Thailand Travel Costs

Work from these per-person figures, which assume you share a double room if you travel as a pair (solo travellers in private rooms add 20 to 30 percent).

Where the money goes differs by budget. Backpackers spend roughly 35 percent on beds, 30 percent on food, 15 percent on transport and the rest on entry fees and drinks. At mid-range the hotel takes half, and at the top end accommodation and tours together are 70 percent or more of the daily total.

Beds are where Thailand’s budget range is widest. A hostel dorm in Bangkok’s Banglamphu or Chiang Mai’s Old City costs 200 to 500 baht ($6 to $15) a night, with the cheaper end usually fan-cooled or in a 10-bed room; a 350-baht bed with air-con, a curtain and a locker is the realistic norm. Basic private rooms in a family guesthouse run 400 to 700 baht with a fan and 600 to 1,000 with air-con and a private bathroom, which is why two people travelling together rarely need a dorm.

Mid-range is 1,300 to 3,500 baht ($40 to $105). At the bottom of that band you get a clean chain-style hotel with a pool near a BTS station in Sukhumvit; at the top, a boutique hotel in Chiang Mai’s Nimman quarter or a beachfront bungalow with air-con on Ko Lanta. A genuine 4-star in Bangkok or Phuket starts around 3,000 baht and is one of the best-value things in the country; comparable rooms in Europe or Australia cost three times as much. Five-star resorts on Phuket, Ko Samui and in Krabi start around 8,000 baht and climb past 20,000 for pool villas.

Two quirks affect the price you pay. Low season (roughly May to October) cuts island rates by 30 to 50 percent, and walk-in rates at small guesthouses often beat the online price outside peak weeks. Monthly stays are a different market: a studio condo in Chiang Mai from 8,000 baht a month, 15,000 to 40,000 in Bangkok, and a basic island bungalow for 10,000 to 15,000 if you ask the owner directly.

Food is where Thailand stays cheap at every budget. A plate of pad thai, a bowl of boat noodles or khao man gai (chicken rice) from a street stall costs 50 to 80 baht ($1.50 to $2.40); som tam is 40 to 60; a grilled pork skewer 10 to 15; a plastic bag of mango sticky rice 60 to 100. A full street dinner with a drink is 100 to 150 baht. Mall food courts in Bangkok’s Siam malls charge 60 to 120 baht a plate and are air-conditioned, which matters in April.

In a sit-down Thai restaurant with English menus, mains are 150 to 300 baht and a curry with rice and a drink comes to around 250 to 400 per person. Western food is the budget-breaker: a pizza or burger is 300 to 500 baht, a flat white in a specialist cafe 90 to 140, and a brunch in Thonglor is easily 600 baht. Hotel breakfasts, when not included, run 200 to 500.

In Bangkok the BTS Skytrain and MRT cost 17 to 62 baht a ride depending on distance; the Airport Rail Link from Suvarnabhumi to Phaya Thai is 45 baht for the full 26-minute run; the orange-flag Chao Phraya Express boat is 16 baht flat; and the Khlong Saen Saep canal boat is 10 to 20. Metered taxis start at 35 baht and a 20-minute ride is 100 to 150 baht if the meter is on, which is also the Grab or Bolt price for a cross-town trip (100 to 250 baht). From Suvarnabhumi to Sukhumvit expect 400 to 600 baht by Grab including tolls, or 300 to 400 by metered taxi plus the 50-baht airport surcharge and tolls. Motorbike taxis charge 10 to 30 baht for a short hop.

Long distance, the overnight sleeper from Bangkok to Chiang Mai costs 800 to 1,050 baht ($24 to $31) for a second-class air-con berth and 1,450 to 1,650 for first class; the same journey by VIP bus is 600 to 900 baht and by budget airline 1,000 to 2,500 if booked a few weeks ahead. Bangkok to Phuket flights are 1,200 to 3,000 one way; Ko Samui is the expensive exception because Bangkok Airways owns the airport, so expect 3,000 to 6,000. Regional minivans are 150 to 350 baht for two to four hours. Government buses from Bangkok’s Ekkamai terminal to Pattaya are around 130 to 150 baht and to Hua Hin 180 to 250.

Most of what you want to see in Thailand is free or under 100 baht, with a few famous exceptions. Thailand charges foreigners more than Thais at national parks and some historical sites; the dual pricing is legal and posted, so budget for the higher figure.

Paid activities are the real swing factor. A half-day cooking class is 1,000 to 1,500 baht, an ethical elephant sanctuary half-day 1,500 to 2,500 and full day 2,500 to 3,000, a Krabi four-island longtail trip 800 to 1,200 (speedboat 1,500 to 2,000), a Muay Thai ticket at Rajadamnern 1,500 to 2,500 for a foreigner seat, and a PADI Open Water course on Ko Tao 10,000 to 12,000 baht, often with basic accommodation included. Fun dives are 1,000 to 1,500 each. A one-hour Thai massage is 250 to 400 baht on the street and 800 to 1,500 in a hotel spa.

