Prices in Koh Samui: How much we spent over 6 days
On Koh Samui, you can have lunch for 80 thb, stay in a simple hotel for a few thousand baht and swim all day for free.
Or you could book a villa with its own swimming pool for 828 eur per night.
We managed to do both during one stay.
First, we stayed at the pleasant Homm Chura Samui, and then we splashed out on the final part of our holiday at the luxurious W Koh Samui.
We also hired a car and went on two trips, which were among the most expensive items of the whole holiday.
Our budget is therefore not a guide to the cheapest way to visit Koh Samui. Rather, it shows how much a comfortable holiday with a few experiences and one really expensive hotel costs.
I haven’t included international flights in these figures. Their price varies significantly depending on your point of departure and whether you combine Koh Samui with other parts of Thailand.
Find accommodation on Koh Samui by price
How much does a 6-day stay on Koh Samui cost?
As a rough guide, allow for this budget for two people, excluding international flights:
| Type of trip | 2 people / 6 days | 1 person / day |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | 21 000 thb | 1 750 thb |
| Comfort | 44 000 thb | 3 700 thb |
| Our stay | 170 000 thb | 14 200 thb |
So Koh Samui doesn’t have to be extremely expensive. Our bill shot up mainly because of W Koh Samui.
Without this hotel, our budget would have been much closer to the mid-range option.
Our bill for 6 days
| Expenditure | Price for 2 people |
|---|---|
| Accommodation in Homm Chura and W Koh Samui | approx. 130 000 thb |
| Food and drink | approx. 12 000 thb |
| Car hire and petrol | around 7 000 thb |
| Ang Thong, Pig Island and entrance fees | approx. 12 150 thb |
| eSIM, cash withdrawals, laundry and miscellaneous | approx. 1 500 thb |
| Total | approx. 170 000 thb |
Accommodation prices on Koh Samui
It’s the hotels that can really make the biggest dent in your budget. On the island, you’ll find everything from basic rooms to some of the most luxurious resorts in Thailand.
For a standard room for two people, expect to pay approximately:
| Type of accommodation | Price per room per night |
|---|---|
| Basic 3* hotel | around 2 400 thb |
| High-quality 4* resort | around 4 600 thb |
| Standard 5* hotel | around 10 000 thb |
| Villa with private pool | around 25 000 thb |
Check hotel prices in Koh Samui
How to choose affordable accommodation on Koh Samui?
The key to getting a good price is your travel dates and location.
When are prices at their highest?
- Christmas, New Year’s Eve, the first half of January
- July and August, when, unlike most of Thailand, Koh Samui enjoys pleasant weather
It also depends very much on the specific location.
Which areas are the most expensive?
- Chaweng, Bophut
Which areas tend to be the cheapest?
- the west and south-west of the island
- But there are some drawbacks: in my opinion, the beaches in these areas aren’t as nice as those in the north or east
Accommodation further from the sea is also significantly cheaper. If you’ve hired a scooter or a car, this can be a very attractive alternative.
You can find a detailed comparison of locations in the article‘Where to stay on Koh Samui’.
Where did we stay?
- Homm Chura, at the quiet northern end of Chaweng, is a pleasant mid-range hotel offering good value for money.
- W Koh Samuiin the north, featuring a luxury room with a private pool. We decided not to skimp here, and this is certainly not the standard price range on Koh Samui.
How much do food and drink cost?
When it comes to food, Koh Samui can still be just as cheap as the rest of Thailand.
However, even the rest of Thailand is now adjusting its price levels to cater for wealthier tourists, so you can’t expect the prices we were used to 10 years ago.
Nor should you expect a restaurant in a beach resort or a stylish dinner in Fisherman’s Village to be just as cheap.
