Food
Street food and local cafes: pad thai, tom yum, chicken rice — 60–120 THB a dish. This is not 'food for the poor' but normal everyday cooking, and often better than the restaurant version.
A beachfront tourist restaurant: 250–500 THB for a main, more for seafood. Buying fresh seafood at Rawai market and having a neighbouring cafe cook it costs 600–1,200 THB for two and is one of the best value-to-experience options on the island.
Coffee 60–120 THB, local beer 70–100 THB in a shop and 150–250 THB in a bar, water 15–20 THB for 1.5 litres. Alcohol is expensive relative to food in Thailand, and bar tabs in Patong grow fastest of all.
Rough daily guide per person: 400–600 THB eating locally, 900–1,500 THB eating in restaurants.
Transport
Tuk-tuks in Patong cost 200–400 THB for a short hop and 500–800 THB between beaches. The price is always negotiable and the opening figure is usually double the going rate.
Grab is almost always cheaper than a tuk-tuk: 100–200 THB within an area, 300–500 THB between beaches.
Scooter hire runs 200–350 THB a day, cars from 700 THB. A category A licence and an international driving permit are mandatory: the fine for riding without them is 500–1,000 THB, and your insurance simply will not pay out after an accident. This is the one place where saving money can turn into a hospital bill of tens of thousands of baht.
Airport transfer from 900 THB per car.
Tours and entertainment
Group tours: sea trips 1,300–2,700 THB, land routes 1,000–2,600 THB, shows 1,000–2,800 THB, water parks 1,400–2,400 THB per person.
Private format is priced per party: land routes from 9,000–12,000 THB, boat charter from 26,000 THB a day. For a family of four or five, a private day often works out comparable to a group one.
Massage is the expense that quietly accumulates: Thai massage 300–500 THB an hour in a street salon, 1,300–2,000 THB in a spa. Daily visits add up substantially over a week.
Extras: sun lounger 100–200 THB, park fees 200–600 THB, souvenirs and fruit 100–300 THB a go.
Three weekly budgets, per person
Economical, roughly 12,000–15,000 THB excluding accommodation and flights: local food, Grab instead of tuk-tuks, two or three group tours, beaches rather than water parks.
Comfortable, roughly 25,000–30,000 THB: a mix of local cafes and restaurants, four or five tours, a show, massage every other day, taxis without counting.
Unconstrained, from 50,000 THB: restaurants, private tours, a day on a chartered boat, spa. There is no ceiling here — a yacht for the day starts at 100,000 THB for the party.
How to pay
You need cash constantly: markets, street food, tuk-tuks, park fees and island cafes do not take cards. Keep 2,000–3,000 THB on you.
Russian bank cards do not work in Thailand. What does: cash dollars or euros exchanged locally, a card issued elsewhere, USDT exchanged through trusted contacts, or a transfer to a Thai card via an intermediary.
ATMs charge around 220 THB per withdrawal regardless of amount — withdraw rarely and in larger sums. Airport exchange rates are worse than in town, so change only enough there for your first day.
Contingency: 3,000–5,000 THB per person. That covers medicine, replacing lost sunglasses, excess baggage, a taxi when walking loses its appeal, and the second massage on the day the first one went well.