood used on the resort is from sustainable sources, that there are no toxic chemicals on site and that energy is as renewable as possible.

He's implemented systems to recycle water and found environmental ways of heating and cooling villas. Swimming pools are cleaned using oxygenating plants and even the treatment of sewage is via organic means.

Thompson is currently developing an organic vegetable garden to supply residents with fresh food and is building a one-off eco-villa with complete environmental credentials.

"A lot of Thailand is now overdeveloped," Thompson says. "This island is like the country was 50 years ago. Though we expect further development will come to the area it will be more controlled than before."

The Soneva resorts attract a clientele that has included Madonna, Tom Cruise and the former Mrs Abramovich. Properties on Soneva Kiri are squarely aimed at buyers with expensive tastes. The villas cost from $3.6 million to $5 million (€2.49m-€3.55m). It seems a lot to live in the middle of nowhere but that is precisely Soveva Kiri's appeal.

"Space and privacy are very important to our buyers," says Shivdasani. "They may be wealthy but they want time to get back to nature, to experience Asia and enjoy its fresh air and climate. We've tried to create a natural feeling with the homes on Soneva Kiri."

Phase two of the resort will bring the total number of villas to 78, several of which will have two or three bedrooms and are intended for use as hotel accommodation. These are expected to rent from around €1,400 per night with the four-bedroom properties expected to earn around €2,800 per night. Owners are not obliged to put their property into the rental pool but they will currently get a guaranteed return of 6 per cent if they do.

The only downside seems to be that non-Thai nationals can't own property here freehold. However, there is a legal system in place that gives foreigners the chance to own via 30-year leases, renewable up to 120 years.

Soneva Kiri is selling through Aylesford International and Cluttons Resorts

www.aylesford.com 0044 207351 2383 www.cluttonsresorts.com 0044207584 3050