Thailand holidays : Budget Travel Guide

Close your eyes and imagine yourself sipping a cocktail in a hammock on a tropical paradise beach. Yes, that’s entirely possible during your Thailand holidays ! But planning a trip to Thailand, or to anywhere else on the world map, can be stressful, especially from a financial aspect. This is why I have gathered in this Thailand Budget Travel Guide all the information you may possibly need. 

Before heading to the Thailand budget tips, here are some basic useful Thailand facts. First thing first, do you know where is Thailand on map ? This paradisiac country of south eastern Asia. Thailand lies between Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, and Myanmar (former Burma).

• Thailand time : UTC+7
• Thailand weather : 20 to 35°
• Thailand currency : 360 Baht = 10 euros
• Thailand Population : 69,43 millions (2018)
• Thailand king : Rama X
• Thailand best time to visit : November to May (dry season)

Thailand holidays : why visit ? 

For thousands of reasons. You can go to Thailand for Christmas, for a Thailand yoga retreat, Thailand all inclusive for couples or even for the Thailand water festival… Whatever reason you feel like, with your family, friends, or both ! Is a “Thailand holidays cheap” possible ? It sure is, and that’s what I’m going to prove you with the following Thailand holidays prices. 

Thailand Cheap flights

The best Thailand international flights comparator is Skyscanner, that’s where you’ll find all the Thailand budget airlines on one go. A precious help and time saver ! From France to the Thailand Airport (Suvarnabhumi), we found round flights for 350€ with China Southern Airlines. It lasted 17 hours in total with a stopover in China, and the service was pretty good. The seat wasn’t too comfy but airplanes seats are never really comfy, unless you’re flying in the first class. 

Travel on a budget tip : never go on a website to check the prices of something without being in the private browsing tab. They track your IP address and the prices will go up dramastically. Last but not least advice, book in advance to get the best plane deal for your Thailand flights !

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Thailand Tour : booking domestic journeys in advance ?

When looking at the Thailand map, many cities and Thailand islands look very attractive and you may want to do a tour. You might wonder if your Thailand budget will allow it and if you need to book all the journeys in advance. Most of the time, the answer would be no. We did around 10 different journeys and only booked one in advance online. It’s usually cheaper and less complicated to book on the spot. Most of the tourist offices, which you can find at every street corner, are offering the best deals between the different islands/big cities of Thailand. 

Thailand where to go ?

Here are the journeys we did on your Thailand trip during 2 weeks and a half :
Thailand Bangkok > Thailand Koh Phangan : Night Coach (27€)
Thailand Koh Phangan > Thailand Koh Tao : Ferry (15€)
Thailand Koh Tao > Thailand Koh Samui : Ferry (16€)
Thailand Koh Samui > Thailand Krabi : Boat + minivan (16€)
Thailand Krabi > Thailand Phang Nga : Bus (2,5€)
Thailand Krabi > Thailand Chiang Mai : Plane (40€ but there are much cheaper night coaches)
Thailand Chiang Mai > Bangkok : Night train (20€)

Thailand hotel : choosing the best accommodation

You really don’t need to book an accommodation in advance, unless there’s some huge events going on in the city. For instance, the Koh Phangan Full Moon Party. It’s an all-night long beach party happening once a month on the night of the full moon. As it’s a world known event, and by far the most expected party for travellers, most hostels and Airbnb ask for a stay of at least 5 nights, so you need to book in advance if you want to find one that allows you to only stay one or two nights. Except for that, and maybe for the Thailand capital Bangkok (we didn’t sleep there), you’re all good. 

For all the other cities, your best friend is booking dot com. We booked all your hostels or guesthouses on it on the same day or the day before. The least amount we paid per night was 3€ in a guesthouse in Krabi and the very max has been 9/10€ in Koh Tao and Chiang Mai. Most of the time, we paid around 7/8€ per night and had everything we needed and more. It was really great value. For example, at the Mandala House in Chiang Mai, we had a kind of small suite of two rooms separated by a spacious bathroom and kitchenette. There was a swimming pool and the breakfast was included, what a bargain!

Thailand Food

Close your eyes and try to imagine yourself at a Thailand restaurant, with the smell of thai food. Yum !You know this kind of situation when you’re at a restaurant with the menu and want everything ? You won’t have to choose in Thailand because you’ll have so many opportunities to eat out that you’ll get to try out everything. Indeed, eating out is cheaper than going to the supermarket most of the time. So don’t waste your time trying to find a supermarket, use it to find your next restaurant. There are so many well decorated places, sometimes hippie themed, sometimes bougie, sometimes really traditional… It’s a pleasure for the eyes, so sit down and fill your tummy!

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Thailand Holidays : Must Do Activities

Don’t lie, since the day you got your Thailand visa we know you’re already picturing yourself on Thailand beaches… As you should ! But keep in mind that Thailand tourism has so much more to offer. Tropical Islands, snorkeling, museums, markets, ethical nature elephant parks… You have loads of ways to see and interact with elephants without riding them, do not ride elephants by any means. I recommend you to give a read to my article about the Elephant Bucket List thing to be aware of all the things happening and act accordingly.  

Whatever activities you are interested in, just try not to book it online because it’ll always be more expensive and it doesn’t always benefit the locals. You can either find snorkeling equipment at a bar next to the beach and book your tours or Thailand holidays packages at the travel offices. 

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To help you plan your Thailand budget per day, here are the activities we did:

• Thailand nightlife Full Moon Party : 2,68€
• Snorkeling Equipment : 2,68€
• Chiang Mai Museum : 1€
• Boat & Entrance to Koh Nang Yuan : 8€
• Chiang Mai Elephant Sanctuary day : 60€
• Phang Nga Day Tour : 25€
• Chiang Rai Day Excursion : 25€

Thailand holidays : Local Transport

Unless it’s a walkable distance, you’ll do everything by taxi or motorbike. Taxi rides are much cheaper on the continent than on the islands. Always ask several taxi drivers to see which price is the right one. It’s basically all about negotiating, that’s how it works there. Sometimes you’ll have plenty of options so you’ll be in a position where you can choose, and sometimes, mostly on the islands, they fixed a certain price on which they all agreed. It’ll never be more than 5€. Most of the drives are between 1€ and 3€.

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I hope this budget for Thailand trip blog post helps you plan your upcoming trip, or motivates you to book your plane ticket ! Wander in the delightful streets of Bangkok or  taste the exotic atmosphere of Koh Tao, the island of a thousand wonders.