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Things to do on a budget!!

Hi guys. I'm looking for a more expert opinion. People who have travelled on a budget in Thailand and sort of creating an itinerary of things to do in each city. So far, my itinerary looks like this: 11-13 October - Bangkok, 13-15 October - Chiang Mai, 15-18 October - Pattaya, 18-20 October - Bangkok. I have paid all my flights from BKK to Chiang Mai to Pattaya and back to BKK and all the hotels. My budget for the whole trip (spending money) is £1000. What would you recommend I would do in each city, what good attractions are there to see considering I stay 2 days in each city. I'd like to explore a little bit, I know I am sort of rushed, but this is how I can do it. Would you please be so kind to explain some things to me? I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks in advance travellers!

Posted by
15678 posts

I'd also post in the Thailand forum over at Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree. That's probably a better site for the budget traveler to Asia than this one. I will also advise you to get a good guidebook for choosing what to do/see in each location based on your interests (and respondents there will very likely say the same).

Posted by
15560 posts

Am I reading this correctly. You have a budget of £1000 spending money (food, local transport, sights, incidentals) for 10 days? That's about 3700 baht/day. I was in Chiang Mai and Bangkok last year in Feburary, the only days I spent more than 1000 baht were the days I did serious shopping for things to take home. That included the liberal use of taxis. And once when I got a henna tattoo and made a big donation to the local Jewish organization.

Posted by
51 posts

What a timely post! My husband & I are looking to go to Thailand, maybe January or February. We feel out of our element without being able to go via Rick's method. Eagerly looking forward to all the responses.

Posted by
15560 posts

crwawro - January/February is about the best time of year to go to Thailand. The center (Bangkok) is always hot and humid, but less so then. The north (Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai) is much less humid and a little less warm, and the mornings are often pleasantly cool. There are great beaches in the south. It's best to fly between regions, flights are cheap and frequent - buses and trains are slowslow and often crowded. Chiang Mai has a flower festival the first weekend in February and it's worth seeing. Lonely Planet is a good guide, I also like the DK Eyewitness guides. It's easy to do on your own. For the south, try to find a less popular place, which may require extra costs for private transfer from the airport - or plan on lots of other people around. For the Chiang Mai area, you can do it on your own and take day tours which you can arrange on the spot. To explore the far north (Chiang Rai) a guide/car is best and won't break the bank. I used a wonderful guide, Jermsak. This is his website. While he has set tour itineraries, he worked with me by email to tailor our 3 full days together to my interests. On the 3rd day, he drove me to Chiang Mai, with many sightseeing stops along the way.