The short answer

Those are per-person daily budgets including accommodation, food, local transport and an activity, but excluding international flights. Couples sharing a room spend less per head; the islands typically cost 20% to 40% more than these averages, and Chiang Mai and the north less.

For a typical two-week, mid-range holiday for two — a good hotel, two domestic journeys, a few tours and plenty of eating out — budget around £2,000 to £2,500 for your spending in Thailand, plus flights and insurance. Our worked example below comes to just over £2,000.

Whatever your budget, spend it on a fee-free card, take cash out in larger amounts and always pay in baht. On a fortnight's spending, that alone can save £50 to £100.

Daily budgets by travel style

Typical daily spending per person in 2026, in baht and pounds (at ฿44.38 to £1). Scroll sideways on a phone.

Daily budgets from Visit Thailand Today (2026); actual costs vary by about 20% with season and exchange rate, and islands typically run 20–40% higher.

What things cost in Thailand in 2026

Accommodation

• Hostel dorm bed: ฿250–600 (about £6–14).
• Budget hotel room: ฿500–1,500 (about £11–34).
• Mid-range hotel room: ฿1,500–4,000 (about £34–90).
• Luxury resort room: ฿5,000–20,000+ (about £113–450+).

Rooms are priced per room, not per person, so couples and families get far more for their money. Check whether a quoted price is "net" or has "++" added — 10% service and 7% VAT, about 17.7% on top.

Food and drink

• Street-food meal: ฿40–80 (about £0.90–1.80).
• Local restaurant meal: ฿100–250 (about £2.25–5.60).
• Mid-range restaurant meal: ฿200–500 (about £4.50–11.30).
• Beer from 7-Eleven: a 620ml bottle of Chang or Leo was ฿59 in June 2026 (about £1.33).
• Beer in a bar: ฿60–180 (about £1.35–4).
• Coffee in a café: ฿50–120 (about £1.10–2.70).

Western food, imported wine and cocktails in tourist bars cost close to — sometimes more than — British prices. Eating where Thai people eat is the single easiest way to stretch a budget. Since late 2025, shops can sell alcohol from 11am to midnight, though some public holidays still have restrictions.

Getting around

• BTS Skytrain: ฿17–65 a trip (about £0.40–1.50).
• Airport Rail Link into Bangkok: ฿45 (about £1).
• Grab ride across town: typically ฿100–250 (about £2.25–5.60).
• Tuk-tuk or songthaew: ฿20–150 a ride.
• Sleeper train or overnight bus, Bangkok–Chiang Mai: from about ฿580 to ฿2,400 depending on class.
• Domestic flight, Bangkok–Chiang Mai: roughly ฿600–2,600 (about £14–59), booked ahead.

Things to do

• Thai massage, one hour: ฿250–400 (about £5.60–9).
• Temple entry: typically ฿50–200 (about £1.10–4.50); many are free.
• National park entry for foreigners: ฿100–500 depending on the park.
• Phi Phi island day trip: ฿1,400–2,500 (about £32–56).
• Introductory dive day: ฿3,500–4,500 (about £79–101); an Open Water course on Koh Tao ฿11,000–12,500 (about £248–282).
• A round of golf: green fees from about ฿1,500 to over ฿6,000, plus a caddie fee and tip.
• Thai SIM with a month's data: ฿300–600 (about £7–14).

Where and when you go changes the budget

Location. Bangkok has everything at every price. Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and the north are generally cheaper for food and accommodation. The islands — Phuket, Koh Samui, Phi Phi, Koh Tao — typically cost 20% to 40% more, because almost everything has to be shipped in and demand is concentrated in a few months.

Season. Hotel prices peak in the cool, dry high season from November to March, and especially over Christmas, New Year and Songkran in mid-April. The rainy season from roughly June to October brings the lowest rates — often heavily discounted at beach resorts — though the Gulf islands (Samui, Phangan, Tao) have a different pattern, with their wettest months later in the year.

Style. The biggest swing factor in any Thailand budget is accommodation. A couple moving from a ฿1,500 room to a ฿4,000 room adds around ฿35,000 — nearly £800 — to a fortnight. Food and transport, by contrast, stay cheap at almost any level unless you eat Western food every day.

A worked two-week budget for two

A mid-range fortnight for a couple: Bangkok, Chiang Mai and an island, staying in comfortable hotels, eating mostly in local restaurants, with a few tours and treats. Excludes international flights and insurance.

Illustrative budget using typical 2026 prices; pounds at ฿44.38 to £1 (Wise, 12 October 2026), rounded. Add about 10% as a contingency.

