Thailand is the backpacking country of Southeast Asia. All young backpackers come to Thailand for the good food, fun activities and partying on the islands. Still, Thailand is getting a little more expensive for travelers. Southern Thailand is also a lot more expensive than the north. Therefore, in this article, we take you through the expenses we incurred during 2.5 months in Southern Thailand from December 2022 to February 2023. Costs are broken down into activities, accommodation, transportation, food and beverages and other. This is all based on two people. At the bottom of this article you will find a handy overview of common expenses in Southern Thailand.
Content in this blog:
Cost of accommodation in southern Thailand
We always try to spend as little money as possible on accommodation. Since this is often just the place where you sleep and hardly spend any other time, we don’t mind sleeping a little more simply. We have only two criteria: it must be clean and it must be near the center.
In Southern Thailand, we always slept in a double room. On average, we spent €17.50 per night on accommodations. In some places we were able to stay very cheaply: Koh Muk, Koh Yao Yai and Koh Yao Noi. At the more touristy places such as Ao Nang and Koh Phi Phi, the amounts per night were a bit higher.
Activity costs
The cost of activities in Thailand varies. You can (as in any country) make it as expensive as you want. In Southern Thailand, we did some more expensive activities than usual. In Koh Lipe, for example, we dived (€85) and from Ao Nang we did some wonderful island tours (€40 per tour).
Per day, the two of us spent €16.50 on activities. This includes diving and the two-day Khao Sok tour (€150). This also includes motorbike rental. We rented motorbikes for several days at each destination. The cost of a motorbike is usually 250 baht (€7) per day. Note that there are certain rules for renting a motorbike in Asia.
Cost of eating and drinking in southern Thailand
Thailand has insanely good cuisine. The pad thai, massaman curry and mango sticky rice should definitely not be skipped here. All local restaurants offer the same dishes. At the tourist destinations Koh Phi Phi and Ao Nang, you’ll notice that these dishes are more than twice as expensive than at the less popular destinations. Also, the same dish in a restaurant costs twice as much as at the local street food stalls.
Together, we spent a total of €32.50 per day on food and drinks. This includes the occasional beer or two. This is by far the biggest expense in our South Thailand budget.
Cost of transportation
In southern Thailand, you often travel from island to island. Unfortunately, the ferries do not run to every island, nor do they run year-round. As a result, you often have to rely on expensive speedboats. For a 1.5-hour speedboat ride, you pay €35 per person!
On average, we spent €8 per day on transportation in Thailand. These are the costs of the ferries, speedboats and cabs we took. The cost of transportation depends very much on how many islands you want to visit. To get from one island to another, you have to charge at least 500 baht (€14) per person.
Other costs
In addition to the above costs, we did some laundry, bought toiletries, tipped and bought SIM cards. A sim card with unlimited data for 30 days costs 150 – 350 baht (€4-10) at the 7 eleven or a local provider. For laundry, you pay a minimum of 40 baht (€1.20) per kilo. In total, we spent a combined €4.50 per day on other expenses. This includes extending our visa in Southern Thailand (€104 for us together).
Average daily budget for southern Thailand
After 2.5 months in Southern Thailand, we arrive at a daily budget of almost €40 per person. This is quite a high amount for Asia, especially considering that we stay very cheaply. We were very disappointed with the cost of inter-island transportation and food and drink. The activities are also very expensive but here you can largely choose for yourself. Still, we had a wonderful time in Southern Thailand. So be sure to save some good money and go backpacking in Thailand!
Cost overview budget South Thailand
To get your budget right, we have written down below the common costs of your trip through Southern Thailand. This will make it easier to set your budget for Southern Thailand. Please note that this is an average: in high season, prices are a bit higher everywhere, and in low season, of course, lower.
| Southern Thailand | |
| Overnight | |
| Dorm in a hostel | € 8-15 |
| Simple double room | € 10-15 |
| More luxurious double room | € 15-30 |
| Food and drink | |
| Bottle of water at the supermarket | € 0,50 |
| Street food meal | € 2-4 |
| Local meal in a restaurant | € 4-6 |
| Western meal | € 5-10 |
| Soft Drink | € 0,50-1,50 |
| Beer in the supermarket | € 1-2 |
| Beer in a restaurant | € 2-4 |
| Transportation | |
| Motorbike rental per day | € 6-8 |
| Ferry of 3 hours | € 12-15 |
| Speedboat of 1.5 hours | € 35 |
| Cab on the islands | € 1,50-2,50 |
