One Week in Thailand: What It Really Costs on a Budget vs in Comfort

The plan: two travellers, one route

Ben travels with a backpack and a tight budget. Claire travels with a suitcase and puts comfort first. They take the same route: arrive in Bangkok, spend four nights in the city, then three nights on Koh Samet, a national-park island about three hours away.

Exchange rate used: 1 US dollar ≈ 34 baht (the rate was 33.76 on 25 Oct 2026, rounded to keep the maths easy)
Not included: International flights, travel insurance, shopping and souvenirs
Prices checked: 25 October 2026, from official pages, booking sites and travel guides (listed at the bottom)

Flights (not on the bill)

A Bangkok Airways plane taxiing at Suvarnabhumi Airport — Photo: Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0

Flights depend completely on where you start, so we kept them off the bill. In the video, both fly from Los Angeles: Ben takes the cheapest economy ticket with one stop, about $726 return and 24 hours. Claire flies business class, about $4,708. Same city, six and a half times the price.

Los Angeles: Economy from $726 (1 stop) · business from $4,708 · cheapest month usually January
New York: Economy from $841 · business from $4,683 · cheapest month usually January
London: Economy from $581 (nonstop flights exist from about $1,100) · business from $2,588
Sydney: Economy from $488 · business from $2,682 · cheapest month usually February

Local tip

January is usually the cheapest month to fly in from the US and Europe. The most expensive is your own summer holiday (June–July), when everyone else is flying too.

Fares: cheapest return found on Google Flights for one adult, checked 25 Oct 2026. They move every day.

Airport to the city, and a SIM card

The curved roof of Suvarnabhumi Airport terminal — Photo: David McKelvey from Brisbane, Australia, CC BY 2.0

An Airport Rail Link train at the platform — Photo: My Train Pix, CC BY-SA 2.0

Ben: Airport Rail Link: About 45 baht (~$1.30) from Suvarnabhumi to Phaya Thai, the end of the line
Claire: public taxi: Meter + 50 baht airport fee + expressway tolls (~75) ≈ 450 baht (~$13) to central Bangkok
Both: tourist SIM: About 500 baht (~$15) for 8 days of unlimited data; often cheaper in town than at the airport

The brochure says

Taxis are waiting for you as soon as you land.

A Thai will tell you

The official public taxi stand is on Floor 1, between gates 4 and 7. If someone walks up to you inside the terminal offering a ride, just say no thanks and head downstairs.

A green-and-yellow Bangkok taxi — Photo: S5A-0043, CC BY 2.0

Four nights in Bangkok

Ben: hostel dorm bed: About 400 baht a night (~$12) → 1,600 baht for four nights
Claire: four-star hotel with a pool: About 3,000 baht a night (~$88) → 12,000 baht for four nights

Bunk beds in a hostel dorm room — Photo: Sgroey, CC BY 4.0

A hotel pool in Bangkok — Photo: Blemished Paradise, CC BY-SA 2.0

Local tip

Whatever you pay, stay near a BTS or MRT station. You save on every ride and skip Bangkok's traffic. Hostel prices jump on weekends, at Songkran and over New Year.

Getting around Bangkok

Elevated BTS Skytrain tracks curving through Bangkok — Photo: PEAK99, CC BY 3.0

An orange-flag Chao Phraya Express boat — Photo: Slleong, CC0 (Wikimedia Commons)

BTS / MRT: About 17–65 baht a ride depending on distance. A new 17–45 baht fare is planned from January 2027.
Chao Phraya Express boat (orange flag): 18 baht a trip (it moves with diesel prices)
Grab: About 60–150 baht for a short city ride; 50–80% more in rain or the 5–7 pm rush
Ben: Trains and boats, about 100 baht a day → 400 baht for four days
Claire: Grab everywhere, about 500 baht a day → 2,000 baht for four days

A tuk-tuk parked on a Bangkok street — Photo: Ossewa, CC BY-SA 4.0

The brochure says

Hop in a tuk-tuk, the iconic way to get around.

A Thai will tell you

Ride one for the fun, not the price. A tuk-tuk driver may ask 150–300 baht for a ten-minute ride that costs 80–120 in a Grab. Agree on the fare before you get in.

