You’re travelling

Union Wallet · Travel · Thailand

Thailand's beaches, on a backpack.Thailand's beaches, priced honestly.Thailand's beaches, from the villa.

A dorm bed, a shared longtail and a $38 day. Everything below is the cheapest honest version of this trip — and it is still the same sea.A bungalow on the sand, a scooter and a $72 day: the Thailand most people actually book, priced without the brochure.A villa with its own pier, a private boat and a $210 day: the Thailand from the brochure, priced honestly for once.

Season guide · Nov 2026 – Apr 2027

First, how do you travel?

Pick one and the whole guide rewrites itself — every price, every hotel, every boat, every photograph. You can change your mind at any point, from the corner of the screen.

night — Tonsai · the hostel row behind the rocksRailay West · bungalows on the sandRailay · Rayavadee, and its own beach

andaman day — Tonsai · the hostel row behind the rocksRailay West · bungalows on the sandRailay · Rayavadee, and its own beach

Krabi · Andaman coast

Two coasts, two calendars

The Andaman side (Phuket, Krabi, Phi Phi, Lanta, Lipe) is dry and glassy from November to April. The Gulf side (Samui, Phangan, Tao) peaks from January to September. Get this wrong and you pay high-season prices for monsoon skies.

On a backpack the calendar matters twice as much: in the wet months the cheap rooms are cheap for a reason, and the ferries that stop running are the ones you were counting on.At this tier the calendar buys you the difference between a $44 bungalow and an $88 one, on the same beach, six weeks apart.At this tier the calendar mostly buys you privacy: the same villa in May costs 40% less and the bay is empty — you are trading weather for solitude.

MidMid puts you on the sand instead of behind it — a private room with A/C on Railay West, and a scooter that ends the waiting for the shared boat.

ComfortComfort moves you around the headland to Rayavadee, where the beach is reached through the hotel and the longtail is yours for the afternoon.

Three islands, three cheap bedsThree islands, three price tagsThree islands, three suites

Same sea, and the gap between them narrows when you are paying for a dorm. Phuket is where the cheap flights land. Krabi stretches a budget furthest. Koh Lipe charges you for the water. Rates are a dorm bed, high season.Same sea, very different bills. Phuket has the flights and the markups. Krabi gets you the postcard cliffs at half the price. Koh Lipe charges you for the comparison. Rates are a private double with A/C.Same sea, and at this tier the gap becomes a chasm. Phuket has the only real five-star infrastructure. Krabi has the most beautiful rooms in the country. Koh Lipe has the water and knows exactly what it is worth. Rates are a suite or villa, high season.

– Andaman · Airport hub –

Phuket

[[Cheapest to reach | Convenient | Best infrastructure]]

The cheap flights land here, and Patong has the cheapest beds on the coast — you get what you pay for. Kata is where the budget actually sleeps well.Direct flights, hospitals, and every chain hotel. Kata and Nai Harn are the beaches worth the trip; Patong is the one you pay for and regret.The only place on the coast with real five-star depth. Kamala and Nai Harn hold the villas; the Amanpuri set has been coming here for forty years.

$28$62$180Night

14Beaches

0Boats

– Andaman · Limestone cliffs –

Krabi

[[Stretches furthest | Best value | Most beautiful]]

Tonsai is the cheapest sleep with a world-class view in Thailand: climbers' huts, cold water, ten minutes' walk from Railay.Railay is reachable only by longtail boat and still costs less than Phuket. Ao Nang is the base; Tonsai is where the budget stretches.Rayavadee sits inside a national park with three beaches of its own. Nothing else in Thailand is quite like arriving there by boat at dusk.

$19$44$135Night

6Beaches

1Boat

– Andaman · Far south –

Lipe

[[Hardest to afford | Splurge | Worth the trip]]

Two flights plus a speedboat, and the cheap rooms are inland with no view. Go for Sunrise Beach at 6am, which costs nothing.Two flights plus a speedboat. The water is the clearest in the country and the island knows it. Sunrise Beach at 6am is the reason people go.The handful of beachfront villas here are booked a year out, and the water in front of them is the best in Thailand. Sunrise Beach is your front garden.

$34$85$260Night

3Beaches

2Boats

0Beaches

0Coasts

0Days

$1.4k$2.9k$7.8kPer person, on the ground

MidMid is the tier where the boat stops being shared and the room gets a wall — about $34 a day more, across all three islands.

ComfortComfort is where Rayavadee and the Lipe beachfront enter the conversation at all. They are not more of the same; they are a different coast.

The beach is free. Getting to it is where the money goes.The beach is free. Getting to it is where the money goes.The beach is free. Having it to yourself is what costs.

Union Wallet · Travel desk

The same bay, two budgets

Railay West at the end of the same afternoon. Drag the handle: nothing about the sea changed.

