What $15,000 actually gets you in Thailand

If you have $15,000 to spend on your Thailand trip, most Thailand travel advice out there simply doesn’t apply to you. I have planned over 100 Thailand trips at budgets from $5,000 all the way up to $70,000 for a 2-week trip. But 15 grand is the sweet spot where for two people, you never have to settle for second best. But not everything in Thailand is worth spending more on.

I have 15 grand to plan the best 2-week Thailand trip I possibly can. The perfect trip is going to be different for each person, but for this trip, I’m imagining that I’m planning for a couple visiting Thailand for the first time on their honeymoon. I want them to experience completely different sides of the country, rather than spending 2 weeks just sitting in a luxury resort.

We’re going to start in Bangkok, heading off to the mountains and temples of Chiang Mai, fly south for the beaches and islands of Krabi, then finish with something completely different, floating in the middle of the jungle in Khao Sok.

And to make this a little bit more difficult, I’ve planned this trip for early December. This is the start of Thailand’s peak season. The weather is generally fantastic, but the hotel prices are also getting close to their highest. I’ve priced up the actual hotels, flights, transfers, and experiences for these dates.

Bangkok and Chiang Mai Hotels With Views and Central Locations

The first place I’d spend more money on is going to be the hotels. You definitely do not need to spend $500 or $800 a night to get a great hotel in Thailand. But when you’ve got that bigger budget, hotels are one of the places where spending more can get you something genuinely special, whether that be an incredible view, a private pool, or even your own stretch of beach. Across the trip, I picked four completely different hotels that offer something a little bit different.

Starting in Bangkok, I picked Sala Rattanakosin, and I’m not choosing this because it’s the fanciest hotel in Bangkok. There are considerably more luxurious options. What I’m choosing this for is the view.

The hotel sits directly across the Chao Phraya River from Wat Arun, and I’ve specifically upgraded it to the Wat Arun River View Room, where you’ve basically got one of Thailand’s most famous temples filling the window at the end of your bed.

For the four nights here, from December 1st to December 4th, that’s costing $1,263. That’s a decent chunk of change, but you’re not really paying for the slightly fancier room or bigger bathroom. You’re spending extra to wake up at one of Bangkok’s most iconic sites that you’re actually going to remember.

Then in Chiang Mai, I actually want to pull things back a little bit. In Chiang Mai, although you want somewhere nice, the main thing you really want is to be centrally located because you’re going to be out exploring the town itself during the day.

I chose Tamarind Village for around $1,200 for the four nights. It’s right in the middle of Chiang Mai’s Old City, built around these beautiful courtyards with enormous tamarind trees, and despite being right in the center of everything, it feels surprisingly peaceful inside.

But we’re going to spend most of our time here exploring temples, heading into the mountains, eating our way through the market, and getting out in the countryside, so a central location is more important.

Krabi Pool Suites and Khao Sok Floating Villas

The next stop of our trip is Krabi, and by the time we get to the beaches, this is where I would spend the biggest chunk of the hotel budget. There are a couple of reasons for that.

Firstly, beach resorts in Thailand are just generally more expensive than comparable hotels in Bangkok or the north of Thailand, especially during the peak season. And I also think this is where paying more can make the biggest difference.

Thailand’s beaches can get really busy, so I’m willing to spend a bit extra to stay somewhere directly on the beach in a quiet area away from the biggest crowds. And because you’re going to spend more time actually enjoying the hotel here, I think it’s worth using some of that budget on a room with something truly special, too.

In this part of the trip, in Krabi, I’ve gone for the Banyan Tree Krabi where 4 nights in an ocean pool suite comes to $3,328. That’s more than $800 a night, making this our biggest hotel splurge of the trip. But look at what you’re getting for that. You’ve got a secluded beach with views across the Andaman Sea towards Krabi’s limestone islands and your private pool right outside the room.

