How much does it cost to travel to Thailand?

Thailand is essentially a cheap country to visit. Very cheap even. But knowing how much it costs to travel to Thailand will depend a lot on what you want to see, do and how many places you plan to visit within the country. While public transport, food and accommodation can be cheap; boat trips and trips can make your budget quite expensive. In addition, we are talking about a very hot and humid country and, as much as you are willing to spend little on accommodation, you may end up realizing that it is necessary to have a certain infrastructure to give you comfort, such as a shower with adjustable temperature and air conditioning. . And then the bill goes up.

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So, if you want to enjoy a lot in this country that is so far from our Brazilian lands, without giving up staying in a place with good cost – but also good benefit – and you want to travel from north to south of the territory, get ready to spend a little more than you would expect from what it costs to travel to Thailand. We’re talking about $65 a day, which is way above average for a budget trip – which would be up to $50 a day. Not that it’s cost prohibitive, but you don’t expect to spend that much in a poor country whose currency is super undervalued. In July 2017 quotation, R$ 1 was worth 10.30 bahts; while US$1 could buy 34 bahts.

For starters, one of the items that make traveling to Thailand more expensive, but which you can hardly escape from, are the boat trips. After all, we are talking about a country whose greatest beauties are its islands, and there is no other way to reach them or to walk around them other than on board a boat, hehe. To go from Koh Lipe Island to the Koh Phi Phi Archipelago – a very common route for tourists – aboard a ‘speed boat’, you will spend around US$ 70 per person. This amount is triple what you would need to spend to travel by bus through Europe, where the currency is MUCH more expensive. The ferry from Koh Phi Phi to Railay Beach, a journey of just one hour, costs more than US$10 per person.

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And note that if you want to get to know the country from north to south, not only will you travel by boat, but also by plane. Thailand looks like a small place when placed next to Brazil, but it is not. To go from Bangkok to Koh Lipe, which is at the southern end, you will spend about US$ 85 in plane ticket + ferry. From Krabi to Chiang Mai, in the far north, a flight costs around US$ 50. Apart from transport from one island to another, there is also the cost of boat trips on each one. It was one of them that caused the biggest expense of our 19-day trip across the country: the tour called ‘sleep aboard’which takes tourists to spend the night and dawn in Maya Bay.

The tour cost around US$250 per person, which is absurd by Thai standards, even with an all-inclusive. But since this is pretty much the only way to see the world’s most famous beach away from the tourist crowds, we face the cost. The experience was worth every penny, but it didn’t fail to raise the price of traveling to Thailand a lot. While not even close to the price of ‘sleep’, other boat trips around the Thai islands are no bargain either. The ‘Koh Phi Phi Day Tour’, which covers several tourist attractions in the archipelago in a single day, does not cost less than US$ 20.

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Departing from Railay Beach, which is located in the super touristy region of Ao Nang, the ‘7 islands tour’ and to James Bond Island cost around US$ 35 per person. Renting a private boat – the so-called ‘long tails’ – is only cheaper than a tour if you can fill the boat, which can fit up to six people. For example, a ride from Phi Phi Dom, the main island of Koh Phi Phi, to Bamboo Island costs about $70. If you’re just two people, it ends up costing $35 each. But between six, it drops to $12.

Another thing that can make it more expensive to travel to Thailand is accommodation. You’ll say: ‘Wow, but I’ve heard that it’s super cheap to stay in hostels there’. And it is, but, as we said above, it is an extremely hot and humid country and these super cheap hostels – and even hotels and inns – usually do not have a minimum infrastructure to provide comfort to travelers. Imagine sharing a room with eight people under a temperature of more than 30ºC and where there is only ONE fan and a fan through which no air passes?

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Or having to take a bath in brackish water, because there is no running water? Electric shower is also a rarity in most cheap establishments in Thailand and, as much as the heat plays its part, some people feel terrible under freezing water (me, for example). For these reasons and others, it is worth raising your travel budget a little and looking for a more structured place to stay in Thailand. And we say this with the authority of someone who loves to stay in a hostel, has shared a room with more than 30 people and hates to pay more than US$ 15 a night for accommodation.

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But going without sleep because of the heat and having to take a cold and salty bath is not enough. And even then, we’re not saying you won’t find cheap places to stay in the country. They just won’t be AS cheap as they could be. On the beaches, daily rates in inns, hostels or more tidy hotels vary between US$ 12 and US$ 22. Not bad, right? In the cities, a sensational hostel in Bangkok (we highly recommend it, get to know here) leaves for US$ 18, while the small Chiang Mai welcomes you for a measly US$ 6 – prices per person in a private room.

After saying everything that makes traveling to Thailand more expensive, let’s finally get to what makes traveling to Thailand cheaper, hehe. Apart from boat trips, most attractions in the country are very reasonably priced, if not almost symbolic. Entrance fees to the temples of Wat Pho, Wat Arun (in Bangkok) and Doi Suthep (in Chiang Mai), all cost less than US$ 4. The Grand Palace, which is the main tourist attraction in the capital, charges US$ 15 for entrance and it’s beautiful to cry in the corner. The photo at the end of the text is of him.