Thailand still runs on cash outside hotels, malls and chain shops, and the single most expensive mistake visitors make is withdrawing 2,000 baht at a time. Every Thai bank ATM charges foreign cards a fixed 220 baht (about $6.50) per withdrawal on top of whatever your home bank adds, so take out the maximum your card allows, typically 20,000 to 30,000 baht per transaction. Always decline the on-screen offer to convert to your home currency: that “dynamic currency conversion” adds 3 to 7 percent. Yellow Krungsri and purple SCB machines are everywhere; AEON ATMs (in some malls and Big C stores) have historically charged 150 baht, which is the only cheaper option.

The north is the cheapest region for a visitor. In Chiang Mai a good air-con private room is 600 to 900 baht, khao soi is 50 to 70, a songthaew ride across town 30, and most temples are free; Chiang Rai, Lampang and Nan are cheaper still. Isaan, the northeast around Khon Kaen, Ubon Ratchathani and Nong Khai, is cheaper again because there are almost no tourist prices: a plate of som tam and grilled chicken is 80 baht and a hotel room 500.

Bangkok sits in the middle. Beds and transport are cheap, and street food is as good as anywhere, but the rooftop bars, malls and brunch cafes that fill many itineraries push daily spending up fast. Budget 10 to 20 percent more than Chiang Mai for the same standard.

The islands and resorts are the expensive end. On Phuket, Ko Samui and Ko Phi Phi expect rooms 30 to 50 percent above mainland prices, 100-baht beers, 150-baht pad thai on the beach, and taxis that charge 400 to 800 baht for trips that cost 100 in Bangkok, because the islands have no metered taxis and only patchy ride-hailing. Food and water also arrive by boat, so even 7-Eleven prices creep up. Krabi, Ko Lanta, Ko Chang and the Trang islands are noticeably cheaper than Phuket and Samui, and Hua Hin gives you a beach at mainland prices. Pattaya is cheap for rooms and food but its bars are not.

Eat where Thais eat. Street stalls, markets and mall food courts give you the country’s best food for 50 to 150 baht a plate, and a busy stall with high turnover is also the safest. Drink Thai beer rather than imported, buy it at 7-Eleven for the hotel balcony, and treat cocktails as an occasional 300-baht event rather than a nightly habit.

Travel overnight. A second-class sleeper from Bangkok to Chiang Mai or Surat Thani costs 800 to 1,050 baht and replaces a night’s accommodation, so the net cost over a bus plus a hotel is close to zero. Book domestic flights three to six weeks ahead on AirAsia, Nok Air, Thai Lion Air or Thai Vietjet and avoid Fridays and Sundays; fares double in the last week. Use Grab or Bolt instead of negotiating with tuk-tuks and island taxis, and ride the BTS, MRT and river boats in Bangkok rather than sitting in a 200-baht taxi queue.

Go in low season if beaches are not the point of the trip. From May to October island rooms drop 30 to 50 percent, tours discount, and the rain usually comes in afternoon bursts rather than all day; the Gulf islands (Ko Samui, Ko Pha-ngan, Ko Tao) stay mostly dry until October anyway. Skip the Full Moon Party week on Ko Pha-ngan unless you are going for it: rooms triple. Finally, carry a refillable bottle (hostels and many cafes have filtered water for 5 to 10 baht), claim the 7 percent VAT refund at the airport on shopping over 2,000 baht per shop per day, and buy your tourist SIM at a 7-Eleven in town rather than the airport counter.

These totals cover everything inside Thailand, including domestic transport, and exclude your international flights and travel insurance. They assume Bangkok plus one other region for a week, and Bangkok, the north and one island coast for two weeks; add 10 to 15 percent in the November to February high season and around Songkran (mid-April).

A sample mid-range week: five nights in 1,500-baht hotels (7,500), two nights on a 950-baht sleeper and in transit (950), food and drink at 700 a day (4,900), Bangkok transport and Grab (800), one cooking class and one day trip (3,000), temple fees (1,000), a SIM (299) and two ATM fees (440), which comes to around 18,900 baht or $565. The two-week version adds a domestic flight (1,800), a ferry (700), a snorkelling trip (1,500), a dive or elephant day (2,500) and seven more hotel nights, landing near 40,000 baht.

How much cash to bring: land with the equivalent of 3,000 to 5,000 baht in your home currency to change at a SuperRich booth, then withdraw the rest in two or three large ATM pulls. Carrying more than $20,000 in cash requires a customs declaration; nobody needs to be anywhere near that.