Thailand travel budget

Night-market smoke, limestone bays and 40-baht noodles that rival any restaurant.

How much per day?

Typical daily spend per person, everything included. Local amounts at the latest available rate (1 USD = 33.43 THB).

Backpacker

$30–60

THB 1,000–2,010

Dorms, street food, buses

Mid-range

$75–160

THB 2,510–5,350

Private rooms, restaurants, some tours

Comfort

$180–350

THB 6,020–11,700

Hotels, taxis, nicer dinners

What things cost

Item	USD	THB
Street food meal	$1.2–3	THB 40.1–100
Sit-down restaurant meal	$4.5–12	THB 150–401
Coffee (cafe)	$1.5–3.75	THB 50.1–125
Local beer (large bottle or bar pint)	$1.8–4	THB 60.2–134
Bottled water (0.5-1.5 L)	$0.3–0.6	THB 10–20.1
Grab ride in the city (~5 km)	$3–7	THB 100–234
Bangkok-Chiang Mai bus or 2nd-class sleeper train	$18–31	THB 602–1,040
Hostel dorm bed	$8–16	THB 267–535
Private double room (guesthouse)	$12–36	THB 401–1,200
Mid-range hotel (double)	$35–75	THB 1,170–2,510
Tourist SIM or eSIM (10-15 GB, ~2 weeks)	$9–18	THB 301–602
Grand Palace, Bangkok (entry)	$15	THB 501

Cash or card?

Cards work in hotels, malls, 7-Elevens and chain restaurants, but street food, markets, songthaews, tuk-tuks and small guesthouses are cash only. Plan on paying around half your daily spend in baht notes.

ATMs

Thai ATMs add a flat fee of about 220 THB (~$6.50) per withdrawal on foreign cards, and some banks now charge 250-350 THB depending on the card network. Your own bank may add its fee on top. Machines dispense roughly 20,000-30,000 THB per transaction, so take out the maximum in one go, and always decline the offer to convert to your home currency.

Tipping

Tipping isn't expected. Round up taxi fares, leave small change at restaurants (many already add a 10% service charge), and give guides or massage therapists 50-100 THB if you're happy.

Watch out for

Watch for 'dynamic currency conversion' at ATMs and card terminals: being charged in USD instead of THB quietly adds 3-8%. Separately, tuk-tuk drivers offering 20-baht city tours are usually steering you to gem or tailor shops that pay them commission.

Make your THB go further

✓Base yourself in the north: Chiang Mai, Pai and Nan run roughly 40-60% cheaper than Phuket or Koh Samui for rooms and food.
✓Take the overnight sleeper train or a VIP bus between Bangkok and Chiang Mai: it costs about $18-31 and saves you a night's accommodation.
✓Eat where locals queue: night markets and food courts (try the ones in mall basements) serve full meals for 40-80 THB, compared with 175-350 THB for Western dishes.
✓Use Grab or Bolt instead of hailing tuk-tuks, which often quote several times the metered fare, and take the BTS/MRT in Bangkok (25-65 THB a ride).
✓Exchange cash at SuperRich-style money changers in town rather than at the airport, and cut down on ATM visits to avoid the flat foreign-card fee.

When to go

November-February brings the driest, coolest weather and the highest prices. May-October (green season) can cut room rates by 20-40%, though the Andaman coast gets rough seas and the Gulf islands are at their best in July-August.

Where people are heading

Nan
A slow northern province of misty hills, Lanna temples and farm stays.
Khao Yai
Jungle, waterfalls and wineries under three hours from Bangkok.
Kanchanaburi
River rafts, the Death Railway and Erawan Falls, an easy escape west.

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