I’ve been to Thailand 5 times now, 4 times without and 1 time with kids. Thailand is a lovely destination to go to when you want to travel with kids. Why? It’s easy to travel through, it’s diverse, you have good healthcare (if you ever need a hospital) and you can fly there directly. But what are the costs of a holiday in Thailand with the family?
When I make a budget I like to split it three ways:
- Costs of getting there
- Costs for living
- Fun stuff
Before we get started on 1, first let’s take a brief look at the checklist for our (and hopefully your) trip to Thailand with kids:
| Destination | Thailand | |||
| Number of weeks | 3 | |||
| Period | Summer holiday | |||
| Amount of people | 2 adults, 2 kids | |||
Of course we want to get to see quite a bit of “the land of the smiles” so here’s what we’ll be doing: we fly to Bangkok and stay there for a few days to see some of the beautiful temples, we take a bicycle ride through the less known parts of Bangkok and perhaps pay a visit to Sea World. Then we take the night train from Bangkok to Chang Mai. From here we will be seeing a completely different Thailand! We’ll be going on a hike through the jungle, visit the famous night market, take a cooking course (if the kids are old enough), get a traditional Thai massage and explore our surroundings by bicycle.
From Chang Mai we’ll take a flight to Surat Thani where we’ll visit National Park Kao Sok of course before taking the ferry to Koh Samui. There we will be enjoying the sun, sea, beach and delicious food and we’ll rent a car to explore the island and its beautiful temples. When we’re fully relaxed we fly back to Bangkok where our flight back to Amsterdam will depart from. Are you looking forward to it?!
1# Costs of a holiday in Thailand: Costs of getting there
The largest costs are the tickets of course. I’ve taken 2 kids aged 2 years and older into account. The ticket prices can vary a lot so I’ve taken an average of what we’ve paid the last couple of times.
| Tickets | € 2.200 | ||
| Transfer: | |||
| Airport – hotel | € 12 | ||
| Hotel – airport | € 12 | ||
| Total | € 2.224 | ||
And on to the next “cost item”.
2# Costs of a holiday in Thailand: Costs for living
You can live in Thailand “on a budget” and that’s why it’s loved by backpackers so much. But you can live very luxuriously too if you like. The overnight stays are the biggest costs in this category. We tend to choose hotels with the kids that are clean, have a pool or that lie at sea because let’s be honest, most kids get happy near water.
| Overnight stays | € 75 | € 1.575 | |
| Food & drinks | € 25 | € 525 | |
| Transport | € 5 | € 105 | |
| Train Bangkok – Chang Mai | € 100 | ||
| Flight Chang Mai – Surat Thani | € 240 | ||
| Flight Koh Samui – Bangkok | € 700 | ||
| Ferry Surat Thani – Koh Samui | € 40 | ||
| Total | € 3.285 | ||
As you can see the largest costs are flying from Koh Samui to Bangkok but there are cheaper alternatives for this. Think of the ferry to Surat Thani and the train or plane from Surat Thani to Bangkok. This may take some more time but will save you lots of money.
And then on to the most “fun” costs of your holiday in Thailand!
3# Costs of a holiday in Thailand: Fun stuff
These costs fully depend on what you want to and what you can spend and can be adjusted to any budget.
| Excursions | |||
| Koa Sok | € 350 | ||
| Fietsen Bangkok | € 80 | ||
| Fietsen Chang Mai | € 60 | ||
| Other excursions and trips | € 20 | € 420 | |
| Total | € 910 | ||
That brings us to the total costs of a holiday in Thailand with the family, DRUMROLL: € 6.419,-
Is your budget lower? You can save money these ways:
- Go outside of the high season
- Don’t book a direct flight, there are loads of good deals (sometimes for € 300,-) if you don’t fly directly
- Don’t take the plane from Koh Samui to Bangkok but take the ferry and train or bus instead
- Buy bread and spreads and make your own breakfast and/or lunches
- Rent bicycles and plan your own bike ride with google maps
This list really makes me want to go back there, what about you?
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