{"id":76341,"date":"2025-09-21T03:09:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T03:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/76341\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T03:09:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T03:09:22","slug":"why-thailand-is-no-longer-a-bargain-and-where-to-head-for-cheap-winter-sun-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/76341\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Thailand is no longer a bargain – and where to head for cheap winter sun instead"},"content":{"rendered":"

The baht, the currency of British winter sun favourite Thailand<\/a>, is continuing to strengthen, making a holiday in the Southeast Asian country significantly more expensive for UK tourists than it was five years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The baht has dipped slightly in recent weeks – currently at 43 to the pound – after a surge in July but it’s still by far the strongest currency in the region, rising nearly 7 per cent against the pound since 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Travellers from the UK and Europe are particularly feeling the brunt of rising prices<\/a>\u00a0in a destination that has traditionally been known for its great value.\u00a0<\/p>\n

British tourists have flocked to the Thailand – known for its winter sun, balmy islands and cheap food – since the Seventies but ever-rising prices are putting off travellers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

On a Reddit<\/a>\u00a0thread this summer, one European traveller reported they’d paid 7,000 baht – around \u00a3162 – for a meal for two.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even staple foods such as pad thai have become more expensive, with the street costing around 300 baht – \u00a37 – in major beach destinations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the popular resort of Pattaya, where budget-conscious travellers have flocked in recent decades, tourism has dropped by 7% year-on-year with hotel bookings and tourist numbers affected all year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With peak season between November and February around the corner, many travellers are likely to plump for countries where hard-earned holiday spends go further for accommodation, travel and excursions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The strong Thai baht has seen tourism impacted, with the traditionally cheap destination for British holidaymakers suddenly much more expensive (Pictured: A tourist-filled street in the resort of Pattaya)\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘The baht’s strength comes at a bad time ahead of the peak tourist season, which is likely to prompt holiday makers to shop elsewhere for better value,’ Kobsidthi Silpachai, head of Capital Markets Research at Kasikornbank, told Reuters<\/a>\u00a0this week.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The depreciating Vietnamese Dong, for example, makes Vietnam a more affordable option, with, Cambodia, Indonesia, including the island of Bali, and the Philippines also better value alternatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last year, Vietnam was named as the cheapest country to be an expat in for the third year in a row, according to Swiss-based expat guide InterNations.<\/p>\n

Overall, 65 per cent of expats said they were satisfied with their financial situation in Vietnam, with decent wages and a low cost of living.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This week however, a\u00a0British couple suggested that life in Thailand was still significantly cheaper than back home – after they sold up to travel the world with their children.<\/p>\n

Sheffield couple Josh and Katie, both 33, said a holiday to Mexico was the final spur they needed to ditch their lives in the UK.<\/p>\n

After putting their home on the market in April, they’re currently residing in Thailand with their children, seven and three.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They say they’re getting by easily on \u00a335-a-day for four – with a \u00a3500 monthly spend on accommodation.<\/p>\n

\"Hanoi <\/p>\n

Hanoi instead? Meanwhile in Vietnam, the dong has weakened, making it a much better value winter sun destination for UK tourists\u00a0<\/p>\n

The South Yorkshire couple estimate their monthly spend back at home was \u00a34,000 – almost double what they are spending currently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Katie explained why they decided to travel, saying finances still go much further in this corner of the globe: ‘I didn’t want to work five days a week and not see the kids. In places like southeast Asia you can stretch your money.<\/p>\n

‘We haven’t got a route planned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘We just want the simple way of life and to spend quality time together as a family.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The baht, the currency of British winter sun favourite Thailand, is continuing to strengthen, making a holiday in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,118,18,19,7088,17,3408,391,4319],"class_list":{"0":"post-76341","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-dailymail","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-indonesia","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-reddit","15":"tag-thailand","16":"tag-travel"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}