Approximate prices:
| Food or drink | Usual price |
|---|---|
| Water at 7-Eleven | 6 thb |
| Toast or ready-made meal at 7-Eleven | 40 thb |
| Food at the night market | 80 thb |
| Main course at a local Thai restaurant | 180 thb |
| Main course at a tourist restaurant | 500 thb |
| Coffee in a café | 100 thb |
| Beer at 7-Eleven | 40 thb |
| A cocktail at a beach club | 250 thb |
We had breakfast at both hotels. During the day, we alternated between local restaurants, 7-Eleven and beachside establishments. At W Koh Samui, we ate at significantly higher prices, but a large part of the cost was covered by our hotel credit.
I therefore estimate that food and drink not included in the room rate came to approximately 8 400 thb for two for the entire stay, which works out at around 700 thb per person per day.
However, if a light lunch and a snack from a street stall or 7-Eleven, plus dinner at the local market, are enough for you, you’ll easily get by on 500 thb a day.
Thai convenience stores are a tourist attraction in their own right. We describe what we bought there and how much each item cost in the article ‘Why we went to 7-Eleven every day in Thailand’.
Transport – prices similar to those in Europe
Koh Samui has one peculiarity. Local food is cheap, but taxis cost about the same as in Europe – if not more.
Travelling around Koh Samui is probably the most expensive of all regions in Thailand.
A short journey with Bolt or Grab costs around 300 thb. For a longer journey across the island, you’ll pay around 650 thb.
If you want to travel between beaches and attractions every day, the cost will add up quickly.
We therefore hired a small car for six days. The hire itself costs around 900 thb per day, and we estimated a further 700 thb for petrol based on normal driving around the island.
That’s actually a relatively good price, comparable to cheaper European destinations.
What’s more, there are quite a few major international car hire companies operating at Koh Samui’s local airport.
In summary:
| Transport | Price |
|---|---|
| Small car for 6 days | around 5 400 thb |
| Petrol | approx. 700 thb |
| Total car cost | approx. 6 100 thb |
With two of us, having a car made more sense than constantly booking taxis. What’s more, we could drive around to the beaches, temples, waterfalls and viewpoints without a second thought.
A scooter is cheaper and usually costs around 250 thb per day. However, I’d only recommend it to experienced riders. They drive on the left in Koh Samui, and the roads leading inland are very steep and slippery after rain.
You can read about our experiences with driving, parking and car hire in the article ‘Car hire on Koh Samui’.
Before booking, you might also find it useful to read a general guide on how to hire a car abroad for the first time and a comparison of car hire insurance options.
If you don’t want to hire a car, read our guide to transport on Koh Samui.
For a holiday spent entirely at a hotel, the cheapest option may be a combination of an airport transfer and organised excursions, which include hotel pick-up in the price.
Prices for excursions and admission fees
Beaches, most temples and many waterfalls are free of charge. The biggest expense is therefore not standard admission tickets, but boat trips to the surrounding islands.
We chose two activities.
Ang Thong National Marine Park
A full-day speedboat trip to Ang Thong National Park costs around 2 300 thb per person.
The price usually includes hotel pick-up, the boat, a guide, lunch, water, snorkelling equipment and a kayak. The national park entrance fee of 300 thb per person is paid separately.
So, for the two of us, we paid approximately:
| Cost | Price per person |
|---|---|
| Full-day trip | 2 300 thb |
| Entrance to the national park | 600 thb |
| Ang Thong total | 2 900 thb |
We booked the trip in advance via GetYourGuide. It worked out cheaper than the offer at the hotel, and the app provided a clear description of the itinerary as well as communication with the local agency.
Pig Island by jet ski
We didn’t take a regular boat to Pig Island. We chose a jet ski trip, which cost 6 850 thb per jet ski for two people.
On top of that, there’s an entrance fee on the island of 50 thb per person. Food and drink weren’t included in the price.
| Cost | Price per person |
|---|---|
| Jet ski tour | 6 850 thb |
| Entry to Pig Island | 50 thb |
| Pig Island total | 6 900 thb |
It was one of the most memorable experiences of the whole trip, though the rough seas made it considerably wilder than we’d expected.
