Thailand with Kids: How Much Does a Family Trip Cost?

Thailand with Kids: How Much Does a Family Trip Cost?

Thailand is often described as one of those destinations where you can travel for next to nothing.

And technically, that’s true.

You can eat a delicious plate of noodles for a few euros, jump in a local taxi without emptying your bank account and find a perfectly decent hotel room for much less than you would pay in Europe.

But then you add two children.

Suddenly there’s a family room instead of a backpacker’s room, four plane tickets instead of one, a swimming pool because everyone needs a break, ferries between islands, domestic flights, boat trips and the occasional ice cream that somehow turns into four ice creams.

So what does a family trip to Thailand actually cost?

We’ve travelled through Thailand as a family and discovered that the answer isn’t really “Thailand is cheap.”

It’s more:

Thailand can be incredible value if you spend your money on the things that matter to your family.

And for us, that has always been the key to travelling with children.

So, what should you budget for Thailand with kids?

For a family of four travelling around Thailand for roughly two weeks, I’d personally start with a budget of around €5,000–€7,000, including international flights.

You can certainly do it for less.

You can also spend considerably more.

Our own travel style sits somewhere in the middle. We like comfortable accommodation, preferably with a pool, we want to experience places rather than just sit at a resort, and we’re happy to spend money on experiences that we’ll still be talking about years later.

A rough breakdown could look like this:

These are planning figures rather than a promise of what your trip will cost. Your dates, route, children’s ages and choice of hotels can make a big difference.

And there is one particularly important thing to understand:

The more you move around, the more Thailand costs.

We learned that ourselves.

✈️ Flights: four tickets make a difference

Let’s start with the obvious one.

Getting to Thailand is probably going to be the single biggest expense of your trip.

When you’re travelling as a family of four, even a €100 difference per ticket suddenly becomes €400.

That’s why I don’t immediately look for “the cheapest flight”.

I compare different departure airports, dates and routes first. From the Netherlands, that can mean looking at Amsterdam, but also Brussels or Düsseldorf depending on where the price takes us.

I also look at the total journey.

Because saving €75 per person isn’t necessarily a saving if it means a 17-hour journey with two children and three connections.

For our family, a sensible flight is worth paying a little extra for.

And once you’ve found flights that work, I would build the rest of your Thailand itinerary around them rather than trying to squeeze every possible destination into the trip.

That’s something we learned while planning our own route. Thailand looks manageable on a map, but travel days add up surprisingly quickly.

If you’re still deciding where to go, our [Thailand With Kids: The Ultimate Family Travel Guide] is a useful place to start because it helps you think about the route as a whole rather than simply collecting destinations.

🏨 Hotels: comfortable doesn’t have to mean luxurious

Accommodation is where Thailand can still feel wonderfully affordable.

And this is one area where we don’t necessarily look for the cheapest option.

We look for the right option.

For us, that usually means:

• a good location
• a family room
• air conditioning
• decent reviews
• and preferably a swimming pool

The pool is important.

After a morning exploring Bangkok or walking around temples in Chiang Mai, our girls don’t necessarily want another activity.

They want to swim.

And honestly, so do we.

This is why choosing [where to stay in Thailand] can make just as much difference to your budget and your experience as choosing the destination itself.

We don’t need a luxury resort every night. A comfortable family hotel with a pool can be much more useful to us than an expensive hotel with lots of facilities we never use.

A €70–€100 family room with a nice pool can sometimes give you everything you actually need.

And if you spend €150 or €200 on one special night somewhere beautiful, you can balance that out with simpler accommodation elsewhere.

That’s one of my favourite ways to travel.

Don’t make every night expensive. Make the right nights special.

🏙️ Bangkok: your first taste of Thailand

If this is your first trip to Thailand with children, I’d definitely leave some room in the budget for Bangkok.

Not just because it’s usually the starting point for an international flight, but because Bangkok gives you such a brilliant introduction to Thailand.

It’s busy, colourful, noisy and completely overwhelming at times.

And that’s exactly what makes it fun.

We loved exploring temples, trying street food, taking boats through the city and simply watching the organised chaos around us.

Even crossing the road sometimes felt like an Olympic sport.

The pedestrian crossings aren’t always treated quite as seriously by cars, scooters and tuk-tuks as we’re used to in the Netherlands, so crossing a busy Bangkok street could become an adventure in itself.

If you’re travelling with children, I would plan some downtime into your Bangkok days. A morning exploring can be followed by an afternoon at the hotel pool before heading out again in the evening.

