If you are searching for the real cost of a Thailand trip, especially the cost of Bangkok and Pattaya, this breakdown should help. I tracked my spending over 23 days across Bangkok, Pattaya, and then Bangkok again on the return leg, not just to see the final number, but to understand where the money actually went.
This was not a luxury holiday, but it was not backpacking either. It was a fairly controlled trip with a close eye on spending, yet the final total still came out at around £3,100, which works out to roughly £135 per day all-in. Strip out the transport costs, flights, upgrades, airport transfers and the rest, and the real day-to-day living cost was closer to £80 per day.
That difference matters, because one of the biggest lessons from this trip was that the most expensive part was not the daily lifestyle. It was the structure of the trip itself.