We describe the whole experience in the article ‘Jet skis on Pig Island: fun or a nightmare ride?’
A standard group boat trip is considerably cheaper, costing around 1 300 thb per person.
Other common entry points
| Place or service | Price per person |
|---|---|
| Beaches on Koh Samui | Free |
| Big Buddha and most temples | Free |
| Khao Hua Jook Pagoda | 50 thb |
| Tarnim Magic Garden | 100 thb |
| Overlap Stone 2 | 200 thb |
| Overlap Stone 1 | 300 thb |
| One-hour massage on the beach | around 300 thb |
You can find all the places of interest, including a map, in our Koh Samui guide and in the overview of what to see on Koh Samui.
Small expenses that are often overlooked
They won’t break the bank, but they’ll add up to a few hundred baht:
- An eSIM or a local SIM card (though this is the same across the whole of Thailand)
- laundry at around 100 thbper kg
- insect repellent 220 thb
- sun cream 250 thb
- parking fees at some beaches and viewpoints 50 thb
- tips for guides and hotel staff (not as expected as in the US, for example, but we left around 20 thb to 50 thb )
Data is mainly useful for maps, the Grab and Bolt apps, and communicating with tour organisers. It’s best to buy and activate an eSIM before you fly.
How much does a trip to Koh Samui cost?
I haven’t included transport to the island in the total cost, as it depends on the route you choose.
The quickest option is to fly directly to Koh Samui Airport. A one-way ticket from Bangkok usually costs around 5 500 thb, as all flights are operated by Bangkok Airways and there is little competition.
It is considerably cheaper to fly to the mainland to Surat Thani Airport and continue by bus and ferry. A combined ticket from Surat Thani Airport to Koh Samui costs around 530 thb.
The main difference is in the journey time. A direct flight is convenient, whereas the journey via Surat Thani takes several hours longer.
Compare buses and ferries to Koh Samui
We compare both options in detail in the section on how to get to Koh Samui.
Card payments, cash and cash machines
We routinely paid by card at hotels, upmarket restaurants, car hire companies and via mobile apps.
However, you still need cash on Koh Samui.
You simply can’t do without it, especially:
- at markets and in small restaurants
- at the entrances to viewpoints and smaller attractions
- when paying for parking
- on Pig Island and at the entrance to Ang Thong
- for some beach massages
Thai cash machines charge a high fixed fee for withdrawals made with foreign cards. For the sake of calculation, I’m assuming a fee of around 250 thb per withdrawal, although some cash machines may display a higher fee before confirmation.
It is therefore worth withdrawing a larger amount in one go. If the ATM offers to convert the amount into Czech koruna, decline this option and always choose to be charged in THB.
We used Revolut without any problems. However, Revolut itself will not waive the fee charged by the Thai ATM operator.
Get Revolut with a traveller’s bonus
You can find further practical information in the section on currency, prices and payments in Thailand.
Is Koh Samui expensive?
Compared to Bangkok, Krabi or northern Thailand, yes. Hotels, taxis and the journey to the island itself are particularly more expensive.
On the other hand, food in local restaurants, shopping at 7-Eleven, massages and standard admission fees remain cheap. The beaches and most temples are free to visit.
Our bill 170 000 thb is therefore not the amount every couple has to spend on Koh Samui. Most of the difference was down to our stay at W Koh Samui and a more expensive jet-ski trip.
For a comfortable six-day stay in a good hotel, with a hire car, local food and one full-day excursion, I would estimate a total of approximately 44 000 thb for two people – that is, around 22 000 thb per person, excluding international flights.
If you’re still deciding where to go to the seaside in Thailand, do also read our comparison of Koh Samui, Phuket, Krabi and Koh Phangan. Each area offers a slightly different holiday experience, and there can be surprisingly large differences in price between them.
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