How much are the costs in Thailand

We know that traveling to Southeast Asia is pretty cheap and really worthwhile, but how much really are the costs in Thailand?

Usually, the most expensive are the flight tickets depending in where you are. If you live in the Americas, the trip is very long and tiring and therefore it would only be worth if you have at least 15 to 20 days.

Well, but if you have time and can afford the tickets, I can assure you that is possible to enjoy a lot spending very little.  And there are even cheaper places in Asia such as Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam for example.

Of course, travel expenses are very personal, each one prioritizes their money on different things. Wagner and I don’t usually go for good hotels or good restaurants, but we always focus in spending our money in activities. And one thing we like to do is buying decorations for our home from the places we travel. So, part of the budget is always focused on that.

At the end of the text, there’s our costs spreadsheet, to see how much we spend in 14 days in Thailand. I will use this post to show the average cost of some things we saw there. We went to Bangkok, Koh Phi Phi and Koh Samui. We left northern Thailand to a next opportunity, since we didn’t have that much time.  We live in Bhutan, so we are very close to Thailand and there are direct flights from here.

Costs in Thailand: Flights

No doubt, transportation is the most expensive part on a trip to Southeast Asia. The best time and high season is the winter of the northern Hemisphere, November until March. This is because it does not rain and the temperatures are mild (around 30º C – Super mild right :)). From March to June it starts to get very hot but it is still possible to enjoy, but after July is monsoon season and it rains, a lot, then it is not a good time to visit Southeast Asia (Indonesia is exception since it is already in the southern hemisphere and July It’s the driest season).

My tips are from Brazil since I’m Brazilian!! I found airline tickets from Sao Paulo to Bangkok around US$ 1400,00 in December, US$ 1340,00 in June and the best prices were in March or April, around US$ 1270,00. Tickets from Rio de Janeiro or Brasilia are much more expensive, around US$ 2000,00 in high season.

I use the following website for searching airline tickets and then I go to the company website to purchase it: Matrix ITA Software 

*I searched prices on 01Fev2018. Remembering that air ticket prices can change at all times. Stay tuned for promotions. 

Costs in Thailand: Accommodation

We will find the greatest variation of prices in this category depending on your travel type. If you like comfort and staying in good hotels, Southeast Asia is the place for you. Koh Samui was the most expensive and fancy place we stayed. Luxury hotels and resorts with beach sightseeings are scattered all over the island and the prices are relatively affordable (compared to other countries). I found 5-star hotels in Koh Samui in high season with prices starting from US$ 150,00 to infinity. In Koh Phi Phi, some resorts with good ratings from US$ 60,00 and in Bangkok from US$ 160,00.  *Surveys made at Booking on 01Fev2018.

Of course then there will be the intermediate options with less luxury and better prices and options for those who like to save on accommodation. We stayed in hostels throughout Thailand and we paid no more than US$ 10,00 per person. In Koh Samui we spent US$ 6,00. The ones we liked the most were the hostels we stayed in Bangkok, Oasis Hostel both the Centre and Chinatown, excellent location, rooms and bathroom very clean and organized, besides a very attentive and helpful staff, we certainly recommend this Hostel. Remember to always make your hotel reservations here in our site, in the green box! You will pay the same amount and help us to keep the blog:)

Costs in Thailand: Public Transportation

We always want to save in this category but it is not always possible. With a public transportation system OK, but not sensational, we can not escape from taxis in Thailand. The good news is, taxi is not expensive there. Also, Uber works well and if you are with 3G chip you can always check the rates.

The two times we went to the airport in Bangkok, the taxi was cheaper than Uber. Instead of picking up in the street we asked the hostel to schedule with some reliable taxis. We paid the equivalent of US$ 15,00 from the city centre to the airport (which is roughly the distance from the center of Sao Paulo to Guarulhos’ airport) so we found the prices very reasonable.

And of course, there are the famous Tuk Tuk. It’s quite and experience, it is super fun to ride in them. But you have to be careful, many people have already fallen into blows. They stop at stores sometimes to convince you to buy things or take you on rides that don’t exist. The secret is to know exactly where you are going.  Negotiate the price before going into the Tuk Tuk. Make it clear that you are familiar with the scheme and you don’t want to stop anywhere and go straight to your destination.. Don’t be afraid to negotiate, they really start with an unreasonable high price. We always traveled for at least half price they asked at first.