Budget$38 a day Comfort$210 a day

Tonsai · climbers' hut, cold water, ten minutes' walk over the rocks Rayavadee · pavilion in the trees, the beach reached through the garden

The $172 a day between these two photographs does not buy a better sea. It buys the last hundred metres — how close you sleep to it, and whether you wait for a boat.

Demo imagery is placeholder art. Swap for licensed photography of the same bay at each tier.

On the ground · per person · per day

What a cheap beach day actually costsWhat a beach day really costsWhat a beach day costs at the top

$000 the floordorm bed, fan, shared longtail, food from stalls+$34 a day over Budgeta private room with A/C, a scooter of your own, and boats that leave when you do+$138 a day over Mida villa or suite, a private boat, and dinner wherever you point

Bed, three meals from stalls and markets, the shared boat, one paid activity a week. Flights are on top: $900–$1,400 round trip from the US West Coast in shoulder season.Room, three meals, a scooter or a boat, one paid activity every other day. Flights are on top: $900–$1,400 round trip from the US West Coast in shoulder season.Villa, every meal out, a boat on call, an activity whenever you feel like it. Flights are on top, and at this tier most people fly business: $3,200–$5,600 round trip.

MidThirty-four dollars a day is the whole distance between a dorm and a door that locks on a beach you can see from bed.

ComfortThe jump to Comfort is $138 a day — the largest step in this guide, and the only one that changes which beaches you can sleep on.

Twelve beaches, one scorecard

Ranked by what the cheapest decent bed costs within walking distance of the sand. The number is the dorm or fan-room rate at your tier.Ranked by what a decent night costs within walking distance of the sand, and what it takes to get there. The number is the mid-tier nightly rate.Ranked by what the best room in walking distance costs. The number is the suite or villa rate — on four of these beaches there is nothing at this tier at all.

AAndamanGGulf!Crowded in high season★Editor's pick

★

– Krabi –

RAILAY WEST

Longtail from Ao Nang

$22$48$150

Getting there

15 min

[[Shared boat | Shared boat | Private boat]]

– Phuket –

NAI HARN

South tip, quiet

$26$58$170

Getting there

50 min

[[Bus + songthaew | Taxi from HKT | Hotel car]]

– Phi Phi –

LONG BEACH

Away from Tonsai pier

$30$70$220

Getting there

2 h

Ferry + longtail

★

– Koh Lanta –

KLONG NIN

Slow, family-friendly

$18$42$130

Getting there

2.5 h

Minivan + car ferry

– Koh Lipe –

SUNRISE

Clearest water

$34$85$260

Getting there

1.5 h

Speedboat

– Khao Lak –

BANG NIANG

Similan gateway

$24$55$190

Getting there

1.2 h

Bus from HKT

– Koh Samui –

CHAWENG

The busy one

$28$66$210

Getting there

0 min

USM airport

★

– Koh Samui –

MAENAM

Long, calm, cheap

$20$46$150

Getting there

30 min

Taxi from USM

– Koh Phangan –

THONG NAI PAN

Far from the party

$22$52$180

Getting there

1 h

Ferry + 4×4

– Koh Tao –

SAIREE

Dive school row

$17$40$120

Getting there

2 h

Catamaran

– Trang –

KOH KRADAN

No ATM, no roads

$25$60$170

Getting there

1 h

Boat from Pak Meng

– Koh Chang –

LONELY BEACH

East side, from Bangkok

$15$38$110

Getting there

5 h

Bus + ferry

rainy days a year

That is Phuket’s average. Most of it falls between May and October, when the Andaman turns grey and the ferries to Phi Phi stop running on rough days. Hotels drop rates by 40–60% for a reason.

At this tier the monsoon is the whole opportunity: a $19 room becomes an $11 room, and the beaches empty out. Bring a book and accept that some days you will not get on a boat.At this tier the monsoon is a real trade: the $44 bungalow goes to $26, and roughly one day in three is a write-off.At this tier the monsoon is the only time the best villas are available at short notice — and the only time you will have a national park beach entirely to yourself.

MidIn the wet months the gap between tiers is at its narrowest all year: Mid costs about $15 a day more in October than it does in January.

ComfortOctober is the one month a Comfort villa is within reach of a Mid budget — the same pavilion at Rayavadee drops close to $90 a night.

Meanwhile, at the checkout

Same island, two invoices

Booked from the US, 4 months out

Aggregator rate, “free cancellation”, resort fee discovered at check-out, airport taxi at the counter rate.

Room · 7 nights, Kata$420$1,120$3,300

Airport transfer$12$45$120

Phi Phi day trip$38$95$420

FX + card fees$28$62$170

Booked the Thai way, 3 weeks out

Same room via a Thai OTA, transfer on a metered app, boat trip from the pier, a no-FX-fee card.