How the exchange rate changes your budget

Your costs are in baht; your money is in pounds. So the exchange rate quietly changes the cost of every meal and hotel night. In 2026 so far the pound has bought between about ฿41.6 and ฿45.5, and in March 2020 it fell as low as ฿37.

• At ฿38 to the pound, £1,000 buys ฿38,000, and a ฿3,000 mid-range day costs about £79.
• At ฿41.6 (the 2026 low), £1,000 buys ฿41,600 and the same day costs about £72.
• At ฿44.4 (mid-October 2026), £1,000 buys ฿44,400 and the day costs about £68.
• At ฿45.5 (the 2026 high), £1,000 buys ฿45,500 and the day costs about £66.

On our worked fortnight, the difference between ฿41.6 and ฿45.5 to the pound is about £185. You can't control the rate, but you can control two things: how much of it you lose in fees, and when you lock it in. Converting your holiday budget to baht in a multicurrency account when the rate looks good fixes your costs in advance; using a fee-free card means you get the real rate on the day without anything added.

Our guide to GBP to THB exchange rates explains what moves the rate and how to spot the margin in any quote.

The hidden costs to budget for

• Card fees. A standard UK card adds about 2.75% to 2.99% to every payment and withdrawal — around £60 on a £2,000 holiday. A fee-free card adds nothing.
• Thai ATM fees. ฿220 per withdrawal with any UK card. Take out ฿20,000 at a time rather than ฿3,000 and you'll pay a fraction as much.
• "Pay in pounds" conversions. At ATMs, hotels and shops, accepting pounds typically costs 6% to 9% more. Always choose baht.
• "++" pricing. 10% service and 7% VAT on hotel and restaurant prices that aren't quoted "net".
• Card surcharges. Some small hotels, tour desks and dive shops add a few percent for cards.
• Dual pricing. National parks and some attractions charge foreigners more than Thai residents.
• Insurance. Essential, not optional: Thailand's private hospitals are excellent but expensive, and many policies exclude scooters and diving unless you add cover.
• Tourist entry fee. Thailand has long planned a ฿300 fee for air arrivals; as of mid-2026 it still wasn't being collected. Check before you travel.

How to manage your budget while you're there

• Think in baht. Learn a quick conversion — at about ฿44 to the pound, ฿100 is roughly £2.25 and ฿1,000 is about £22.50.
• Use your banking app. Instant notifications show every payment in pounds as it happens, so you always know where you stand.
• Set a daily cash amount. Withdraw larger sums less often, leave most in the hotel safe and carry the day's cash.
• Book the big things ahead. Hotels, domestic flights, ferries and key tours paid before you go mean fewer surprises on the trip.
• Split card and cash. Cards for hotels, Grab, malls and bookings; cash for street food, markets, taxis, parks and tips.
• Keep a backup. A second fee-free card on the other network, and £100–200 in sterling for emergencies.

If you're planning a longer stay, our Thailand cost of living calculator lets you build a monthly budget for the city and lifestyle you have in mind.

Budgeting for a long stay or retirement

For a winter in Thailand or a permanent move, the budget changes shape. Rent replaces hotels — a one-bedroom apartment for a month typically costs ฿15,000 to ฿25,000 (about £340 to £560) in many areas, more in central Bangkok and on the islands — and you add utilities, health insurance and visa costs.

Three things matter more than anything on a holiday budget:

• Health insurance. Private healthcare is paid for upfront, and premiums rise with age. Getting the right cover in place early is one of the most valuable things a retiree can do.
• Visa finances. Retirement visa extensions typically require ฿800,000 in a Thai bank account or a monthly income of at least ฿65,000 — about £1,465 a month at October 2026 rates, and more if the pound weakens.
• Currency risk. If your pension and savings are in pounds and your life is in baht, every move in the exchange rate changes your standard of living. It can be managed — through how and when you move money, and how your income and investments are set up.

Families have extra costs to plan for, from international school fees to the cost of bringing a pet, and many visitors also combine a stay with planned dental or medical treatment, where bills can run to hundreds of thousands of baht.

The best cards for sticking to a budget

Fee-free spending, real exchange rates and instant notifications keep a Thailand budget on track.

Your Thailand budget checklist

• Set a daily budget in baht for your travel style and convert it at today's rate.
• Add 20–40% for the islands and peak season, and 10% contingency.
• Book hotels, domestic flights and ferries ahead.
• Get a fee-free card — and a backup on the other network.
• Consider fixing your budget in baht in a multicurrency account.
• Withdraw cash in larger amounts and always decline "pay in pounds".
• Buy insurance that covers what you'll actually do.
• Check prices are "net" or allow 17.7% for "++".