Monday, February 05, 2024

What are some tips for traveling on a budget in Thailand?


1. Visit 7 Eleven stores to have your meals. You can budget your full day's meal including breakfast, lunch, evening snacks and dinner within 150 Baht.

2. A lot of places can be covered by walking on foot. If you taking a cab, book one through the Grab or Bolt apps. Taxis are very overpriced. When in Pattaya, use the Baht Buses. They take 10–15 Baht per person at the most to take you from one place to another.

3. While in Bangkok, take the hop-on hop-off for sightseeing. If you take a cab, it will cost a lot to travel from one place to another. The bus costs 800 Baht per person but is worth the money since you can travel from any place all day long. A cab ride, on average costs 200–250 Baht. If you are visiting more than 3 places, you can recover your cost.

4. Stay at a hostel instead of a hotel. While a decent hotel costs a minimum of 1,000 Baht per night, you can get a nice hostel for 300–400 Baht per person per night too. If you are a solo traveller on a budget, hostels can be a better option.

5. Thailand is a tropical country and you will feel dehydrated very soon once you're outside. Carry a bottle of water with yourself instead of relying on over-expensive drinks outside.

6. While going from Pattaya to Koh Larn Island, do not take the speedboats. They can cost you 250–300 Baht per person. Instead, take the government ferry. They take a little longer to reach, almost double the time but cost only 30 Baht per person.

7. Avoid Indian restaurants! They are super expensive. Indians have a habit of searching for Indian food even in foreign lands and the locals exploit this habit to the fullest. For example, a dosa at an Indian restaurant may be as expensive as 300 Baht i.e. 750 rupees. You can eat a full meal for two people with that money from a local restaurant.

8. Plan your trip during the off-season, if you can. Hotel prices are close to half the actual rates, you will get cabs at cheaper prices and flight fares are a lot cheaper too. I travelled to Bangkok in the month of August and my roundway flight fare came to 17,300 INR. The same flight right now costs 26,000 INR.

9. Explore the variety of street food that Bangkok and Pattaya has to offer. The prices are super cheap and the food is hygienic at the same time. However, visit the dedicated street food markets only; not just any random street-side vendor.

10. And lastly, plan the trip yourself! Do not go with your providers as you will end up paying a lot extra as commissions to them. There are plenty of travel vlogs available on the internet, apps to order food and cabs. Planning an itinerary for Thailand is super easy and planning it yourself will help you save a lot of money.

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