Room · 7 nights, Kata$290$790$2,450

Airport transfer$6$22$85

Phi Phi day trip$19$48$310

FX + card fees$4$8$22

MidThe savings are proportionally largest here: booking the Thai way cuts a backpack fortnight by nearly a third.

ComfortAt Comfort the same discipline saves over $1,300 a fortnight — the villas are the least price-transparent part of the market.

Andaman versus Gulf, in numbers

The Andaman wins on scenery and loses on crowds; the Gulf is cheaper, calmer and flatter — and on a backpack the Gulf usually wins on arithmetic. If you only have one week and one budget, go Gulf.The Andaman wins on scenery and loses on crowds; the Gulf is cheaper, calmer and flatter. If you only have one week in winter, go Andaman.The Andaman wins on scenery and holds nearly all of the country's best rooms; the Gulf is calmer but thinner at the top. At this tier there is no contest: go Andaman.

Andaman coast

7 beaches · 3 picks · 2 crowded

Best Nov – Apr · Phuket airport

Avg. night$24$58$186

Transfer1.5 h

Scenery9.6

Value6.2

Dry months

Wet months

Gulf of Thailand

4 beaches · 1 pick · 1 crowded

Best Jan – Sep · Samui / Surat Thani

Avg. night$19$51$165

Transfer1 h

Scenery7.8

Value8.4

Dry months

Wet months

365 days, coast by coast

Where the money goes by month. On a backpack the monsoon columns are not a warning — they are the plan.Where the money goes by month. Green is when you should be there; red is when the brochure is lying.Where the money goes by month. At this tier the red months are when the best rooms are actually available.

High season · dry Shoulder Monsoon

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Andaman · highPhuket · Krabi · Lipe

Jan – Apr · glassy sea

$31$72$240per night

Andaman · monsoonferries cancelled on rough days

May – Oct · rain

$14$34$120per night

Andaman · highChristmas surcharge

Nov – Dec

$38$88$330per night

Gulf · shoulderSamui · Phangan · Tao

Jan – Feb

$23$55$180per night

Gulf · highthe summer answer

Mar – Sep · dry

$21$49$165per night

Gulf · monsoonOct – Dec

Oct – Dec · rain

$13$31$105per night

The trip in five stops

A fourteen-day Andaman loop that never backtracks. Rates are per night, two sharing, at your tier.

Days 1 – 3

Phuket · Nai Harn

$28$62$180per night

fan room, ten minutes inland+$34 a night over BudgetA/C and a scooter+$118 a night over Midvilla above the bay

Nights3

Transfer in[[Bus · $6

Days 4 – 6

Krabi · Railay

$22$48$150per night

climbers' hut at Tonsai+$26 a night over Budgetbungalow on Railay West+$102 a night over Midpavilion at Rayavadee

Nights3

Transfer in[[Shared boat · $4

Days 7 – 9

Koh Lanta · Klong Nin

$18$42$130per night

dorm behind the road+$24 a night over Budgetbeachfront bungalow+$88 a night over Midpool villa

Nights3

Transfer in[[Minivan · $9

Days 10 – 11

Trang · Koh Kradan

$25$60$170per night

tent on the sand+$35 a night over Budgetwooden cabin+$110 a night over Midthe one beachfront suite

Nights2

Transfer in[[Longtail · $8

Days 12 – 14

Koh Lipe · Sunrise

$34$85$260per night

room inland, no view+$51 a night over Budgetgarden bungalow+$175 a night over Midbeachfront, booked a year out

Nights3

Transfer in[[Slow ferry · $16

The loop, stop by stop

Fourteen days down the Andaman coast without ever backtracking. Each stop lights up on the map as you read. Everything below follows the tier you picked.

1

Days 1 – 3

Phuket · Nai Harn

$28$62$180per night
fan room ten minutes inland+$34 a night over BudgetA/C, and a scooter of your own+$118 a night over Mida villa on the headland above the bay

Land, sleep off the flight, and stay south. Nai Harn is twenty minutes past the noise of Patong and the water is better.
The cheap rooms are up the hill behind the lake — a ten-minute walk to the sand and half the beachfront price.Rent a scooter here, not on the islands: it is half the price and it decides where you eat for three days.The villas above Nai Harn look down the whole bay, and the hotel car meets the flight.
2

Days 4 – 6

Krabi · Railay

$22$48$150per night
a climbers' hut at Tonsai+$26 a night over Budgeta bungalow on Railay West+$102 a night over Mida pavilion inside the national park

No road reaches Railay — the longtail from Ao Nang is the only way in, and it costs about a dollar.
Sleep at Tonsai, ten minutes over the rocks: the same cliffs, a third of the price, cold water.Railay West is the beach in the photographs, and a bungalow on it is still cheaper than Phuket.Rayavadee has three beaches of its own and you arrive by boat at dusk. It is the single most beautiful arrival in this guide.
3

