Thailand: The True Travel Cost of a 3-Week Trip (Experience)

Planning a 3-week trip to Thailand? You’re in for an unforgettable experience filled with stunning beaches, rich cultural sites, and mouthwatering street food. But before packing your bags, you need a solid understanding of Thailand travel costs to budget wisely. I’ve traveled extensively across Thailand, crunching numbers on accommodation, food, transportation, and activities to help you plan an affordable yet incredible adventure.

Thailand is famous for being one of the best budget travel destinations, but costs vary depending on your travel style. A backpacker can survive on as little as $30–$50 per day, while mid-range travelers typically spend $70–$150 per day. If you prefer luxury travel, expect to pay $200+ daily for high-end hotels, fine dining, and private tours.

Your biggest expenses will be flights, hotels, and transportation. Domestic flights, trains, and ferries are affordable, while local transport like tuk-tuks and Grab taxis cost a fraction of what you’d pay elsewhere. Food is a steal—delicious Thai street food meals cost as little as $1–$3, while sit-down restaurants range from $5–$20 per meal.

This guide will break down Thailand trip costs in detail, helping you budget for flights, hotels, food, activities, and hidden expenses. Whether you're a budget traveler or splurging on luxury, this cost breakdown will ensure you make the most of your Thailand adventure without overspending.

Things to know about Thailand Travel Costs

The first thing to clarify is that Thailand is generally a VERY cheap destination, but it can also not be so cheap… That will depend on you, the style of your trip and the treats you want to give yourself.

Let's take two examples: during our 9-month trip to Southeast Asia , the month we spent in Thailand cost us about €11 per person per day in the north of the country and about €15 in the south (accommodation, food, activities, internal transfers). The following trips to Thailand were less backpacking and more backpacking 😉 and even so, the budget did not increase that much. We still find it a very affordable country.

It also depends on the exchange rate. The baht/euro exchange rate has been on the decline in recent times, although it seems to be recovering, approaching the much-missed 40 baht per € that were given a few years ago… By the way, before continuing with the article we recommend you open this website to calculate the prices in € (or the currency you prefer).

To explain how much it costs to travel to Thailand, we have divided the budget into sections with the main costs when visiting a country: transportation, accommodation, food, excursions and extra expenses.

1. Flights

It is one of the highest expenses and sometimes a powerful reason to rule out or choose our destination. But we have good news: Bangkok, along with Singapore, is the cheapest city to fly to in Southeast Asia, so this expense should not skyrocket.

Nowadays, there are fairly frequent offers for around €400 return and throughout almost the entire year, except in the months of July and August, when prices can reach €600-700 return .

Apart from the time of year you travel and how far in advance you book (you know, the sooner the better), the price depends on the airline you choose, schedules, stopovers, etc. But there is also excellent news here, because the routes between Europe and Asia are offered by almost all Middle Eastern airlines (where you will have to make a stopover), and therefore they compete on price.

Therefore, calculate around €300-500 for a round trip flight from Spain to Bangkok.

→ Compare flights on the Skyscanner website

2. Transportation within Thailand

This section will depend a lot on your itinerary: visiting Bangkok, Chiang Mai and an island in southern Thailand is not the same as leaving from Bangkok , passing through Ayutthaya , Sukhothai , Chiang Rai , Chiang Mai and visiting 2-3 islands in the south.

It is also necessary to differentiate between the types of transport:

When it comes to getting around towns and cities , taxis and tuk tuks are king . Since Grab has gradually made its way into the market (Grab works better than Uber there), something has happened: you no longer need to haggle and therefore there is less risk of being ripped off. A 5km ride can cost around 80 baht (just over €2).
As for transfers between several cities , you have 3 options: bus, train or plane. To calculate, compare and book the best option, we recommend the website 12go.asia . Although in Thailand you can also book at the stations or at travel agencies, 1 or 2 days in advance.

Let's take the Bangkok-Chiang Mai route as an example . These would be the options:

Bus : 15-20€ (10-12h journey)
Train : €30 (night train with bunk bed, 13h journey)
Plane : 25-40€ (1.5h flight approx)

If we take this 3-week Thailand travel itinerary as a reference , the main means of transport would be:

Bus Bangkok – Sukhothai: €10
Bus Sukhothai – Chiang Mai: €8
Bus Chiang Mai – Chiang Rai: €7
Flight Chiang Rai – Phuket : €50
Phuket – Phi Phi Island ferry (round trip): €15
Phuket – Krabi Bus: €8
Krabi – Trang Island bus + ferry package: €25
Flight Trang – Bangkok: €40

Average transport price: around €150-170 , which can be applied to almost any itinerary you choose (unless you are a restless ass and want to be moving every 2 days).

Taxi transfers from airports and short trips: €30 (we assume that you are not travelling alone and these costs must be divided).

Thailand reference prices

3. Accommodation

This is one of our favorite sections, and the hotel offer in Thailand is overwhelming, so it won't take long to find what best suits your needs. It is key to finally knowing how much it costs to travel to Thailand.