We wrote much more about our experience in Bangkok with Kids, including where we stayed, what we loved and how we made the city work with children.

And don’t underestimate the value of staying somewhere with a pool here. After several hours in Bangkok’s heat, that pool can suddenly feel like the best €20 you spent that day.

🍜 Food is one of the easiest places to save

If there’s one part of Thailand where you really don’t need to spend a fortune, it’s food.

And I wouldn’t want you to.

Some of our favourite meals were the simplest ones.

A little local restaurant.

A plate of noodles.

Fresh fruit.

A Thai pancake from a street stall.

Something none of us had ever tried before.

Thailand is such a brilliant destination for families because eating out doesn’t automatically mean an expensive family dinner.

Of course, you can eat at a beautiful resort restaurant every night.

But you don’t have to.

I’d budget roughly €35–€60 per day for a family of four if you’re mixing local restaurants, street food, snacks and the occasional nicer meal.

And if your children are anything like ours, don’t underestimate the snack budget.

Thailand is basically one giant temptation.

If you’re a little unsure about what to order, have a look at our [Thailand Food Guide],, where we share the dishes we tried and the foods we think are worth looking out for.

It might also save you from standing in front of a menu wondering what on earth you’re about to order.

🚕 The hidden cost: getting around

This is where your Thailand budget can quietly grow.

Because Thailand is a big country.

And when you’re looking at the map, everything looks wonderfully close.

Then you start planning.

Bangkok.

Kanchanaburi.

Chiang Mai.

Koh Samui.

Koh Tao.

Koh Yao Noi.

Maybe Phuket.

Maybe Krabi.

And suddenly your relaxing family holiday involves six transfers, two flights and three ferries.

That’s why I think transport deserves to be part of your itinerary planning from the very beginning.

Not as an afterthought.

We travelled from Bangkok through River Kwai and Kanchanaburi before heading north towards Chiang Mai, and later continued towards the islands.

Every move was an experience, but every move also took time.

If you’re building your own route, our Thailand with Kids Part 1 gives you a good idea of what that first part of the journey looked like from Bangkok through River Kwai and Erawan Waterfalls towards Chiang Mai.

It also shows why I wouldn’t recommend simply trying to copy someone else’s itinerary.

Your children, travel style and tolerance for travel days might be completely different from ours.

🌿 Chiang Mai: a completely different Thailand

One of the things we loved about Thailand was how different every part felt.

Bangkok was busy, colourful and full of energy.

Then came River Kwai and the jungle around Erawan Waterfalls.

And Chiang Mai gave us mountains, temples, markets and a much slower pace.

If you have enough time, I think Chiang Mai is a wonderful addition to a family Thailand itinerary.

It also changes the type of holiday you’re having.

Instead of beaches and swimming, you’re suddenly surrounded by mountains, temples, markets and northern Thai culture.

We spent part of our trip exploring Chiang Mai before heading south towards the islands. You can read about that part of our adventure in our Chiang Mai guide, which is particularly useful if you’re trying to decide whether northern Thailand is worth adding to your family trip.

We deliberately didn’t try to squeeze every possible attraction into every day.

Travelling with children has taught us something important:

A good itinerary isn’t the one with the most things on it.

It’s the one where everyone still likes each other at the end of the day.

✈️ Domestic flights: sometimes it’s worth paying more

From Bangkok to Chiang Mai, we chose to fly.

Could we have taken the train?

Absolutely.

Would the train have been an experience?

Probably.

But with children, sometimes you simply decide that a shorter journey is worth paying for.

And this is where I think family travel budgeting becomes different from backpacker budgeting.

If a €40 saving means losing half a day of your holiday, I would think twice.

We’d rather spend that €40 somewhere it actually improves the trip.

This is also why I recommend looking at the entire Thailand route before booking individual hotels and excursions.

It is much easier to spot unnecessary backtracking when you can see the whole journey in front of you.

🏝️ Then came the islands

After Chiang Mai, our trip changed completely.

We swapped mountains and temples for warm water and beaches and headed towards Koh Samui and Koh Tao.

That transition is one of the reasons I love Thailand so much as a family destination.

You can have culture and adventure first.

Then beaches.

Then absolutely nothing.

And that last part is important.

Sometimes the best thing you can spend your holiday budget on is a day with no plans.

Our second Thailand article follows this part of the journey, from Chiang Mai to Koh Samui and eventually Koh Tao.

