Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam

I would like to mention that all the Lonely Planet suggestions for accommodation were full except one so this came as a shock. I found that there wasn't a child price on the buses so three tickets each time came as a surprise. I noticed that taxi prices varied. I would suggest you to book your accommodation in advance. Also I wanted to take a bus and they were full so I had to fly instead. Good luck planning your trip to Asia.

Hello Porcospino :) I went to Phuket, Thailand about 2 weeks ago with my friends on March 9-14.. It was so great! I love to visit Thailand again on my next holiday trip but I will choose to go to Bangkok, and I have a plan to go to Vietnam too next year.. ^^ Where do you want to go to Thailand? And where are you come from? I’m from Indonesia, so the airplane tickets from Indonesia to Thailand is not quite expensive.. For the airplane tickets, I bought them from AirAsia and it cost me about IDR 1,400,000 (let say that $1USD = IDR 9,300) all in fare with return tickets and sharing luggage with my friend.. For the hotel, I booked 2 hotels (1 in the Phuket Town, and another 1 near Patong Beach) from www.agoda.com and the total is about IDR 2,200,000 for 5 nights and it’s cheaper to book your hotel via online. And if you go to Phuket, I recommend you to stay in Sino Inn Hotel, the room is large and located in Phuket Town and very strategic with the Phuket Center Festival and Weekend Market.. For the tour, I booked them from the Phuket airport (Phuket Funtasea, Phi Phi Island, and James Bond Island) and it cost 4,200 Bath per person.. And the taxi or tuk-tuk rate is depend to the destination and the price is so variety and you can charter it for several destination for about 1,000 Bath.. It all depends on the negotiation between you and the driver.. And for other countries, I don’t know about them.. But I will find information about Vietnam.. Hope you have a great holiday!

Large portion of the cost for the visit may come from your plane ticket and hotel room, while other expenditure like food, water and most other things are cheap compare to western world. If you spend several hundred for the same visit in Europe or US, then may be half or 2/3 of that amount will be enough for your travel in IndoChina in US dollars.

I think the living expenses in these 4 countries are quite cheap. If you have the airfare and hotels, you need not worry anymore. Average meal from those countries would range from USD2 - USD3 from food courts and the likes. If you are brave enough to eat on the streets and try some local delicacies, USD2 below would be ok. But better budget it around USD3 - USD4. But if you want to try something fancy, better allot much much more. A budget of USD6 - USD10 would be enough for a nice local restaurant. I would like to remind you that this is per person. If you like, I can recommend some restaurant. Just remind me before you embark on your journey... :D As for the taxi, I am not quite familiar with Laos. With Vietnam, taxi from the airport is quite cheap. It should only cost you USD10 or less if you are staying in District 1. Also in Cambodia, the taxi from the airport to your hotel would be quite cheap since the airport is located near the city. Though I am talking bout Siem Reap here. I have never been to Phnom Penh yet. But as for Thailand, better arrange for your transfer before hand or take the bus since the airport is outside the city. As for the entrances to museums and some parks, I am not that familiar with that since most of the time I get a package from a tour operator. I can recommend some which offers the cheapest and that has been tested.