Bangkok has at least 6 modes of transport, each with its own way to pay, well-rehearsed scams around the major temples, ATMs with flat fees and 3 seasons that determine when to go and what to pack.
Here’s what I sort out before arriving, with prices in baht and euros.
- Planning a trip to Bangkok: do you need a visa?
- How much does it cost?
- How do you get there?
- How do you get around Bangkok?
- Where can you exchange money and how do you pay?
- Is it safe?
- Which scams should you avoid?
- What should you pack and download on your phone?
- When should you go?
- My other Bangkok guides
Planning a trip to Bangkok: do you need a visa?
With a French passport, no: France is on Thailand’s visa exemption list. You get 60 days on arrival (recently extended from 30 days), which you can extend once by 30 days at any immigration office for 1,900 THB (around 50 EUR), with your passport, an ID photo and a completed TM.7 form.
Immigration may ask for proof of a return flight (a confirmed ticket out of Thailand within the visa period) and proof of funds (20,000 THB, or around 530 EUR in cash). Funds are rarely checked for European passport holders, but questions about return flights are more common: I had both ready.
The TDAC (Thailand Digital Arrival Card) has replaced the old paper TM6 arrival card: you fill it in on the official government website, tdac.immigration.go.th, at least 72 hours before your flight, with your passport, flight details and accommodation address in Thailand. It’s free: any site that charges you is fraudulent, so only use the official .go.th domain.
How much does it cost?
Bangkok is one of Southeast Asia’s cheapest major capitals, and your daily budget depends almost entirely on your meals and transport: street food and public transport keep costs very low, while air-conditioned restaurants and taxis send them up fast.
| Budget level | Per day (excluding hotel) | Accommodation | Food | Transport |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backpacker | 30-40 EUR | Hostel dorm (250-350 THB / 7-10 EUR per night) | Street food only (50-70 THB per meal) | Public bus + BTS/MRT |
| Mid-range | 60-80 EUR | 3-star hotel with a pool (~1,500 THB / 40 EUR) | Street food for lunch, restaurant for dinner | BTS/MRT + Grab in the evening |
| Comfortable | 150+ EUR | 4-5-star hotel (3,500+ THB / 92+ EUR) | Restaurants, rooftop bars | Grab everywhere |
For me, mid-range is the sweet spot: on 2,000-3,000 THB per day (53-79 EUR), I ate well, took air-conditioned transport, visited temples and treated myself to a Thai massage without watching my bank balance. A 15 EUR lunch at a Parisian brasserie costs 2-3 EUR here as street food.
With 1,000 THB per day for food and going out, you can already live very well. The real budget drain is alcohol: a large Chang costs 60 THB (1.60 EUR) at 7-Eleven, 180-300 THB at a rooftop bar, and a cocktail at Sky Bar or somewhere similar climbs to 400+ THB (10.50+ EUR).
You’ll find budget meals and the best food courts in my guide to Bangkok’s street food and restaurants. I also recreate Thai street food at home: my pad thai recipe and my som tam are on the site.
My price benchmarks: street food dish 50-80 THB (1.30-2.10 EUR); meal at the Terminal 21 food court, where I had lunch, 40-60 THB (1.05-1.60 EUR); coffee from a street vendor 40 THB (1 EUR), Starbucks 120+ THB (3.15 EUR); Grand Palace entry 500 THB (13 EUR); 1-hour Thai massage 200-400 THB (5-10 EUR); bottle of water at 7-Eleven 7-10 THB (around 0.25 EUR).
How do you get there?
As of early 2026, no regular direct flights connect France to Bangkok. From Paris CDG, the most common connection is through a Gulf hub: Qatar Airways via Doha, Emirates via Dubai, or Thai Airways when the seasonal direct Paris-Bangkok flight operates. From Lyon-Saint Exupéry or Marseille-Provence, connections usually go through Istanbul (Turkish Airlines) or Doha; allow 13 to 16 hours of total flight time with a stopover.
A return flight from Paris generally costs 450 to 800 EUR depending on the season and how far ahead you book: I compare prices on Liligo, Google Flights or Kayak. Departures from November to January are the most expensive, while those in May-June are generally the cheapest.
