Asia,  Country Guides,  TDM,  Thailand,  Tips

17 days in Thailand: Our itinerary, Country Travel Guide & Budget

Thailand has been added to the list for a simple reason of cost: the plane ticket between Kathmandu and Mandalay is too expensive. Going through Bangkok reduces this cost by -50%.

That’s how we found ourselves for two weeks in Thailand, a country we have never visited before but from which we heard so much good that we had to check it out for ourselves. We went there in August 2016, in the middle of the monsoon.

Here is our itinerary for 17 days

  • Bangkok (2 nights) : Late arrival in the evening. We could only visit Wat Po. The rest of the time was spent shopping, eating and eating
  • Koh Tao (3 nights): departure by night bus and boat from Bangkok, the trip takes 11 hours. We took advantage of Tanote Bay (which we do not recommend), Chalok Baan Kao (topissime!) and a boat tour of the island to do some snorkelling (and visit Nangyuan, among others)
  • Koh Phangan (3 nights) : departure from Koh Tao by boat, the trip takes 2-3 hours. We stayed at Haad Son Resort (Booking link, best beach of the island), rented a scooter on the last day to go to the city center and tour the beaches (including Chaloklum which is recommended for its beauty but is infested with sand fleas)
  • Kabri (5 nights) : departure from Koh Phangan by boat and bus. The trip takes 5h30. We had to stay here for a long time because I fell sick. But if I was not sick, I would have visited in the day Koh Phi Phi, 4 islands -> 3 nights hereand 2 nights in Koh Lanta would have been ideal
  • Bangkok (2 nights) : flight from Krabi to Bangkok

Note: we zapped Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Pai on our first trip. And after visiting them on our 2nd trip, I think you can actually zap them if you run out of time (even if I have a little crush on Pai). However, it can be an interesting stop if you want to go by boat to Luang Prabang afterwards.

Budget

Exchange rate: 1 euro = 37 baths

  • 51 616 bahts or 1 321€ for 17 days
  • or 77€ perday, all included (hotel, food, transportation, massage every 2 days, excluding shopping, excluding plane ticket Kathmandu – Bangkok)

Fortunately for our wallet, we won’t have this spending rhythm every day. But I confess that we enjoyed ourselves, level food, hotel, we did NOT refuse anything.

It is quite possible to considerably reduce this budget by taking sleep in youth hostels or eating less seafood 😀

depenses-thailande-17jours

Transport budget

  • Kathmandu – Bangkok: 100€/person via Jet Airways with a stopover in Delhi
  • Bangkok – Koh Tao: 1100 baht/person the “joint ticket” i.e. night bus + boat. Buying the bus and boat tickets separately would have saved you 200 bahts
  • Koh Tao – Koh Phangan between 350 and 500 baht/person (depending on the schedule)
  • Koh Phangan – Krabi: between 850 and 1050 baht/person (depending on the schedule)
  • Krabi – Bangkok: 60€/person via Air Asia (luggage included)
  • To go to Krabi airport: 150 baht/person
  • Excursions from Krabi: between 500 and 700 baht/person, lunch included
  • Transportation in Bangkok: between 50 and 60 baht a ride, otherwise between 15 and 40 baht by subway
  • Transport on the islands: 200 baht/person to go to your hotel. 200 bahts/day for the rental of a scooter + 25 bahts/day approximately for gas

Other Expenses

  • 200 Bahts (fixed fee) for each ATM/DAB withdrawal
  • Massages: between 200 and 250 bahts in big cities for 1 hour massage. 300 bahts on the islands
  • Hotel: between 20 and 30€ per double room, clean and comfortable. There is less expensive but in general, the cleanliness is proportional to the price.
  • Food: 80 bahts/person/meal in the street otherwise between 150 and 250 bahts/person/meal on the islands
  • Coconut: between 60 and 90 baht
  • Products of all kinds: mosquito repellent, after-bite, sun cream, aloe vera etc. Between 100 bahts and 500 bahts/product. It is of good quality and adapted to the needs of the country so it is better to buy them locally.

Accommodation

Recommended hotels in Bangkok & Chiang Rai

  • Bangkok: T-Boutique Hostel – Hua Lamphong, very close to Chinatown and the train station, very clean room (20€ per double room, owner speaks impeccable English (Booking link)
  • Bangkok: Boxpackers Hostel Phranakorn, youth hostels with capsule beds, in downtown Bangkok, 18€/person(Booking link)
  • Chiang Rai: Nak Nakara, 2431 baht/night double room, top service link Booking
  • Pai: Phu Pai Art Resort, link Booking, 30€) is located outside the city, in the middle of the rice fields. Here, a bungalow = a room. The outside is traditional, but the inside is very luxurious and made of natural materials. The bathroom is huge, and you even have the right to a dressing room

Recommended hotels on the islands

(beware, there are a lot of bed bugs on the islands, systematically check for bed bugs by typing the name of the hotel + bed bugs on Google)

  • Koh Phangan : Haad Son Resort 23€ (Booking link), the only one without bed chips, very beautiful beach, restaurant with incredible view, very instagrammable place, motorcycle rental service
  • Koh Tao : Matina Mountain Resort 39€ (link Booking), with shuttle, some rooms have a beautiful private pool, no bed chips to report

Tips

  • Transportation can be easily booked through the hotel reception or your hostel on the same day. The hotel does not even take any commission.
  • However, if you are a life stressor, you can book everything in advance on 12go asia, a serious Singaporean site. It is particularly interesting to book the trains. Cf. all the routes proposed here
  • Beware of sand fleas on deserted beaches. It is necessary to put mosquito repellent all the time, even when you go to the beach. Avoid sunbathing on a towel, take a deckchair if possible
  • Beware of bed fleas! Thailand is infested with them! So always check the beds and do the pre-check by typing the name of the hotel + bedbugs before you book one
  • In case of a flea attack, all clothes should be washed in hot water (60 degrees minimum) and sleep with a meat bag that is washed daily. Do not hesitate to throw away your clothes if you fear an infestation
  • Some hotels rated well on Booking aren’t on TripAdvisor. Consult both sites before choosing your hotel
  • For the islands, the beaches are shallow and some have lots of rocks that hurt your feet. If you don’t like snorkelling, ask about it before choosing a 600€/night resort.
  • Unless you have a cheap hotel, it’s better not to book in advance. Book the first night, test the restaurant, the beach, the bed, observe the mosquito density… Before extending your stay.
  • Another method would be to sleep in a hotel near the city center to take advantage of the cheap food, and rent a scooter to go to the beach. Beaches are public, you can access them through the resorts garden without paying a penny. Just bring beach towels
  • Rent your scooter through your hotel, it will be the same rate but there is less risk (they already have your passport for the room, no need to give passports to everybody)
  • Also stop by your hotel to buy boat/bus tickets to get the free cab to the port. It is the same price whether you go through the hotel or directly with the bus/boat company
  • To check bus and train schedules & have an idea of the prices, you can look at 12go .asia

Other tips

What we liked

  1. Thai cuisine (including pad thai, glass noddle salad, Thai BBQ and papaya salad)
  2. Thai beaches (well, those that aren’t infested with sand fleas & that are more than 50cm deep)
  3. Getting around on a scooter
  4. The Thai service (smile, kindness and ease of traveling in this country) & its shopping malls
  5. The fact that the Thai people speak to us a lot in Thai (hello, thank you), it’s really nice

What we didn’t like

  1. Beaches with water only up to your ankles
  2. The sand fleas
  3. Bed chips

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