Destinations · Thailand
Bangkok, Chiang Mai & the islands
The best value luxury on earth, and it is not close.
Thailand is where a traveller's budget stretches furthest without giving anything up. Five-star service, extraordinary food, temples, jungle and some of the world's best beaches, at prices that make European luxury look absurd. Bangkok is chaotic and wonderful; Chiang Mai in the north is cooler, calmer, and where the ethical elephant sanctuaries and the cooking schools are; then the islands. It is also a major honeymoon and destination-wedding market with genuinely experienced suppliers, which matters more than scenery when something goes wrong.
What a week actually costs
Indicative shapes, not quotes — an advisor verifies real prices for your exact dates before anything is offered.
Under $3,000 for the week
Two people, a very good Bangkok hotel, an internal flight, a beach resort with breakfast, massages daily, and eating magnificently for a few dollars a meal.
$10,000–25,000
A family or group in a staffed beach villa with a private chef, a Bangkok city stay, Chiang Mai added, private longtail and speedboat days, and transfers throughout.
$55,000+
A private villa estate or small-resort buyout for a wedding week, guests hosted, a beach ceremony with full production, boat days and fireworks where permitted.
What to watch for
- Choose the coast by the month. Booking Phuket in September because a photograph looked nice is how a honeymoon gets rained on for a week.
- Elephant tourism is an ethics question. We only use genuine no-riding, no-bathing-for-tourists sanctuaries, and we will tell you plainly why the cheaper option is worse.
- A legal Thai marriage by foreign nationals is achievable — embassy affirmation then district registration — and Thailand is one of the more realistic places to do it properly. It still needs weeks of lead time.
- Tuk-tuk and taxi scams and gem-shop routing target new arrivals. Pre-arranged transfers cost very little and remove the whole category.