How Much Does a Month in Thailand Cost for a Family? Our Real Figures

We spent 47 days in Thailand between 28 October and 13 December 2025: a few days in Bangkok, three weeks in Chiang Mai including a night at an elephant lodge, then Krabi and three islands in the Andaman Sea, Koh Jum, Koh Lanta and Koh Mook. We logged every expense as we went, so every figure below is what we actually paid.

We went back for 10 days in Hua Hin in January 2026, and that trip has its own section at the end rather than being folded into the total. It was a different trip, three weeks later, and mixing them would give a number that describes neither.

This is part of our destination cost series, alongside our Cambodia breakdown and Vietnam breakdown. We are a family of four, two adults and two young children.

What We Actually Paid

Our total spend in Thailand over 47 days came to £5,604.35.

Not included above: our two internal flights, Bangkok to Chiang Mai (£138.69) and Chiang Mai to Krabi (£389.98), and our flights in to Bangkok (£1,493.29) and out to Kuala Lumpur (£181.31). Also excluded are luggage storage and a taxi in Krabi (£100.80) and travel insurance, as in our other cost breakdowns.

One stay is included that is not in our expense tracker: three nights at Spirit Mountain in Ao Nang, which we booked directly for 3,600 THB. We have converted it at 42.5 baht to the pound, the rate for the rest of the trip, which makes it about £84.71.

Accommodation

Accommodation was our biggest cost at £2,999.79, just over half of everything we spent.

Two things stand out. Chiang Mai took three apartments to cover three weeks, 55,012 THB in total, and came to about £68 a night, so it was not the cheap base its reputation suggests. And the Season Bungalow on Koh Jum added a 4% charge for paying by card, which is worth asking about before you pay on the smaller islands.

The one night at Chai Lai Orchid was the most we paid for any single night, and it was an elephant lodge, where feeding the elephants cost us another 600 THB (£14.12) in bananas.

Food and Eating Out

Food came to £1,322.37 over 47 days, £28.14 a day for the four of us, across 156 logged purchases.

Transport

Getting around locally cost £587.53, or £12.50 a day, across 92 logged journeys. The biggest single items were the boats between the islands, all paid in cash:

All three of these routes can also be booked ahead on 12Go, which we used later for our Cambodia to Vietnam border crossing.

Internal flights were separate: Bangkok to Chiang Mai for £138.69 and Chiang Mai to Krabi for £389.98, both for the four of us.

Activities

Activities came to £496, or £10.55 a day, across 21 logged items.

The snorkelling day was the big one, and trips like it from Koh Lanta can be booked ahead on Booking.com. At the other end, the entrance to Doi Suthep, the temple above Chiang Mai, was 60 THB.

Money, Cards and Cash

Every ATM charged us 250 THB. We logged six withdrawals across Chiang Mai, the islands and Hua Hin, and the machine fee was 250 THB (about £5.90) every time. That fee belongs to the machine and every foreign card pays it, so the only lever you have is taking out more each time. We explain the maths in how to avoid ATM fees in Southeast Asia.

What you can control is whether your own card adds a second charge. Wise does not, up to £250 of withdrawals a month, and you can hold baht in the account and spend it without a conversion fee, as we did in Chiang Mai. Thai baht is also one of only two Southeast Asian currencies the Post Office Travel Money Card holds, but it charges its own 80 THB per withdrawal on top of the machine's fee. We compare the two in Wise vs Post Office Travel Money Card.

Open a Wise AccountFree to open · Hold and spend Thai baht · Mid-market exchange rates · No Wise fee on the first £250 of ATM withdrawals each month✓ What we use across Southeast Asia

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QR payments. Most Thai businesses display a PromptPay code, which UK cards and Wise cannot pay. We cover the one tourist route into PromptPay in QR code payments in Southeast Asia.

Connectivity

We bought local SIM cards in Chiang Mai for 600 THB (£14.12), then topped up two of them on Koh Lanta for 500 THB (£11.76). We explain why we went with AIS, and how the eSIM alternatives compare, in our best eSIM for Thailand guide.

Visas: The Rules Have Changed Since We Went

We stayed 47 days on the visa exemption in late 2025. That would not be possible now. According to the UK government's travel advice, from 15 September 2026 British passport holders entering Thailand under the visa exemption scheme can stay for up to 30 days, for tourism only, and visa-exempt entry is normally limited to two entries a calendar year.

Your passport needs at least six months left from the date you arrive. You may be asked to show at least 20,000 THB per family and evidence of onward or return travel, which we cover in do you need proof of onward travel. Everyone entering Thailand must also complete the digital arrival card online, within three days before arrival.

Checked against gov.uk's Thailand entry requirements on 26 September 2026. Visa rules change, so check the current page before you travel.

Going Back: 10 Days in Hua Hin

In January 2026 we returned to Thailand for 10 days in Hua Hin, from 2 to 11 January, after flying in to Bangkok for £328.90. It came to £949.09, or £94.91 a day.

The eight nights at Marrakech Residences were £66.15 a night, close to what we paid on the islands. Activities were cheap and child-sized: the national park entry was 1,030 THB (£24.32), a play cafe 520 THB (£12.28), golf 500 THB (£11.81), a kids' baking class 400 THB (£9.45) and a paint-by-numbers cafe 240 THB (£5.67).

Our Honest Take: Is Thailand Cheap for Families?

Not the way we did it. At £119.24 a day, Thailand cost us well above Cambodia at £89.68 and Vietnam at £83.70.

Accommodation is most of the story. It was over half our spend, and Chiang Mai, the city with the budget reputation, cost us about the same per night as the islands.

Chiang Mai and the islands cost about the same per day. Chiang Mai came to £121.72 a day over 22 days, and the islands £124.43 a day over 19. Choosing the islands over the city did not cost us noticeably more. Choosing a slower stay did save money: Hua Hin, where we spent eight of our nine nights in one apartment, was £94.91 a day.

Food was reasonable at £28.14 a day for four, and the extras that make Thailand memorable for children, the snorkelling, the elephants, the water park, were a small share of the total.

For how this fits into the cost of a longer trip, see our guide to long-term travel costs, or start with our budgeting guide.