Yes, a gratifying one-hour foot massage for between 3 and 5 euros is very good. That no one can deny. However, in Thailand many more services are offered than massages and many more products are sold than bottles of mineral water that cost about 25 cents.
What for some years has been a very attractive tourist destination for Europeans, Chinese, Australians and Americans, is slowly becoming a destination that forces you to go through the checkout like in other places on the planet. I don’t mean to say that it costs you the same as spending the summer in Germany, Canada or New Zealand, but I want to break the myth that Thailand is so cheap after spending a couple of weeks in those parts.
Restaurants
At lunchtime you may save a few euros. In a medium quality restaurant you will eat cheaper than in Spain, of course. And of course, if you opt for one of the thousands of stalls on the streets, you will still save more money. But of course, there you are already playing a good stomach ache, because the water they use is not bottled and the hygienic measures are clearly not the best.
Tourist areas and souvenirs
If you go on a trip to Thailand, it is very likely that you will move through the typical areas that all the tourists of the world visit . That means that the prices that you are going to find are designed for outsiders, not for those who live there. Souvenirs , even if your friends and family think otherwise, are not going to give them to you. In any case, you will get a good price if you are good at haggling and do not mind missing opportunities. Think that the same souvenirs are sold in 40 different stores at prices that can vary a lot.
Taxis or tuk-tuk
Another thing that is not cheap is the taxi . More than anything because sometimes they do not want to put the meter and it costs you much more than it would cost you if it were. In Bangkok and Chiang Mai you will not have it excessively complicated to find a taxi with a meter in which areas and according to what hours. However, in other areas of the country, such as Phuket , you are condemned to negotiate prices that are normally very high, so much so that you will think that you are taking a taxi from Barcelona or Madrid. It will always happen to you if you are staying in a category hotel. The other option is the tuk-tuk, which are as expensive or more expensive than taxis and force you to risk your life in each trip. Its owners always negotiate, there is no meter that is worth it. That is why I consider that going by tuk-tuk once is very good to live the experience and take a couple or three of photos, but no more.
accommodation
What is cheap is the price of the hotels . For 70 euros a night you can find a five-star hotel with everything you need, something unthinkable in Europe in months like June, July or August. If you add that, subtract the taxis and go to restaurants that are neither very expensive nor very cheap, you can say that Thailand has been well priced. Well to dry, nothing to go two weeks on vacation with 600 euros and be like a king.
Temples
To finish, say that entry to most temples is free . The most expensive of all is the Grand Palace in Bangkok, which costs 500 baht per person, which is about 13 euros at the current exchange rate. That is an advantage over tourism in other countries. For example, if you go to Scotland and take a tour of its castles, you can now prepare your portfolio. Access to most will cost you more than 10 euros and there are not exactly few.