The 2 airports are 40 km apart: the wrong shuttle means 90 minutes wasted. Suvarnabhumi (BKK) handles most international flights, including those from Paris, and I took the Airport Rail Link (ARL) there: 45 THB (just over 1 EUR), around 30 minutes to Phaya Thai and the BTS Sukhumvit line, with no traffic jams.
An official taxi costs 400-600 THB (10-16 EUR) to the centre (meter + 50 THB airport surcharge + motorway tolls): on the first floor, a level below arrivals, take a numbered ticket from the self-service machine and keep it, as it has the driver’s ID in case of a problem. Ignore anyone offering you a ride in the arrivals hall.
Don Mueang (DMK), the airport for low-cost airlines such as AirAsia, Nok Air and Lion Air, has no rail link: take the A2 bus to BTS Mo Chit (30 THB) or a taxi (300-500 THB to the city centre, 8-13 EUR).
Keep 100 THB notes handy: drivers routinely claim they can’t give change for a 1,000 THB note. And if you arrive between 16:00 and 19:00, take the train, as a taxi to Sukhumvit can take 2 hours then.
How do you get around Bangkok?
The elevated BTS Skytrain covers the modern shopping districts with 2 lines: Sukhumvit (light green), running north to south along the main tourist and shopping corridor, and Silom (dark green), which branches off to the southwest. My key stations: Siam (interchange between both lines, major shopping malls), Saphan Taksin (Chao Phraya boats at Sathorn Pier), Phaya Thai (Airport Rail Link), Asoke (MRT interchange, Terminal 21 food court), Mo Chit (Chatuchak Weekend Market) and National Stadium (MBK Center). A single journey costs 16-59 THB depending on the distance, and a day pass costs around 140 THB (3.70 EUR).
I got a Rabbit card, the reloadable card that saves you queuing at ticket machines during rush hour: you top it up with cash at ticket counters (not by bank card); only put a little money on it, as refunds are difficult. What annoyed me: the BTS doesn’t accept contactless bank card payments.
The MRT, an underground blue line running in a rough loop, serves the places the BTS doesn’t cover: Hua Lamphong (Chinatown), Sanam Chai (near the Grand Palace and Wat Pho), Chatuchak Park and Sukhumvit (interchange with BTS Asoke). It accepts contactless Visa and Mastercard payments directly at the gates: it’s the easiest network to use without a local transport card.
The Chao Phraya express boats connect the city center to the riverside temples, from the Grand Palace to Wat Arun, and the Khaosan Road area; they also take you to the city’s main activities and excursions. They leave from Sathorn Pier, within walking distance of BTS Saphan Taksin station.
I took the orange-flag boat, 16 THB per trip regardless of distance (around 0.40 EUR), Bangkok’s cheapest public transport: it stops at every main pier, and you ride alongside locals heading to work. My key stops: N8 Tha Tien (Wat Pho, ferry to Wat Arun), N9 Chang (Grand Palace) and N13 Phra Arthit (Khaosan Road). The tourist-oriented blue-flag boat costs 30-150 THB with an English-speaking guide: less crowded, more comfortable, 4 times as expensive.
From Sathorn Pier, the river shuttle to IconSiam shopping mall is free: a pleasant mini-cruise for 0 euros.
Tuk-tuks are mostly a tourist attraction these days: more expensive than taxis, they expose you to the heat and exhaust fumes, they’re the main vehicles used in the most common scams, and locals hardly use them anymore. I took 1 for a short trip, just for the experience: negotiate before getting in and compare the price with the Grab fare for the same journey. At 80% below Grab, it’s a trap, with detours to shops that pay commissions (see the scams).
A better option: MuvMi, an electric tuk-tuk app with fixed prices and no commission-driven detours, in the Sukhumvit and Ari neighborhoods.
Metered taxis are cheap and widely available: a starting fare of 35 THB for the first kilometer (less than 1 EUR), 80-200 THB (2-5 EUR) for most rides in the center, less than a bus ride in Paris. My non-negotiable rule: I say “meter” as I get in, and if the driver refuses and offers a fixed fare, I close the door and take another taxi.