Days 7 – 9

Koh Lanta · Klong Nin

$18$42$130per night
a dorm behind the road+$24 a night over Budgeta bungalow on the sand+$88 a night over Mida pool villa at the quiet end

The cheapest sleep of the trip and the one people extend. Klong Nin is a long flat beach with a handful of bars and no pier traffic.
This is where a backpack budget recovers: $18 a night and food to match.Ferry in from Railay, car ferry out to the south.The south end of Lanta has the villas, and almost nobody on the sand in front of them.
4

Days 10 – 11

Trang · Koh Kradan

$25$60$170per night
a tent on the sand+$35 a night over Budgeta wooden cabin+$110 a night over Midthe one beachfront suite on the island

No roads, no ATM, and one of the few beaches in Thailand with living reef straight off the sand. Bring cash.
There is a campsite at the north end for about the price of a coffee at home.Two nights is the right amount.There is exactly one place to stay at this tier, and it has eight rooms.
5

Days 12 – 14

Koh Lipe · Sunrise

$34$85$260per night
a room inland with no view+$51 a night over Budgeta garden bungalow two rows back+$175 a night over Midbeachfront, booked a year out

The most expensive stop and the clearest water in the country — a speedboat ride from anywhere, priced accordingly.
The budget rooms are inland and windowless, and it does not matter: Sunrise Beach at 6am is free.Sunrise Beach at 6am is the reason people fly home happy.The beachfront here is the most expensive sand in this guide, and the only place where the water is this colour before breakfast.

MidAcross the whole loop, Mid costs about $340 more for the fortnight — most of it spent on doors, walls and boats that leave on time.

ComfortComfort roughly doubles the loop again, and changes three of the five stops into places a Mid budget cannot book at all.

Rates per night, two sharing. Transfers priced at the pier, not through a hotel desk.

Six ways the beach gets expensive

None of these are scams. They're the default. Each one is avoidable if you know it's coming.

At the ATM

The 220-baht ATM fee

On $1,400 of spending that is six or seven withdrawals — about $45, or a night and a half of your accommodation.Every withdrawal, every bank, on top of your own bank’s fee. Pull the maximum each time and use a card that refunds ATM fees.Trivial in absolute terms at this tier, which is exactly why nobody notices it — but the counter rate at the villa is not trivial.

At the counter

“Pay in dollars?”

Dynamic currency conversion adds 4–7% and is framed as a courtesy. On a backpack that is a free travel day. Always choose baht.Dynamic currency conversion adds 4–7% and is framed as a courtesy. Always choose baht.Dynamic currency conversion adds 4–7%, and at this tier it is applied to five-figure hotel bills. Always choose baht.

At the pier

The national park fee

Cash only, foreigner rate, collected on the boat — 200–400 baht per marine park, per day, and it is the one cost you cannot dodge.Cash only, foreigner rate, collected on the boat. Budget 200–400 baht per marine park, per day.Cash only, foreigner rate — and charged per head even when the boat is yours.

What the trip costs at the card reader

None of this shows up in the hotel price. It is the quiet 4–8% that a foreign card adds between the beach and your statement. The numbers follow the tier you picked.

On $1,400 spent on the groundOn $2,900 spent on the groundOn $7,800 spent on the ground

A typical foreign card Union Wallet

FX spread≈3.5% on every card payment $49102273 $000

ATM withdrawals220฿ per pull, plus your bank's cut $244260 $61014

Dynamic currency conversionthe “pay in dollars?” trap, 5% $1838102 $000

Airport exchange counterone panic swap on arrival $222222 $000

Card annual feepro-rated over the trip $0845 $000

Total lost to fees $113$212$502 $6$10$14

What stays in your pocket

$0 $0 $0

See the Union Wallet travel card

No annual fee · interbank FX · ATM fees refunded

Illustrative figures for a 14-day trip at each tier, using published Thai ATM charges and a 3.5% card spread. Union Wallet may earn a commission on cards taken out through this guide.

Two weeks on the Andaman coast on a backpack lands around $1,400 per person on the ground plus flights — and it is the same sea the villas look at.The right Thai beach trip isn’t the cheapest one. Two weeks on the Andaman coast at the middle tier lands around $2,900 per person on the ground plus flights — and every line of it is a choice.Two weeks on the Andaman coast at the top lands around $7,800 per person on the ground plus flights. What it buys is not a better sea — it is the last hundred metres, and the waiting.

The Andaman opens again on November 1.

Days until Andaman high season

counting to 01.11.2026

Union Wallet · Travel
Words & research · Travel desk
Design & build · Union Wallet studio

Prices are illustrative mid-2026 figures and are refreshed each season. Union Wallet may earn a commission from cards and bookings linked in this guide.