What a month in Thailand actually cost me
I just didn't watch my money this month. I wanted to see what it feels like to live truly carefree, without doing the math on every little thing. Afterward I still added it all up, with real bank statements, not estimated numbers.
The route
Four days in Bangkok, then on to Koh Samui, first to Lamai. I fell a little in love with the island right there. After that Koh Phangan, for the Full Moon Party, where I met a woman who's been on my mind ever since. A week on Koh Tao, and by the end it was clear we wanted to see each other again. So another week back on Koh Samui, this time together. After that on through Surat Thani, Khao Sok, and Krabi to Koh Lanta, where I am right now. Next up are two days on Koh Phi Phi, then Phuket, then back to her on Koh Samui, before I move on to Vietnam.
Saw elephants, stood at pretty much every viewpoint, rented a motorbike for the first time, met a wonderful woman. These four weeks have changed my life quite a bit, and I'm really noticing right now how good that can feel. And yes, that also includes what it all cost, accommodation, food, transport, activities.
In the end: about 1,820 €.
The breakdown
- Accommodation: 526 €, hotels booked through Agoda, plus a few nights in a small boutique hotel in Bangkok
- Food & drinks: 244 €, part of it not just for me, more on that in a moment
- Local transport: 85 €, almost entirely Grab, plus a bus/ferry ticket through 12Go
- Activities: 67 €, including a tour booked through GetYourGuide
- Cash spent on the ground: 900 €, not tracked item by item, but real Thailand money
The part that isn't entirely fair
The week on Koh Samui together with her wasn't a purely solo trip anymore. No accommodation of my own during that time, but food and activities for two instead of one. So the number above isn't quite "just me", part of it was for both of us.
The thing that taught me the most
Monday evening I stepped into a hole next to a bridge, it was already dark and you simply couldn't see anything. In the middle of the night, the woman who ran the guesthouse I was staying at, a small place with maybe eight rooms, drove me to the hospital and waited there until I came back out. Five doctors in the end, treated like a king, over 200 € for the stay. Unplanned, unpleasant, and pretty expensive in that moment.
What impressed me most was simply how much people there take care of you. And then there was one more thing: I have international private health insurance through Genki, covering up to 1 million a year, and I actually had to use it for the first time. By Thursday noon the money was fully back in my account, instant transfer straight to Revolut, no strange follow-up questions, no back and forth over receipts. Just back. Quite an experience. That's why insurance like that is at the very top of my checklist, not because it reads well on paper, but because in that exact moment, on an island in Thailand, I was genuinely glad to have it.
What I take away from this
1,820 € for the best time of my life is, honestly, nothing to me. I'm not saying that to show off, but because it takes away the fear. If you think emigrating needs a fortune, I can tell you: it depends where and how, but it doesn't have to be that way.