Walk a block away from any tourist site and hail a moving taxi, which is much more likely to use the meter than a parked taxi waiting for passengers. In the rain or late at night, flagging one down gets harder, and Grab takes over.
Grab, the local Uber, covers everywhere the trains don’t go: a fixed price shown before booking, payment by bank card, GPS tracking, and the driver’s identity on screen. It’s the easiest option if you’re traveling alone or don’t want to negotiate. Bolt is 30 to 50% cheaper, with trade-offs: longer waits, more cancellations, and some drivers who prefer cash and may cancel card-paid rides.
My strategy: Bolt first for the lowest price, Grab if no Bolt driver is available or I’m in a hurry. Download both before you leave; they also give you a price reference before negotiating with a street taxi.
Never take a car during rush hour (7:00-9:00, 16:00-19:00): a 5 km journey can take 90 minutes in traffic, and a Grab from Siam to Sukhumvit Soi 55 that takes 10 minutes at noon can take over an hour at 17:30. Take the BTS or MRT.
For the last few kilometers, look for the orange vests: motorcycle taxis gather at designated stands throughout the city, often with prices displayed on a board. It’s the fastest option, from the BTS station to your hotel (that’s how I used it) or from the entrance of a soi to a restaurant 1 km farther down, for 10-30 THB. Wearing the helmet provided is mandatory; avoid them with luggage or in heavy rain.
My guide to the best neighborhoods to stay in Bangkok lists the lines serving each neighborhood.
Where should you exchange money, and how should you pay?
My first tip: don’t exchange money in the airport arrivals hall, where rates are 10 to 15% worse than in the city center. In the basement, near the Airport Rail Link station, I exchanged my euros at the SuperRich counter (Green or Orange), at rates close to those in the city center; in town, the SuperRich branches near Pratunam and Central World have the best rates for euros.
Bring clean 50 or 100 EUR notes in good condition: damaged, folded or overly old notes may be refused. EUR/THB rates are much better in Thailand than at French banks: exchange the bare minimum at Roissy, or nothing at all, and most of it once you’re there.
Every Thai ATM charges a fixed fee of 220-250 THB (around 6 EUR) per withdrawal with a foreign card, unavoidable and on top of your bank’s fees in France; online banks such as Boursorama, Fortuneo or Revolut offer better terms for withdrawals abroad. Withdraw the maximum each time: Krungsri Bank (yellow ATMs) and Bangkok Bank (blue) allow 30,000 THB per transaction, while most other banks allow 20,000 THB.
My trick, saving 5 to 10% on every withdrawal: when the screen offers conversion or displays a rate in EUR, I always choose “No” or “Continue without conversion”. This is DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion): the Thai bank applies a terrible exchange rate and pockets the difference, whereas your own bank converts at the interbank rate.
Cash remains the main payment method for street food, markets, tuk-tuks, motorcycle taxis and small restaurants; cards are accepted in shopping malls, hotels, upscale restaurants and on Grab. Keep 20, 50 and 100 THB notes handy, and break your large notes at any 7-Eleven (they always have change) before heading out.
Tipping isn’t deeply rooted in Thailand, but the practice is spreading in tourist areas: at restaurants, round up the bill or leave 20-50 THB (10% at upscale places), after a massage 50-100 THB, and for hotel porters 20-50 THB per bag. Taxi and Grab drivers don’t expect anything, but rounding up is a courteous gesture.
Is it safe?
First, the heat: Bangkok ranges between 32 and 38 °C all year round with high humidity, and dehydration sets in quickly if you walk from temple to temple. I drank constantly, large bottles of water and electrolyte drinks from 7-Eleven, and between 12:00 and 15:00, when the heat peaks, take a break in an air-conditioned mall or café.
Street food is generally safe if you eat where the locals eat: a busy stall means fresh ingredients, and a packed stall with a queue is more reliable than an empty restaurant with a menu translated into 5 languages. Wok-fried dishes and soups made to order, cooked at high temperatures in front of you, are the safest options.
