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I am thinking about a trip to Thailand for the month of February. I have mostly travelled to central and south america. I understand this a dry time of year to go. I am wondering what kind of budget I should prepare for there. I plan to spend maybe 5 days to one week in Bangkok (too long, too short?) before heading off to the beaches for 3 weeks and then back to Bangkok for the last couple of days. I understand the beaches on the east gulf side are cheaper than Bangkok is this true? Anyway what do you folks figure I need to budget per day to comfortably get by and not stress? Excluding airfare of course. Thanks in advance for the replies.

I would spend around 3 days or 4 if you want in Bangkok. Plus spend the final night before you leave for home in Bangkok too. This will give you a chance to see the city a little, take some local tours if you want, get used to the heat and time changes too! A final night in Bangkok will give you a chance to buy some souvenirs and set yourself up for your flight home. This way you won't have to worry about connecting flights breaking down or being late and you miss your ride back home.

Beaches are fine, but many countries also have beaches! Why not see some other areas of Thailand too! All of Thailand is warm, you don't have to be at a beach to get a tan. Split your time between a beach type area and possibly a trip to Chiang Mai or some other areas that are unique to Thailand.

For beaches you can also do a cheap 2 hour bus ride from Bangkok to Jomtien Beach/Pattaya area. Hotels are cheaper there and there is lots of nightlife. Pattaya Beach is not as good as Phuket beaches, but it is good for walking, sun bathing, shopping, malls, bars, restaurants and street vendors. (Many hotels have pools anyway.) Jomtien Beach is okay for beach type swimming and like Pattaya the hotels are cheaper than Phuket. Or you can fly to Phuket and do a couple weeks of the "beach stuff" way down on the bottom of Thailand.

From Bankok you can either fly to Chiang Mai or take an overnight sleeper train to that area and save paying for another night in a hotel. For tours in Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Pattaya or Phuket just find the nearest travel agency to your hotel and check out their menu list of available tours. The tour company will pick you up from your hotel and return you there at the end of the trip.

How much do you want to spend per day? How much is in your budget? Transportation is pretty cheap in Thailand and the bus and train system is reliable. Hotels with air can be found in Bangkok starting around 600 baht on up to 6000 baht per night. How much you need depends on your personal traveling style. If you require sit down fancy restaurants with meals over $10 then you know how much you need per day. Or, you may be satisfied with spending a couple dollars per meal and be happy. Lots of McDonalds and similar fast food distributors in Thailand for cheap familiar foods. How much did you get by with in your other travels in Central and South America?

In Thailand, smaller towns and cities will be cheaper for hotels than Phuket or Bangkok. Hostels and dormitories will be even cheaper per night than "no star" hotels. The amount of money you spend in your other trips in America can't be too much different than what you get in Thailand, maybe cheaper.

Sample links for hotels and other information, etc.
http://www.asiatraveltips.com/ThingstodoinBangkok.shtml
http://chiangmaitours.chiangdao.com/
http://www.hotelthailand.com/chiangmai/montri/
http://www.sawadee.com/hotels/phuket.html
http://www.suk11.com/
http://bangkok-city.com/hotels/index.html
http://www.sawasdee-hotels.com/
http://www.thailandguidebook.com/provinces/pattaya.html

When you get a hotel in Bangkok, get a hotel near the Skytrain (overhead local train) so you can use that service to get around town real easy. Read up on how to take taxi rides from the airport or within town (meter taxi, paying the meter only is cheaper. Tuk-tuks will cost more than a meter taxi.

Wait until you get to Thailand to change your money over to get the best rate. Thailand uses real banks to change money and the rate is about the same all over Thailand for that day. The next day the rate will be a little different, either up or down, but not by much. Hotels and stores will give a lower rate than the banks. Most debit cards and credit cards will be accepted by ATM machines, there are lots of ATM machines in the main cities.

When you are ready to go and need recommendations for hotels always mention how much you want to pay per night to narrow down the suggestions you get. Don't say "cheap" or "economy" because these terms mean different things to different people. Currency conversion: http://www.nwa.com/travel/world/currency.html

Good luck.

quote:

How much do you want to spend per day? How much is in your budget?

I would say $50 a day including hotel on the low end but if I have more money by then and I hope to, I would be willing to increase that to $70 or $80.


"How much did you get by with in your other travels in Central and South America?"

I did a lot of travelling earlier this decade to both regions when the exchange rate was ridiculously cheap. It still is in a few places. I have a lot of friends in Brazil and love going there but when I started going the rate was 3.50 to one dollar. Now it has been closer to 1.50/1.60 to one dollar. I used to be able to get an acceptable, decent hotel for $15- $20 a night with air conditioning, private bath and a pool either on the beach or damn close. Now I can't find anything two to three blocks from the beach for less than $60 a night and I looked around a lot and my friends helped me look too. So I have put off going back until the exchange rate is favorable again or at least better than what it is currently. I could stay with my friends but I don't like to impose especially because I like to stay for more than a week or two.

If I can find a hotel for $20 or $30 a night (or close to it) in Bangkok or Pattaya in a reasonably safe location with AC and private bath, then it is a much better destination than Brazil for me right now. Plus I have never been to Asia and have been to South America many times.

Thanks crazyal for your advice and links. This really helps me a lot.

20 to 30 a night shouldn't be a problem at all. It really depends on where you stay. Bangkok can be expensive or cheap depending on what you really need. When I'm in a crunch and just need a place to stay I'll sometimes go to Kohsan road (sp?) just because there are a lot of places to stay for cheap. I really would NOT recomend Kohsan road however, unless you are in a crunch or arriving late and haven't foudn anything prior. That said, on Kohsan road for instance you should be able to find a place for around 450 baht or so if you look at a few places (I sometimes check 3 or 4 places before I find something that is OK price wise). Places like the D&D are a bit nicer, have a pool and air conditioning in all rooms, and are probably around 650-1100 baht per night.

Outside of bangkok, things can be a lot cheaper. For instance I'm in Chiang Mai right now and have a great room for 180 per night, with two beds (my GF and I are together, so it's really 90 baht per night per person). In Chiang Mai you should be able to find a place to stay no problem for around 250-350 baht on average. We stayed at nicer places in Chiang Mai (for instance Hollanda Montri) for around 550 with AC and a nice big bed, plus TV. Of course I'm talking about guest houses here, not large hotels. I haven't stayed in any large, super nice hotels, but from what I've gathered from others they can be 90$+ US.

It will be pretty easy to find a hotel - with air, TV, private toilet, hot water and use of a safety box for 400 or 600 baht in Pattaya. All you can eat breakfast buffets in Pattaya for 110 baht (Apex and Lek Hotels) and baht bus rides for 10 baht.

In Bangkok you can still find a hotel with air for around 600 baht, often the room may not have any windows or any view - but it will have air and a TV and hot water, etc. Business Inn on Sukhumvit Soi 11/1 is one. A hotel from the Sawasdee chain of hotels will be close to that 600 baht price for an air conditioned room.

Good luck.

Hi

I'm not good with travel budgets so I can't help you out with that :-) But I have been to Bangkok a few times and maybe you can find some useful info in my trip report http://gardkarlsen.com/Bangkok_trip_report_2007.htm . I think 5 days in Bangkok sounds great. Most people only give the city a day or two and that is too short to get to know the city.