Thailand Costs per Day: What Your Holiday Really Costs

Contents of this article8 sections

1. Where the figures come from
2. Daily budget at a glance
3. What do things cost in Bangkok?
4. Accommodation
5. Food and drink
6. Getting around town
7. Admission
8. Money-saving tips

Thailand has a reputation as a cheap destination. Whether that still holds depends mostly on how you travel. I collected current prices and used them to work out three daily budgets: budget, mid-range and comfortable. The basis is Bangkok, and I note where other places differ markedly.

In short

• The exchange rate is 1 euro = 37.60 baht (European Central Bank reference rate of 16 October 2026).
• On a budget you get by on about €13 to €37 per person per day, with a bed in a hostel dorm, street food, buses and trains.
• At the mid-range level it is about €55 to €95, with a 3-star hotel, the occasional restaurant and taxis.
• Travelling in comfort costs about €130 to €235, with a 4- or 5-star hotel, restaurants and taxis for every journey.
• Everything is calculated for one person paying for their room alone.
• The biggest item is accommodation. If two of you share a double room, this share is halved per person.
• The islands are more expensive. On Phuket you pay noticeably more for a simple meal than in Bangkok or Chiang Mai.

Where the figures come from

There is no official price list in Thailand, so I work with averages from price lists and booking sites.

The prices for food and local transport come from Numbeo, a database in which travellers and locals enter their prices. For Bangkok, 196 people submitted 1,292 entries over the last 12 months (as of 15 October 2026). I retrieved the accommodation prices on 18 October 2026 from Hostelworld and KAYAK. The admission prices come from the official sites of the Grand Palace and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

The daily budgets are my own estimate, added up from these prices. Prices vary with season, place and day of the week, so the ranges are a guide and not a guarantee.

Daily budget at a glance

Per person, travelling solo, excluding flights.

This is how the amounts add up. Just pick your travel style:

Flights, excursions, massages and shopping are not included.

What do things cost in Bangkok?

Typical prices, so you get a feel for them:

• Meal at a simple restaurant100 ฿approx. 2.70 €
• Cappuccino93 ฿approx. 2.50 €
• Draft beer90 ฿approx. 2.40 €
• Skytrain or metro25–61 ฿approx. 0.70–1.60 €
• Taxi starting fare35 ฿approx. 0.90 €
• Grand Palace500 ฿approx. 13 €
• Wat Arun200 ฿approx. 5 €
• Hostel bed from7 €per night

Accommodation

Budget: On Hostelworld the “from” prices for a dorm bed in Bangkok were mostly between 7 and 15 US dollars (about €6 to €13). Private rooms in hostels were often available there from as little as 6 to 15 US dollars. 2-star hotels in Bangkok start from €7 per night.

Mid-range: One example of a solid 3-star hotel is the Bangkok City Hotel. There the average price, depending on the day of the week and the month, was between €30 and €44 per night.

Comfortable: In Bangkok you pay on average around 85 US dollars for a 4-star hotel and 134 US dollars for a 5-star hotel per night, so about €75 and €120 respectively. Hotels are cheapest in June and most expensive in December.

Food and drink

A meal in a simple restaurant in Bangkok costs on average 100 baht (about €2.70), and the range runs from 60 to 250 baht. A three-course dinner for two in a mid-range restaurant, without drinks, comes to 700 to 3,000 baht (about €19 to €80). A cappuccino costs around 93 baht (about €2.50), and a draught beer around 90 baht (about €2.40).

This is how I arrived at the food amounts:

• Budget: three simple meals at 60 to 100 baht plus water, together around 210 to 360 baht (about €5 to €10).
• Mid-range: two simple meals, half of a mid-range dinner for two, a coffee and a beer. With the lowest values of the ranges (2 × 60 + 350 + 60 + 60) that is around 590 baht (about €16), with the average prices (2 × 100 + 600 + 93 + 90) around 980 baht (about €26).
• Comfortable: a lunch for 150 to 250 baht, half of a dinner for two in a good restaurant (600 to 1,500 baht) and a few drinks, together around 950 to 2,050 baht (about €25 to €55).

In Chiang Mai food is cheaper than in Bangkok, and on Phuket it is noticeably more expensive. The range runs from 50 to 150 baht in Chiang Mai and from 100 to 300 baht on Phuket. On the islands you should therefore plan more for food.

Chiang Mai

75 ฿

Bangkok

100 ฿

Phuket

150 ฿

According to Numbeo, as of 15 October 2026.

Getting around town

In Bangkok a journey costs 8 to 25 baht by bus (13 to 25 for an air-conditioned bus), 17 to 47 baht by Skytrain on the core network and 17 to 44 baht by metro (about €0.20 to €1.25). More on this in the guide BTS Skytrain in Bangkok. In a taxi the meter starts at 35 baht, in larger cars at 40 baht. After that the fare in force since 13 January 2023 applies:

In practice, traffic often makes it more than in the example.

• Budget: 2 to 4 journeys by bus and train at 8 to 47 baht, around 15 to 190 baht (about €0.40 to €5).
• Mid-range: 2 journeys by bus and train plus 1 to 2 taxi rides at 60 to 100 baht (5 to 10 km without traffic), around 75 to 295 baht (about €2 to €8).
• Comfortable: 4 to 6 journeys by taxi or ride-hailing app. Here I assume 100 to 200 baht per journey, because traffic and surcharges push the fare up. This is my own estimate. Together around 400 to 1,200 baht (about €10 to €30).

On Phuket, taking a taxi is more expensive. The starting price there averages 100 baht.

Admission

The major sights charge foreigners an admission fee. The Grand Palace with Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) costs 500 baht (about €13), and Wat Arun costs 200 baht (about €5).

Many markets, parks and districts cost nothing at all. I therefore assume: budget 0 to 200 baht (€0 to €5), mid-range 200 to 500 baht (€5 to €13) and comfortable, with two or more major sights, 700 to just over 1,100 baht (€19 to €30).

Money-saving tips

Hotels in Bangkok are cheapest in June. If you are flexible, you can use this.

Eat where the locals eat. Street food stalls and simple restaurants are much cheaper than proper restaurants, and the food is often better there.

In Bangkok, take the Skytrain and metro instead of a taxi. That gets you past the traffic, and you usually pay less.

Best time to visit Thailand explains what the weather is like and when. If you want to stay the whole winter, you will find rental prices in Wintering in Thailand at 50 plus. What trains, buses, flights and taxis cost is in the guide Getting around Thailand, and what a hospital stay costs is in the guide Travel health insurance for Thailand.