Building island projects in Indonesia.
Thomas Despin is a French-born Indonesian citizen who buys land on remote Indonesian islands and develops and operates them. Reconnect, on Buka Buka Island, is the first.
Islands are the spearhead. The same machinery — land, permits, build, operations, network — builds foreign-led projects across Indonesia.
As seen in
On the ground
- 160 ha
- Buka Buka Island
- The size of the island Reconnect operates on
- 20
- Rooms
- Across 8 accommodation types
- ~25
- Local staff
- Hired and trained on the island
- 93%
- Solar powered
- Energy generated on site
- 100%
- Desalinated water
- Fresh water made on the island
- Starlink
- Connectivity
- Satellite internet, end to end
- 30+
- Mapped dive sites
- Primarily around Buka Buka
- Since 2019
- Operating
- 7 years and counting
- Thousands
- Guests a year
- Hosted since opening
Figures relate to Reconnect and Buka Buka Island, the island it operates on. No revenue or occupancy figures are published.
§ 01 — The work
I build and run the whole thing.
Licensing · Access · Energy · Water · Connectivity · Construction · Staffing · Operations · Marketing · Guest experience
Most of what makes an island project work has little to do with the brochure. It is licensing and access. It is power, water, and connectivity in places where none of it arrives on its own. It is hiring and training people, fixing what breaks, and showing up for guests long after the photos are taken.
The view is never the hard part. The hard part is making a difficult location work as a real operation, and keeping it working.
I have done that work directly rather than advising on it from a distance. Reconnect runs on its own solar, water, and Starlink, on an island that takes real effort to reach. That experience is the lens I bring to every project.
§ 02 — Projects
A working index
- 01
Reconnect Island Resort
An off-grid island resort on Buka Buka Island, with access to the Togean Islands region of Central Sulawesi.
OperatingFounder and operator · Buka Buka Island, Central Sulawesi - 02
Kabisu Sumba
A villa and hospitality project on Sumba.
In developmentFounder and developer · Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara - 03
The Island Guy
A platform and advisory offer for serious people exploring island or resort projects in Indonesia.
OpenFounder - 04
Tourism Network
A network of tourism information platforms for Sulawesi, the Togean Islands, and Banggai.
BuildingFounder - 05
Asasal Resort
A developing resort project in the Banggai region.
Early stageProject developer · Banggai - 06
hotelbase.ai
Software for hotels and hospitality. In development.
Early explorationFounder
§ 03 — Work with me
Three ways to work together
A small number of serious people building island and resort projects in Indonesia — and other foreign-led projects, where the same machinery applies. Paid calls and done-for-you development are the main ways in. Partnership is rare and selective.
Strategic paid call
A focused advisory call for founders, investors, and operators who need direct input on feasibility, structure, access, development, operations, or next steps.
Done-for-you development
For qualified clients who want Thomas and his team and network to help structure, develop, launch, or operate an island or resort project in Indonesia.
Selective partnership
Where there is genuine strategic alignment, a project becomes a partnership rather than a client engagement. Rare, and considered case by case.
§ 04 — Writing
Field notes
- 01
What I'm Building Now
A short, honest update on the projects I'm working on across Indonesia, and the thread that connects them.
Field NotesMay 19, 2026 - 02
The Difference Between a Beautiful Place and a Real Business
A stunning location is necessary and not sufficient. The gap between a beautiful place and a business that lasts is where most of the work lives.
Hospitality OperationsApril 21, 2026 - 03
Why Island Projects Fail Before Construction Starts
Most failed island projects were lost in the quiet months before anything was built, in the decisions nobody photographs.
Island DevelopmentMarch 24, 2026 - 04
Remote Hospitality Is an Infrastructure Business
In remote locations, the guest experience rests entirely on infrastructure most guests never see. Get that wrong and nothing else matters.
InfrastructureFebruary 18, 2026
§ 05 — Questions
Common questions
- Can foreigners really buy land in Indonesia?
- Not freehold, and not directly — that is the honest answer, and it is where a lot of island plans quietly fail. Foreign nationals cannot hold Hak Milik (freehold) title. There are legitimate structures for foreign-led projects, and the right one depends on the project. I am an Indonesian citizen, so I buy and hold land on these islands directly, through the legal path open to me, and then develop and operate it. Structuring this correctly is part of the work, not a detail to sort out later.
- Do you only work on island projects?
- Islands are the core of what I do, and where I have gone deepest. But the machinery behind an island resort — securing land, permits, construction in hard places, staffing, operations, and the local network — is the same machinery any serious foreign-led project in Indonesia needs. So island and resort projects come first, but I take on other foreign-led projects in Indonesia when the fit is right.
- What does the $500 strategic call include?
- Direct, specific input on your project: feasibility, how to structure it, land and permits, access, operations, and the next concrete steps. It is priced on the problem it solves, not on how long we talk. It also opens access to the right people in my Indonesian network — notaries, business consultants, government contacts — because in Indonesia that access is often the real bottleneck. The $500 is credited toward any larger engagement that follows. It comes after your application is accepted; if accepted, you will receive a payment link.
- Do you take a fee, equity, or both?
- Most of the time, a fee. The strategic call and done-for-you development are paid work. Occasionally, where there is genuine strategic alignment, a project becomes a partnership with equity rather than a straight client engagement — but that is rare and decided case by case. I do not push for equity; it only happens when it is clearly right for both sides.
- How do I know if my project qualifies?
- The test is whether it is real: a specific project, a location in view, a budget you have defined, and a timeline you can actually act on. The application is built to surface exactly that. If it is too early — and plenty are — you will get a straight answer rather than a polite maybe. That is not a no; it usually just means come back when it is further along.
The dispatch
Field notes, by email.
Island development, hospitality, Indonesia, and building real things. Sent occasionally, never spam.
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