Thailand

Thailand is cheap to be in and expensive to tick off. Street food and local transport cost a fraction of what they do in Europe, while the headline attractions run a published foreigner rate that is often five to ten times the Thai one. That dual pricing is standard policy at state museums and historical parks, it is legal, and it is not negotiable. Budget accordingly and it stops being a surprise. Hotel rates carry a further 10 percent service charge and 7 percent VAT on top of the quoted figure, applied in that order, so a rate written with two plus signs after it lands about 17.7 percent higher than advertised. The country is at its most comfortable between November and February. April is the hottest month of the year, February and March carry burning-season air in the north, and September and October bring the heaviest rain.