And for the final stop, we’re going to do something completely different. We’re heading into Khao Sok National Park out on Cheow Lan Lake. Cheow Lan Lake is famous for its floating bungalows and I’ve actually done both versions of this. I once stayed in the cheaper backpacker-style floating accommodation and I still had a great time.

The only problem with these places, though, is that they can get surprisingly lively during the night. You’re in what should be one of the most peaceful and beautiful locations in Thailand, surrounded by jungle and this beautiful lake, and then there’s a party going on two rafts down which can kind of ruin the vibe a little bit.

For this trip, I’d upgrade it. By far the best place to stay on the lake is 500 Rai Floating Resort right out in the lake.

Just getting there is part of the experience. You’ll take a longtail boat across Cheow Lan Lake past the mountains and deep into the national park before you eventually arrive at the hotel where the room is literally floating on the water.

But instead of the basic raft house, you’ve got a comfortable floating villa with panoramic views across the lake and a balcony that you can jump straight into the water from. This hotel even has its own pool within the lake.

Private Guides and Experiences in Thailand

The second upgrade that I’d make is going with private guides and experiences rather than group tours. You can see in the itinerary that I put together that I’ve gone for private on quite a few of our bigger days.

We have a private trip to the floating market, our own tuk-tuk and guide in Bangkok, and a private day exploring Doi Inthanon in Chiang Mai, and a private trip to the Tiger Cave Temple and Emerald Pool in Krabi. All of these places can be visited much more cheaply on a group tour, but here are a few things that I don’t really like about these group tours.

Firstly, you’re completely tied to somebody else’s schedule. Sometimes that means you’re being rushed through somewhere you’d happily spend another hour, and other times it means the complete opposite. You stand around waiting for somebody else to get back to the van.

You’re sitting through multiple hotel pickups and drop-offs, and you’re just spending much more time scrunched up in the back of a van with everyone else crowded in on it. On a 2-week trip, all of that dead time can really creep up on you and take away from your trip.

If you go privately, you’ve got your own vehicle, your own guide, and most importantly, your own schedule. At somewhere like Doi Suthep, for example, you can leave early to try and beat the crowds, spend longer at the places you actually enjoy, and skip places you’re not interested in.

But there’s another benefit. A good private guide isn’t just there to drive you between attractions. They can explain what you’re looking at, introduce you to people, and take you to smaller places that you might otherwise completely miss.

You’re paying for much more flexibility, less wasted time, and a much more personal experience.

Private Transport From Krabi to Khao Sok

The next upgrade is the thing that nobody wants to think about when they’re planning a trip. Everyone gets excited about the food they’re going to eat, the hotels they’re going to stay in, and all the things they’re going to do. But nobody gets excited about figuring out how they’re actually going to get around.

And unfortunately, this is one of those things that can make or break a trip. On a 15K budget, you can easily do private transport for most of the trip, which saves you hours of waiting in bus stations and avoids getting into a boat that looks like it might fall apart when you hit the first big wave. And that can be particularly useful on the longer journeys.

For example, on this trip, when you’re traveling from Krabi to Khao Sok, which is around 3 hours on the road, rather than being crammed onto a shared minivan, you’ve got a comfortable air-conditioned vehicle picking you up directly from your hotel and taking you exactly where you need to go.

And that’s really what you’re paying for here. You’re making the boring parts of traveling almost disappear.

Private Luxury Longtail Boats Around Krabi

But there’s one more form of transport where I’d take this upgrade even further. That brings us to probably my favorite upgrade that you can make in Thailand, getting your own boat for the day. I’ve been island hopping around Krabi plenty of times, and some of the most famous spots can go from looking like paradise to absolutely packed with people within an hour. Having your own boat gives you a much better chance of experiencing them differently.

One of the highlights of the trip I put together here on the 15K budget is a private luxury longtail boat, which costs around $450 for the entire day. These take the traditional Thai longtail boat and upgrade it completely. They have comfortable seating and big cushions, shade, and space to stretch out with food and drinks on board.