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The transport + boat ride combo at the popular Damnoen Saduak floating market outside Bangkok is worth less than $16. A photo with adult lions at Chiang Mai’s Tiger Kingdom costs about $13. Half-hour massage session Thai? Less than $4! Meals also go a long way in reducing the cost of traveling to Thailand. In addition to being able to buy snacks and ready-to-eat meals at ridiculously low prices at the countless ‘Seven Eleven’ units across the country, eating in restaurants is also very cheap.

Just be careful with the hygiene of the place, so that the cheap doesn’t come out expensive. Anyone who’s seen Thailand’s street food stalls knows what we’re talking about… But clean restaurants won’t break your budget: a meal for two with drinks costs about $11 in Bangkok and $12 on Koh Phi Phi and Railay Beach. And if the beer is never cold, at least it’s cheap in Thailand. In convenience stores or supermarkets, the 330 ml can is sold for US$ 1.50. At a bar or restaurant, the price can go up to $3.

Choose Travel spent 19 days in Thailand in March 2015 and spent a total of $2,485.55, equivalent to $65.40 per person each day. It is worth mentioning that it was an economical trip within our budget – which was US$ 120 per day. I mean, we saved, ‘pero no mucho’, and ended up spending much more than our ideal average of up to US$ 50. We stayed in private rooms that were priced on par with hostel dorms, we had a lot of meals in restaurants with economical and we did a lot of boat trips, which are not very cheap in Thailand.

Despite this, our only ‘luxuries’ on the trip were the Maya Bay sleep tour, as this is one of the few ways to see it away from the crowds; rent a private boat to spend a day on Bamboo Island and spend half a day as keepers at an elephant recovery center in Chiang Mai – which was one of the cutest and funniest things we’ve ever done in the entire world! There were three factors that greatly increased the cost of traveling to Thailand. But they didn’t blow our budget and they were definitely worth it! Check out the complete list of expenses, find out how much it costs to travel to Thailand and start planning your savings:

How much does it cost to travel to Thailand?

• Dining and ‘Happy Hours’ in Restaurants or Delivery: $403.30, or $10.60 per person each day
• Food and beverage purchased from supermarkets and bakeries: $37, or $0.95 per person each day
• Public transport tickets (van and ‘express boat’): US$10.05, or US$0.25 per person each day
• Taxi rides: $43.55, or $1.15 per person each day
• Four nights in a private Bangkok hostel room: $142.80, or $17.85 per person each day
• Entrance to the Grand Palace in Bangkok: $29.40, or $14.70 per person
• Entrance to Wat Pho Temple in Bangkok: $7.70, or $3.85 per person
• Entrance to Wat Arun Temple in Bangkok: US$1.70, or US$0.85 per person
• Half-hour Thai massage session: $3.55 (for one person)
• Shuttle van to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market: $21.20, or $10.60 per person
• Damnoen Saduak Floating Market Boat Tour: $10.30, or $5.15 per person
• Plane ticket + ferry from Bangkok to Koh Lipe: US$165, or US$82.50 per person
• Boat from Koh Lipe Pier to Beach: $4.10, or $2.05 per person
• Four nights in a private hotel room on Koh Lipe: $141.20, or $17.65 per person each day
• ‘Speed ​​boat’ from Koh Lipe to Koh Phi Phi: $136.30, or $68.15 per person
• Four nights in a private hotel room on Koh Phi Phi: $94.10, or $11.75 per person each day
• Koh Phi Phi Islands ‘Day Tour’: $41.20, or $20.60 per person
• Overnight Tour in Maya Bay: $505, or $252.05 per person
• Koh Phi Phi Lookout Admission: $1.75, or $0.85 per person
• Private Boat Trip to Bamboo Island on Koh Phi Phi: $70.60, or $35.30 per person
• Ferry from Koh Phi Phi to Railay Beach: $20.60, or $10.30 per person
• Four nights in a private Railay Beach hotel room: $170.60, or $21.30 per person each day
• Tour of the Seven Islands (‘7 islands tour’) from Railay Beach: US$67.65, or US$33.80 per person
• Tour to James Bond Island from Railay Beach: $67.65, or $33.80 per person
• Boat + van transfer from Railay Beach to Krabi Airport: US$23.55, or US$11.75 per person
• Plane ticket from Krabi to Chiang Mai: US$97, or US$48.50 per person
• Three nights in a private Chiang Mai hostel room: $36.35, or $6.05 per person each day
• Two adult lion photos at Tiger Kingdom, Chiang Mai: $24.70, or $12.35 per person
• Entrance to Doi Suthep Temple, Chiang Mai: US$1.75, or US$0.85 per person
• Tour to a Chiang Mai Elephant Recovery Center: $105.90, or $52.95 per person