Food, all seven days

Pad kra pao with a fried egg on rice — Photo: PattayaPatrol, CC BY-SA 4.0

Street food: Pad kra pao and other stir-fries on rice 40–70 baht; boat noodles 20–40 baht a bowl. In tourist areas like Khao San or Sukhumvit, the same plate can be 100–180.
Mall food courts: About 60–100 baht a dish, with air conditioning
Rooftop bar cocktail: About 350–600 baht, plus around 17% service and tax
Ben: Eats like a local, about 300 baht a day → 2,100 baht for the week
Claire: Restaurants and a sunset cocktail, about 2,000 baht a day → 14,000 baht for the week

Trays of curries and stir-fries at a rice-and-curry stall — Photo: Kieron Wood, CC BY-SA 3.0

Local tip

The best food is often the cheapest. Look for the stall that's full of Thai people, and if you don't know what to order, point at a plate on the next table.

Bangkok at night from a rooftop bar — Photo: Ninara from Helsinki, Finland, CC BY 2.0

Temples and experiences

The Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho — Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0

Wat Pho: 300 baht for foreign visitors (Thais free); tickets also sold online
Wat Arun: 200 baht in most recent guides (one 2026 report says 100, so check at the gate)
Thai massage, 1 hour: About 250–400 baht at a regular shop; hotel spas from about 900 up to 8,000
Muay Thai, ringside: About 2,500 baht at Rajadamnern Stadium; cheaper seats from about 1,000
Ben: Both temples (500) + a street massage (about 300) = 800 baht
Claire: Both temples (500) + a hotel spa (about 2,500) + ringside Muay Thai (2,500) = 5,500 baht

A massage pavilion at a Thai resort — Photo: Hartmann Linge, CC BY-SA 4.0

A Muay Thai fight in a Bangkok stadium — Photo: Mr.Peerapong Prasutr, CC BY-SA 4.0

Local tip

Cover your shoulders and knees at temples. If you don't, you'll have to buy or borrow a cover-up at the gate.

Three nights on Koh Samet

The wide white-sand curve of Ao Wong Duean, Koh Samet — Photo: Ken Eckert, CC BY-SA 4.0

Ben: Bus from Ekkamai (about 200 each way) + slow ferry (about 80 each way) + fan bungalow about 800 a night + 200 park fee + Airport Rail Link back (45) ≈ 3,200 baht (~$94)
Claire: Private car from Bangkok (about $101) + speedboat both ways (about 500) + beach resort about 5,000 a night + 200 park fee + private car straight to the airport (about $63) ≈ 21,200 baht (~$624)

Local tip

Go on a weekday. Bangkok heads to Samet on weekends, and rooms are cheaper Sunday to Thursday. Keep 200 baht in cash for the national park fee.

Choosing between Samet and Hua Hin? Our honest guide to both is in the related guides on the Plan a trip page.

The bill: seven days, side by side

Airport + SIM: Ben 545 · Claire 950 baht
Bangkok, 4 nights: Ben 1,600 · Claire 12,000
Getting around: Ben 400 · Claire 2,000
Food, 7 days: Ben 2,100 · Claire 14,000
Temples & experiences: Ben 800 · Claire 5,500
Koh Samet, 3 nights: Ben 3,205 · Claire 21,200
Total (no flights): Ben 8,650 baht (~$254, ~1,240 a day) · Claire 55,650 baht (~$1,637, ~7,950 a day)

Claire spends about 6.4 times more. But they see the same temples, eat the same pad kra pao if they want to, and watch the same sunset on Samet. Most people end up somewhere in between: a hostel with a private room, Grab when it rains, one rooftop drink.

How we counted

Fixed prices (train fares, park fee, temple tickets, airport taxi fee) come from official pages or several travel guides that agree.
Ranges (hotels, food, Grab, massage) come from booking sites and 2026 travel guides. Where we had to pick one number, we said so: Claire's 2,000 baht a day for food, her 2,500 baht spa, Ben's 800 baht bungalow and Claire's 5,000 baht resort are our own picks inside those ranges.
Dollar amounts use 34 baht to the dollar and are rounded.
Prices change with the season, the day of the week and fuel prices. Check before you book.

Sources

All photos are free-licence, from Wikimedia Commons. Some are edited (faces blurred, cropped). Photo credits

Short answer

The plan: two travellers, one route

Flights (not on the bill)

Airport to the city, and a SIM card

Four nights in Bangkok

Getting around Bangkok

Food, all seven days

Temples and experiences

Three nights on Koh Samet

The bill: seven days, side by side

How we counted

Sources