If you’re considering adding the Gulf islands to your own trip, Thailand with Kids Part 2 gives you a better idea of how we combined the mountains of Chiang Mai with island life.

🐢 Koh Tao: spending money on experiences

Koh Tao was one of those places where we were very happy to spend money on an experience.

The island is famous for its underwater world, and we went out by boat to snorkel.

The girls loved being in the water, seeing the fish and exploring somewhere completely different from home.

That’s the kind of expense I don’t mind putting into our holiday budget.

Because when I look back at a trip, I don’t remember whether I spent €40 or €60 on a particular day.

I remember the girls jumping into the sea.

I remember the excitement.

I remember us all talking about what we’d seen afterwards.

Our Koh Tao with kids guide goes into much more detail about the island, including snorkelling, Koh Nang Yuan and why we think Koh Tao works so well for families who like a little adventure.

And if you’re booking a boat trip, compare the options carefully. Look at the duration, reviews, what’s included and importantly with children how early you have to get up.

Sometimes the slightly more expensive option is simply the one that fits your family better.

🌴 Koh Yao Noi: spending money on the right kind of experience

Thailand has some very famous islands.

But one of our favourites was actually somewhere much quieter.

Koh Yao Noi.

We stayed there during our trip and immediately noticed the difference.

No huge resort atmosphere.

No feeling that we needed to tick off twenty attractions.

Just quiet roads, little beaches, local restaurants, tropical scenery and those huge limestone formations rising out of Phang Nga Bay.

We spent a day on a longtail boat exploring the surrounding islands.

And yes, that cost more than simply sitting on the beach.

But it was absolutely worth it.

Our Koh Yao Noi with kids guide is worth a look if you’re considering adding the island to your route. It covers what we did, where we stayed and why this quieter island became one of the places we didn’t want to leave.

This is also where I think spending a little more on the right experience makes sense.

A private longtail boat isn’t necessarily the cheapest way to explore Phang Nga Bay.

But being able to decide when you leave, where you stop and how long you stay in the water made it work beautifully for us.

💰 So where does your money actually go?

If you want to keep your Thailand trip affordable, I wouldn’t start by asking:

“What is the cheapest hotel?”

I’d ask:

“What matters to our family?”

For us, that’s:

🏊 A hotel with a pool

Worth paying a little extra for.

✈️ Convenient transport

We don’t need luxury transfers everywhere, but we don’t want to lose an entire day to save €30 either.

🚤 A few memorable experiences

Boat trips, snorkelling and special family activities are where we’d rather spend our money.

🍜 Local food

There’s no reason to spend €100 on dinner every night when some of the best meals cost a fraction of that.

🏝️ Time

This one is free.

And perhaps the most valuable.

🎒 We also try not to spend money because we packed badly

This might sound like a strange thing to include in a Thailand budget article.

But hear me out.

Thailand is hot.

Kids swim.

Kids sweat.

Kids change clothes.

And laundry services are everywhere.

So there is really no reason to take four enormous suitcases.

We use packing cubes to keep everyone’s clothes organised, particularly when we’re moving between several hotels.

Each person has their own cube, and we also keep dirty clothes separate.

It means we can open one suitcase, grab what we need and close it again instead of unpacking the entire family’s wardrobe onto the hotel floor.

If you’re preparing for a Thailand trip, our Travelicious Sunny Holiday Packing List is a useful place to start. It covers everything from clothing and swimwear to travel essentials and the little things that are surprisingly easy to forget.

And yes, our [Travelicious packing cubes] are the ones we use ourselves.

They’re not going to save you hundreds of euros on a Thailand holiday.

But they can save you from the suitcase explosion that happens when four people are living out of luggage for two weeks.

And I will happily pay for that kind of peace.

📱 The little things that add up

Then there are all the expenses that don’t seem important when you’re planning.

Until you add them together.

Airport transfers.

Laundry.

Snacks.

Entrance fees.

Drinks.

Ferries.

Luggage.

Travel insurance.

Mobile data.

For the latter, we prefer using an eSIM when traveling because it means we can land, switch on our phones and immediately have access to maps, bookings and messages.

Thailand is one of those destinations where having mobile data is particularly useful. You’re constantly checking maps, finding restaurants, booking transport or simply trying to work out where you’re going next.

We’ve written more about using an eSIM while traveling, including why we find it useful when moving between destinations.

It’s a tiny part of the total budget.

But those tiny parts are exactly what people forget when calculating the cost of a family holiday.