You could take this even further and upgrade to a private speedboat for around $1,000 for the day.

Having your own boat also gives you a much better chance of seeing these islands at their best. You can leave early and try to reach some of the beaches before the crowds arrive. You can spend the day cruising through the incredible limestone scenery, and you can stop somewhere quiet for lunch, for a swim or snorkeling, and find smaller beaches away from the busiest areas.

I know that some of the boat trips around Krabi will take you to a semi-private beach, and this is where only the private boats stop off, and you can have a picnic there and stuff like that.

The private boat companies purposely avoid where the larger groups go, which for me is one of the best upgrades that you can make with your money in Thailand.

Thai Street Food and Special Restaurant Meals

Our final upgrade is food, but this one works a little bit differently. If you’ve got $15,000 to spend in Thailand, one of the biggest mistakes you could make is deciding that means you should eat in expensive restaurants every night.

Some of the best food in Thailand is incredibly cheap. You can spend a couple of dollars on a bowl of noodles in Bangkok, eat khao soi in a tiny restaurant in Chiang Mai, or snack your way around the night markets of southern Thailand. And personally, I wouldn’t want to replace any of that with fine dining.

Instead, a bigger budget means we can do both. You should eat cheap local food most of the time, but have maybe two to three really special meals whilst you’re in Thailand.

And these meals can be an experience in themselves. Bangkok, for example, has some of the best restaurants in the world. And if you’re eating at some of the most famous like Gaggan or Sorn, for example, these are going to cost a pretty penny, costing a few hundred dollars per meal.

But personally, I don’t think you need to go to one of the top two or three restaurants in the city to really have a great experience.

A really cool experience that you could have is a meal on top of one of the rooftop sky bars. Sirocco on top of Tower Club is one of the most famous rooftop bars and restaurants in the city. And from this restaurant, you can admire the city lit up from beneath you.

But probably the most spectacular restaurant that I’ve personally ever eaten at in Thailand is The Grotto at Rayavadee on Railay Beach. The restaurant sits under this enormous limestone cliff right on the edge of the beach and the setting is just ridiculous. The restaurant is actually placed within a cave on the beach looking straight out on the ocean.

You’re obviously going to pay a little bit more than what you would expect to pay for dinner at a local Thai restaurant, but sometimes that’s really worth the upgrade if it’s going to be one of the best meals throughout your entire trip.

Thailand Trip Costs and Ways to Save

After all those upgrades, how much have we actually spent? Let’s add it up. By far, our biggest expense is the hotels. Across Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Krabi and Khao Sok, accommodation comes to $8,149.

It’s also worth noting that if you’re traveling at some of the less busy times of year, this might come down considerably, which would bring the budget down closer to 10K.

Next, we’ve got the domestic flights. Flights within Thailand are relatively cheap and on this trip, you travel from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai to Krabi, and for two people that would come to around $470.

Then we have all of the private transfers and transportation including airport pickups, drivers and getting between the destinations, which comes to another $573.

Our tours and experiences came to around $3,000. Then I’m allowing another $500 more for the more expensive meals.

And finally, I’m giving us another $1,000 of general spending money for everything else, street food, drinks, taxis, massages, souvenirs, and all those little expenses that appear along the way. If you’ve got a 15 grand budget, I wouldn’t necessarily plan on spending every penny of it. This gives you a little bit of breathing room.

But here’s the more important point. If 15 grand is way over your budget, here are a few ways you could save.

Obviously, as we’ve mentioned, hotels are by far the most expensive. You can cut that back considerably by staying in not quite as nice hotels or traveling earlier in the year when it’s not the busiest season.

You can also turn some of these private trips into group tours where it makes sense. That way you’re going to save significantly, bringing it much closer to the 10K or even 7K budget. But having the money to spend is only half the battle. Knowing how to actually plan your Thailand trip without wasting that money is the other half.