7 Countries

47 Cities

138 days

For only $3081.30 each

That’s $22.32 per day

About 156.29 per week

And $669.60 per month

In this guide, I will share all the details of our Southeast Asia budget backpacking trip that included Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore.



The Map: Budget Backpacking Southeast Asia

The Details and Itinerary:

A 47 Cities Tour in Southeast Asia

Click the city to get all the details; including how to get there and out, where to stay, where to eat, and what to do — along with all the related costs.

Thailand – 29 days

Because of the large expat population, there is a ton of information about Thailand out there. Many people go for the partying, but we decided to head to the more laid back north. It’s less touristy, and more peaceful. The food in Thailand is incredible.

More Thailand: Thailand archives, My Thailand videos, What we ate in Thailand.



The Budget:

Breaking Down the Costs of

Backpacking Southeast Asia

A question we often get is: How much money do I need to travel to _______ (insert name of country here). While you now know that we spent a total of $3071.31 each for this 138 day trip, let’s break this down a bit.

What follows is a spending summary to give fellow travelers an idea of how much it costs to travel to the Southeast Asian countries: Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore. You will also find a daily budget estimate below each table.

We are frugal travelers which means we don’t spend a lot of money on things like souvenirs, fancy meals, fabulous hotels, or first-class tickets. We do, however, like to maximize the bang for our buck; this requires planning and research on our part. Since we are a couple, this gives us an advantage when traveling as we can split everything 50/50. In fact, a shared double room often tends to work out cheaper than the cost of a dorm bed.

“Day Trips etc.” includes admission fees, taxis, public transit fares, beer money, laundry, sundries, and the odd souvenir (such as a carrot peeler).

“Transport” is the cost of transportation between cities: buses, trains, boats, etc. Unless noted, fFlights aren’t included in this, but are listed after. This is simply because the cost of flights fluctuate so much that we wanted to include them separately.

We also didn’t include the visa fees in any category, since they vary depending on what country you’re from, but noted them afterwards.

We scored a one-way flight from New York (JFK) to Bangkok, Thailand via Shanghai, China with China Eastern Airlines for $582.50 CAD each. This cost is not included in the $3081.30 total. Nor is the return flight back to Canada.

Note: While exchange rates fluctuate from day to day, and sometimes a lot, the prices of most of the hotels, meals, and transportation will barely change, if at all, for years. Therefore, it’s best to use the country’s own currency when putting together your budget. The USD is just posted as a reference.

Double note: exchange rates updated as of March 2017

Thailand 29 days THB (฿) USD ($) Accommodation 5491 156.66 Food 5682 162.10 Day Trips etc. 3425 97.73 Transport 4166 118.87 Total 18,764 535.30 Daily budget for Thailand: $18.45

These numbers include an internal flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok and the Bangkok airport departure tax (฿700).

Cambodia 22 days KHR ( ) USD ($) Accommodation 386,286 94.60 Food 741,709 181.64 Day Trips etc. 454,943 111.41 Transport 297,654 72.89 Total 1,880,592 460.55 Daily budget for Cambodia: $20.93

This does not include a visa for Cambodia which costs $20 at Phnom Penh airport, or the flight from Bangkok which cost about $60. This brings the total for our Cambodia expenses to $532.25.

Laos 23 days LAK (₭) USD ($) Accommodation 916,500 111.73 Food 1,054,500 128.55 Day Trips etc. 636,500 77.59 Transport 385,000 46.93 Total 2,992,500 364.82 Daily budget for Laos: $15.86

This does not include the $42 visa-on-arrival for Laos which we received at the Cambodia-Laos land border. Including the visa, this brings our total for Laos to $386.82

Vietnam 22 days VND (₫) USD ($) Accommodation 3,311,000 144.98 Food 3,873,000 169.59 Day Trips etc. 815,000 35.68 Transport 1,191,000 52.15 Total 9,190,000 402.43 Daily budget for Vietnam: $18.29

This does not include the $45 visa that we purchased from the Vietnamese embassy in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. This brings our total to $447.43.

Philippines 16 days PHP (₱) USD ($) Accommodation 5300 105.16 Food 8113.50 160.98 Day Trips etc. 1030 20.43 Transport 760 15.07 Total 15,203.50 301.72 Daily budget for the Philippines: $18.85

This does not include a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Puerto Princesa via Manila which cost $170. This brings our total for the Philippines to $471.72

Malaysia 24 days MYR USD ($) Accommodation 799.40 179.43 Food 640.45 143.75 Day Trips etc. 342.00 76.76 Transport 319.50 71.71 Total 2100.85 471.57 Daily budget for Malaysia: $19.64

This does not include a flight from Puerto Princesa, Philippines to Kota Kinabalu for $35 or a flight from Sandakan to Kuala Lumpur for $65.50. Including these, our total for Malaysia is $572.07

Singapore 2 days SGD ($) USD ($) Accommodation 80.00 56.57 Food 32.00 22.63 Day Trips etc. 3.60 2.54 Transport 7.40 5.23 Total 123.00 86.98 Daily budget for Singapore: $43.49

Totals 138 days USD ($) Avg per day Accommodation 849.57 6.15 Food 969.24 7.02 Day Trips etc. 422.14 3.05 Transport 382.85 2.77 Total 2623.80 19.01

*The totals above do not including:

Flight: Chiang Mai to Bangkok – $20

Flight: Bangkok to Phnom Penh – $60

Visa: Cambodia – $20

Visa: Laos – $42

Visa: Vietnam – $45

Flight: Ho Chi Minh City to Puerto Princesa – $170

Flight: Puerto Princesa to Kota Kinabalu – $35

Flight: Sandakan to Kuala Lumpur – $65.50M

The complete totals with all flights (except to and from SEA) and visas come to : $3081.30 each, or $22.32 per day.

If we include our flights to and from Southeast Asia:

Buffalo to Bangkok via New York and Shanghai – $780

Singapore to Toronto via Mumbai and Brussels – $585

That brings the total way up to $4446.30

Those long distance flights are killer on a budget. We would have saved money if we booked a return flight in and out of the same city, which would have meant an additional flight going back to Bangkok but with low budget airlines in Southeast Asia this wouldn’t have been that expensive.

At any rate, we spent about $1000 a month in total on this trip, which is pretty good considering how much we would have normally spent in a month of living in Toronto, Canada.

If you need more help saving money, here are some good budget travel guides for Southeast Asia:

Traveling to South America? Check out our budget backpacking guide to South America.