Costs in Thailand: Intercity Transportation

We flew from Bangkok to the islands with Air Asia, paying around US$ 100,00 in return tickets with baggage included. The boats to the islands were around US$ 15,00. Buying from Air Asia, you can already buy a combo in which is already included boat and van from the port to the airport and vice versa. I think it’s worth it just to not have a headache of negotiating with taxi drivers who will try to charge you more than they should.

If you have time and do not care about comfort in transportation, trains and intercity buses are very cheap. To go from Bangkok to Anya Pranya, the border with Cambodia, the train costs less than US$ 3,00 and for Ayutthaya the price is US$ 1,00.

Costs in Thailand: Food

Best part ever, don’t you agree? I love eating different foods in the places I visit and Thai food it’s wonderful.

There are many cheap options on the street, and it was the one that always’d go for. Of course, in these cases, always eating boiled or fried food to avoid getting ill afterwards. They got a lot of fruit there, and I was crazy. They sell the fruits already peeled and cut, ready to eat, for about US$ 0,60. It was delicious. I also drank a lot of juice, although people usually do not recommend, I saw them doing and always was with bottle water. I didn’t have any problems with food in Thailand and I ate practically every day on the street.

I think I sat in a restaurant a couple of times just for the whole trip. Our meals used to cost around US$ 1,50 – US$ 3,00 in Bangkok and reached almost US$ 7,00 in Koh Samui, because there is more expensive and had few street markets near where we were staying. In good restaurants, meals are around US$ 10,00 to US$ 15,00.

Don’t drink tap water! Never! So we were always buying water over there, but the 1,5L bottle was around US$ 0,60. 

Costs in Thailand: Activities

There is plenty to do for free in Bangkok or in the islands but some paid activities are worth visiting.

The Grand Palace in Bangkok is the most expensive and costs US$ 17,00 per person. Some other temples we liked costs about US$ 3,50 and the one I liked the most, the Golden Mount, was just US$ 0,60.

The Float Market in Bangkok is free but you have to rend a taxi boat pay to take you (we could not visit it because they were on holidays).

On the islands, you can go to the farthest beaches by boat trips. As we chose to do the diving certification there, we did not go for any boat rides and I can not say exactly the prices. The diving in Phi Phi costs around US$ 100,00 and in Koh Samui we payed US$ 130,00. These are expensive activities that you can’t do every day, but we think the experience is worth a lot.

Costs in Thailand: Shopping

That part that everybody wants to avoid but never resists, am I right?

If you are already a shopaholic, there will be very tough for you.

Two reasons for that:

1- Things are very cheap!!

2- Everything is so beautiful!!!

I wanted to buy everything. Beautiful trousers, for you to enter in the temples and not die of heat, for US$ 3,00. Shirts with super cute elephants for the same US$ 3,00. Bag with gorgeous designs for US$ 1,50 and so on. The textiles there are really pretty and I, who usually am not very consumerist, had to hold on and think if I really needed those things.

Still, we ended up buying cushions and blankets to cover the sofa home, a bag that fits my kindle, a T-shirt, a wooden Buddha and refrigerator magnets. Besides postcards, which we always send.

Total Costs in Thailand

Below, follows the spreadsheet of how much we spent in 14 days in Thailand. Keep in mind that costs vary greatly according to the style of each traveler.

The values below represent the total for two people and have been converted to dollars (each US$1,00 is equivalent to BHT 30,00 – Thai Baht).

And as we always say, the cost per day decreases proportionately to the amount of days. In my opinion, if you are leaving American continent for Thailand, at least 20 days would be necessary to be worth it. 30 days would be the ideal for an  economic trip. We consider that 50 dollars a day is a good average for a low budget trip. The cost of this trip was around 67 dollars a day per person, which really shows that we should have spent more days traveling in order to reduce the total cost. We could also reduce the cost with shoppings for example.

Stay tuned for the series of posts from Thailand. You can access other Thailand related posts clicking below:

2 Days in Bangkok – What to Do?

What to do in Thailand: Wat Arun in Bangkok

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Posted by Liany Garves

Liany is a pharmacist that worked for years in a big company. She left her safe job and comfortable life in Brazil to live an adventure in the remote Kingdom of Bhutan and, nowadays, lives in Thailand. The passion for traveling runs to her veins and she loves spending time in the travel blog, helping other travelers with her experiences or planning her next trip.