If you are travelling alone and don't mind staying in hostels with shared dormitories , you won't pay more than 5-10€ . But be careful, because there are private rooms from 8-10€ , so we would say that this option is much better, right? And you get rid of the possible snoring of third parties XD

Obviously, for 8-10€ you will have a basic room, and if you want air conditioning you will have to pay a little more (something you won't regret). For 20€ you can find more charming and comfortable rooms. For 50€ you will be able to enjoy some amazing accommodations with a swimming pool!

Let's put an average of €25, which calculating 21 days of stay and divided between two people, gives us a total of... prrrrrr: €262.50 .

4. Food

Oh, not only in Thailand you can eat well , but the prices are affordable for absolutely all budgets. And no, you won't have to eat only at street stalls, there are more and more restaurants with a wide culinary offer, both Thai and from other parts of the world. But honestly, for us eating at street markets is the best thing there is, the products are fresh and the stalls specialize in something they do divinely hehe.

A plate of padthai (one of the national dishes) from street carts costs no more than 40-60 baht (1.2-1.8€), in normal restaurants (not Michelin stars) it goes up to 80-100 baht (2.4-3€). The same price can be found for other dishes based on vegetables and chicken, in local restaurants and not very touristy neighborhoods.

If you want to eat something more elaborate, like curries and rice or Western dishes , you should expect to pay around 100-200 baht per dish (3-6€). We usually spend around 80-100 baht per meal. If we indulge ourselves one day, we try to cut back on the next day's budget.

Average price: assuming that breakfast is included (almost always) in the accommodation, we will spend around €180 on food in 21 days, around €8.5 per day (alternating lunches/dinners at street stalls and in restaurants).

And then there's the beer ! A 660ml bottle costs around 60-100 baht (depending on the place), which, as you can see, will increase your budget quite a bit.

How much does a trip to Thailand cost?

Travel Guides

5. Activities and tickets

This section is the key to budget, which will make your trip to Thailand come out cheap or turn into a total waste. Our advice? If you want to control your budget, carefully analyze which activities and tickets are really worth it, and don't spend every day on a paid tour. There are many free or very cheap plans in each destination in Thailand, don't be a spender!

What is clear is that you cannot leave Bangkok without visiting the Royal Palace (500 baht), Wat Arun (50 baht) or Wat Pho (200 baht), here we tell you which are the best temples in Bangkok . And if you travel to a small Thai island, you have to do at least one snorkeling excursion , which usually costs 800-1200 baht.

Allow around €100 per person for activities (snorkelling excursion, Thai cooking class , some adventure activity, etc.) and entrance fees (many temples require an entrance fee, especially in cities like Bangkok and Chiang Mai ).

6. Extra expenses

No matter how much we think we have kept to our budget, there will always be unexpected expenses that increase it. Personal purchases (shampoo, snacks, souvenirs…), a little gift for mom, a pharmacy… OK, and why not, a massage or two…

So it is something VERY personal and difficult to quantify like the previous expenses, but we can allocate an amount of €50 (although it can be much higher or much lower).

massage Thailand

7. Travel insurance

If you can scrape by in the previous sections to reduce costs, this is not an option in travel insurance. And even less so now that a pandemic can come at any time. This is a necessary expense (we can tell you this, as we have had to use insurance on occasion), which will prevent your trip from going from a wonderful vacation to a mini-hell.

The price of the Iati Standard insurance , with a coverage limit of €300,000, for a 3-week trip to Thailand is around €63 . If you want to include adventure sports, you should consider the Iati Backpacker , which costs around €88 . These prices include a 5% discount.

Travel Guides

8. Travel budget: summary

Having analysed all the sections, we now have a clearer idea of how much it costs to travel to Thailand. Our calculation gives us a total cost of around €1,200 per person , for a 3-week trip to Thailand . Here is the summary:

Flights → 400€

Transport: → 150€

Accommodation → 260€

Food → 180€

Activities → 100€

Extra costs → €50

Insurance → €63

TOTAL → €1,203

Of course, this is a reference price that, if you are travelling as a backpacker, can be reduced considerably: we already told you... on our first trip to Thailand we spent less than €300/person for a month! (not including flights, of course).

9. Reference prices

To give you a clearer idea of the cost of living in Thailand, here are some updated reference prices based on our experience over the last few years: Remember to use the currency converter to get a clearer idea:

Thai main course (padthai, curry, stir-fried vegetables with chicken, meat with rice, etc.): 60-100 baht
Main dish in western (pizza, burger, etc.): 150-250 baht
Chang beer 660ml: 80-120 baht
Fruit shake : 40 baht
Soft drink : 25 baht
Cappuccino at a cool cafe : 80 baht
1 liter water bottle at 7Eleven : 12 baht
Cinema : 150 baht
5km taxi ride : 80 baht (with Grab)
1 hour long distance bus : 50 baht
Motorbike rental : 150-180 baht/day
SIM card 3 weeks : €15
Tobacco pack : 50 baht
1 hour massage : from 200 baht

Thailand travel budget

This is our calculation of how much it costs to travel to Thailand , with an estimated budget for a 3-week trip , divided into the different types of expenses of a trip. Now you know what the budget is, now… are you up for a trip to Thailand?

Cancun Travel Guides