🧮 Our realistic Thailand family budget

So, if you asked me:

“Esther, how much should I save for two weeks in Thailand with two children?”

I’d say:

Around €4,000–€5,000

Possible if you’re watching the budget carefully, travelling in a cheaper period, choosing simpler accommodation and limiting expensive activities.

Around €5,000–€7,000

This is where I think a comfortable family trip becomes realistic.

Good hotels.

Pools.

Domestic flights.

Some nice experiences.

Local food mixed with restaurants.

Enough flexibility that you don’t have to count every euro.

€7,000+

You can absolutely spend more.

More luxurious resorts.

Private transfers.

Private boat trips.

More expensive excursions.

Peak-season travel.

But you don’t need to.

And that’s perhaps my favourite thing about Thailand.

You can make the trip feel luxurious without making every part of it expensive.

💚 Where we would save money

If we were planning Thailand again, we’d save money by:

Travelling slower

Every hotel change costs time and money.

Eating locally

Not because we’re trying to save every euro, but because the food is fantastic.

Mixing accommodation

A few special nights balanced with comfortable mid-range hotels.

Choosing experiences carefully

We don’t need a paid excursion every day.

Travelling outside the busiest periods where possible

Flights and accommodation can make a big difference.

❤️ Where we wouldn’t save

There are some things where I’d rather spend the money.

A good night’s sleep.

A hotel with a pool.

A boat trip somewhere genuinely beautiful.

Convenient transport when the alternative means losing half a day.

And anything that gives the girls a memory they’ll still talk about years later.

Because that’s ultimately how I look at our family travel budget.

Not:

“How cheaply can we get to Thailand?”

But:

“How can we spend our money so that the trip feels amazing without wasting it?”

Is Thailand still a budget-friendly family destination?

I think it is.

But I wouldn’t sell Thailand to you as super cheap.

Not when you’re travelling as a family.

International flights alone can make a big dent in the budget.

And if you add several islands, domestic flights, good hotels and lots of excursions, your costs can climb quickly.

But Thailand gives you something that I really value:

choice.

You can eat cheaply without feeling like you’re compromising.

You can stay somewhere beautiful without paying European prices.

You can spend a day on the beach for almost nothing.

And then, the next day, you can spend money on a boat trip that becomes one of the highlights of your entire holiday.

That flexibility is what makes Thailand such a fantastic family destination.

🌴 And where should you go?

That depends on what your family wants.

If you want your first taste of Thailand to be busy, colourful and full of culture, start with Bangkok.

If you want history and jungle adventures, add River Kwai and Kanchanaburi.

If you want mountains, temples, markets and northern Thai culture, head to Chiang Mai.

If you want an easy combination of beaches, restaurants and family-friendly resorts, Koh Samui is a great option.

If your family loves snorkelling and adventure, Koh Tao might be your place.

And if you’re looking for something slower and a little more authentic, Koh Yao Noi deserves a serious look.

And there is more coming too. We’re continuing to expand our Thailand content, so if you’re considering Phuket with kids, keep an eye on Travelicious we’ve now started sharing our experience there too.

🧳 Planning Thailand with kids?

If you’re starting to put your own trip together, I’d begin with the bigger picture rather than trying to plan every day individually.

Start with our Thailand with Kids Part 1 to see how we travelled from Bangkok through River Kwai and Kanchanaburi towards Chiang Mai.

Then explore Thailand with Kids Part 2 for the combination of Chiang Mai, Koh Samui and Koh Tao.

From there, you can dive deeper into individual destinations such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Koh Tao or Koh Yao Noi, depending on what your family is looking for.

And don’t forget the practical side.

Our Thailand food guide can help you decide what to eat, our sunny holiday packing list helps with the suitcase, and our accommodation guides can help you work out where it makes sense to spend a little more.

Because planning a family trip isn’t just about deciding where to go.

It’s about making all those little decisions work together.

And if you’re reading all of this thinking:

“This sounds amazing, but I have absolutely no idea how to turn it into a sensible itinerary…”

That’s exactly why I created the Travelicious trip planning service.

I can help you work out where to go, how long to stay, where to spend your money and how to make the route work with your children, rather than simply giving you a list of places on a map.

Because planning a family trip isn’t about squeezing in as much as possible.

It’s about finding that sweet spot between adventure, relaxation and a budget that doesn’t make you cry when you get home.

And Thailand?

It does that very, very well.

Let’s make travel delicious. 🌴