Ice cubes are safe: commercially produced, made from filtered water, and shaped like tubes or cylinders. Mall food courts are another safe, air-conditioned option. If your stomach protests, it is often a reaction to unfamiliar spice levels rather than contamination: activated charcoal from the pharmacy section of any 7-Eleven works well, and Imodium is available without a prescription at every pharmacy.
Private hospitals meet international standards and are very affordable by French standards: Bumrungrad International Hospital, on Sukhumvit Soi 3, has English-speaking staff and patients from around the world visiting for medical tourism, and Bangkok Hospital is another major private chain. A GP consultation at Bumrungrad costs around 1,000-2,000 THB (26-53 EUR), less than a sector 2 specialist in Paris.
The EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) only covers healthcare in the EU and EEA: it is useless in Thailand. Take out travel insurance with medical repatriation cover before you leave, because while local care is affordable, a medical flight back to France can exceed 50,000 EUR; Chapka Cap Aventure, ACS Globe Traveller and AXA Assistance offer plans for Southeast Asia. Check the cover for 2-wheeled vehicles if you ride a scooter, along with your bank card benefits (Visa Premier, Mastercard Gold), which often include travel insurance for stays of less than 90 days if the flight was paid for with the card.
When it comes to violent crime, I find Bangkok generally safer than Paris. The biggest physical danger is traffic: motorbikes on pavements, drivers who do not stop at pedestrian crossings, and crossing a 6-lane road is a skill I picked up by day 2.
If you are a woman travelling alone, Bangkok is generally a safe destination. In nightlife areas (Nana, Soi Cowboy, Khao San Road), take the usual precautions for a night out: do not accept drinks from strangers and keep your phone in a front pocket in crowds. Numbers to note: tourist police 1155 (English-speaking, useful for scam-related disputes), ambulance 1669, French embassy in Bangkok +66 2 657 5100 (consular emergencies).
Which scams should you avoid?
Here are the 8 scams you are most likely to encounter, all recurring and avoidable if you know how they work.
Scam number 1: “The Grand Palace is closed.” Near the Grand Palace, a well-dressed man tells you it is closed for a ceremony, royal event or cleaning, and kindly suggests a tuk-tuk to other temples, heading straight for gem shops and tailors where the driver earns commissions: 3 hours wasted under pressure to buy at inflated prices. The Grand Palace is almost never closed: I walked right up to the entrance myself, so do the same and ignore anyone who says otherwise.
2nd, at the end of that same tuk-tuk ride: the jewellery shop and its “special government export sale ending today”. There is no government gem sale: the stones are worthless or marked up to 10 times their value, and victims regularly pay 30,000+ THB (790+ EUR) for stones worth a fraction of that.
3rd, the tailor, following the same pattern: a friendly stranger directs you by tuk-tuk to a particular tailor, and you pay 200-500 USD (185-460 EUR) for a “cashmere” or “Armani fabric” suit that turns out to be cheap polyester; your deposit is lost, and the police consider it a civil dispute. For quality tailoring, I recommend Tailor on Ten, Empire Tailors or Raja’s.
4th, the meter is refused or “forgotten” in favour of an inflated flat fare: use the same approach as above, “meter” and the Grab fare as a reference. 5th, the diversion: your driver says the restaurant you requested is “closed”, “burned down” or “has a 2-hour wait” and takes you to a similarly named place where he earns a commission; follow the route on Google Maps and, if he deviates, ask him to stop.
6th, the ping pong show bill: on Patpong or near Nana Plaza, touts promise “free entry” or “100 baht beer”, then the menu changes, the bill comes to 3,000-6,000+ THB (79-158+ EUR) and bouncers block the exit until you pay. Avoid any upstairs bar whose interior you cannot see from the street.
7th, the dating app bar: a match on Tinder or Bumble suggests a specific bar, orders drinks at 5 to 10 times the normal price, then disappears when the bill arrives. Choose the venue yourself, and if the person insists on a particular bar near Asoke or Nana, move on.
8th, the jet ski, more common on the Thai islands than in Bangkok but worth knowing about: when you return it, the rental operator blames you for pre-existing damage and demands 20,000+ THB (530+ EUR) for “repairs”. My rule: do not rent a jet ski in Thailand.
The principle that prevents most of these: if something is offered without you asking for it, turn it down. The stranger who approaches you unprompted near a tourist attraction, speaking perfect English, always has an ulterior motive.
What should you pack and put on your phone?
Every temple in Bangkok requires shoulders and knees to be covered, and the Grand Palace strictly enforces the rule: no shorts, no tank tops, no see-through clothing, no sandals. Some temples sell sarongs or wraps at the entrance for 20-100 THB; I had my own lightweight trousers, which avoids the crowds. Being turned away over your clothing is exactly the opening scammers use to steer you towards jewellery shops, and shoes must come off before entering any temple building, no exceptions.
In my bag: lightweight, breathable clothes (cotton or linen), comfortable walking shoes for uneven pavements and temple grounds, a compact umbrella or waterproof windbreaker for sudden showers, a reusable water bottle, a small crossbody bag for crowded markets and public transport, a photocopy of my passport kept separate from the original. Bring your sunscreen from France: it is 2 to 3 times more expensive in Thailand.
Thailand uses type A, B, C and O sockets: most European 2-pin plugs (type C) fit C and O sockets without an adapter, and a universal adapter is useful as a precaution where only American-style sockets are available. Buy mosquito repellent locally, at 7-Eleven or a pharmacy, from an effective, inexpensive Thai brand: dengue is a real risk, especially during the rainy season.
For mobile coverage, AIS is best, followed by TrueMove H, and DTAC lags far behind in rural areas and on the islands. A SIM card costs 900-1,200 THB in the arrivals hall, compared with 49-300 THB for the same coverage at a 7-Eleven in town: a markup of around 3-5 EUR, but you get internet as soon as you leave for Grab and Google Maps.
A Free Mobile subscriber? The 19.99 EUR/month plan includes 25 GB of roaming data in many countries, including Thailand: check the current terms in your account. Without a good roaming deal, an Airalo or MobiMatter eSIM bought before your flight, slightly more expensive than a local SIM, activates as soon as you land, without visiting a shop. For a local plan, ask for “unlimited data at max speed”: “unlimited” offers without a specified maximum speed often throttle your connection after a few gigabytes.
Wi-Fi is widely available in hotels, cafés, malls and most restaurants, and I had an offline map of Bangkok on Google Maps as a backup. My apps: Grab (ride-hailing and food delivery, the most useful), Bolt, Google Maps (reliable for BTS, MRT, buses and boats), MuvMi, ViaBus (real-time bus tracking), XE Currency (THB/EUR prices checked in real time) and Line, a messaging app used more widely than WhatsApp in Thailand and the only contact channel for some hotels and businesses.
When to go?
From November to February, the cool season brings the best weather: 25-32 °C, lower humidity, little rain, with December and January the most pleasant months. The trade-off is that this is peak tourist season: pricier hotels, crowded popular sights, and high demand for flights during the French Christmas and February school holidays.
From March to May, the hot season reaches 35-40+ °C with oppressive humidity, and outdoor sightseeing between noon and 15:00 is hard to bear. April brings Songkran, the Thai New Year and its water festival: 3 days of giant water fights in the streets, with dense crowds, if you don’t mind being soaked all the time.
From June to October, the rainy season brings daily late-afternoon thunderstorms lasting 1 to 2 hours, then the skies clear. Mornings are generally dry, temperatures range between 28 and 35 °C, and September and October are the wettest months, with occasional flooding in low-lying areas.
If you’re on a tight budget, I think this season offers the best value for money: much cheaper hotels, fewer tourists, and rain that rarely spoils an entire day. Many 4-star hotels costing 3,000 THB a night (79 EUR) in January drop to 1,500 THB (40 EUR) in July; pack a good raincoat and save some indoor activities for rainy afternoons: shopping malls, cooking classes, massages.
My other Bangkok guides
If Phuket is your next stop, my guide to planning a trip to Phuket covers flights from Bangkok, ferries and island logistics. For a very different side of Southeast Asia, planning a trip to Bali details the differences in visas, budgets and transport, and if you’re heading to Vietnam, read planning a trip to Hanoi. For an overview of the city, it’s all in my complete Bangkok guide.
