Thailand Itinerary for Indians: 5, 7 & 10 Day Plans

Thailand Itinerary for Indians: 5, 7 & 10 Day Plans

If you've started planning a Thailand trip, you've probably noticed the confusing part isn't finding things to do — it's figuring out how many days you actually need and which cities to string together without wasting half your trip on transfers. Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, Krabi, and Chiang Mai aren't next to each other, and a rushed itinerary is the single most common complaint we hear from returning travellers. This guide gives you real 5, 7, and 10-day routes, what each one actually costs from India in 2026, and — importantly — Thailand's visa rules just changed on 15 September 2026, so we're covering exactly what that means for your trip.

The Rule Change You Need to Know Before Booking Anything

Here's something a lot of older Thailand guides still get wrong: Thailand's visa-free stay for Indians dropped from 60 days to 30 days, effective 15 September 2026. This was published in Thailand's Royal Gazette on 31 August 2026 and applies to Indian ordinary passport holders travelling for tourism. If you enter Thailand on or after 15 September 2026, you get up to 30 days visa-free — plenty for any itinerary in this guide, since even the 10-day plan uses less than a third of that window. If you entered before 15 September under the old rules, your original 60-day stamp still stands; it isn't retroactively shortened.

For a typical 5, 7, or 10-day holiday, this changes nothing practically — you're nowhere near the limit either way. It matters if you were planning an extended multi-month stay or a long "digital nomad" style trip, in which case you'd now need to apply for the appropriate visa category or a one-time 30-day extension (₹4,750 at a Thai immigration office) rather than relying on visa-free entry.

Separately, and more relevant to almost every traveller: every non-Thai national must complete the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) before entering, regardless of the visa-free change. This replaced the old paper TM6 card back in May 2025. It's free, done entirely online, and must be submitted within 72 hours of your arrival — not weeks in advance, and not on the day itself if you're outside that window. Submit it too early and it won't go through; leave it for the airport queue and you'll be the one holding up your own group.

Thailand Itinerary at a Glance

5-Day Thailand Itinerary: Bangkok + Pattaya

This is the itinerary most first-time Indian travellers actually book, and for good reason — it fits into a standard week of leave with a weekend on either side, and keeps transfers to a minimum.

Day 1: Arrival, Bangkok → Pattaya. Land in Bangkok, transfer straight to Pattaya (roughly 2 hours by road), check into your hotel, and keep the evening light. A walk along Pattaya Beach or Beach Road, dinner at one of the many Indian restaurants clustered around Central Pattaya, and an early night to recover from the flight.

Day 2: Coral Island (Koh Larn). A speedboat out to Coral Island is the standard day-trip here — most packages bundle in parasailing and basic water sports, though it's worth confirming exactly which activities are included versus charged separately at the island itself, since this is where a lot of "surprise" costs show up. Back in Pattaya by mid-afternoon, with the evening free for Walking Street or, if that's not your scene, a quieter dinner and an Alcazar cabaret show.

Day 3: Pattaya → Bangkok. Check out after breakfast and head back to Bangkok. Depending on arrival time, you can fit in Wat Traimit (the Golden Buddha temple) or start easing into Bangkok's evening market and food scene.

Day 4: Bangkok sightseeing. This is your full Bangkok day — the Grand Palace area, Wat Pho (home of the reclining Buddha), and Wat Arun across the river are the three most people try to cover, though realistically picking two of the three and doing them properly beats rushing all three. A Chao Phraya river dinner cruise in the evening is a common package add-on and genuinely worth it for the skyline views. If shopping is on your list, MBK Center and Pratunam are the two most commonly recommended stops for variety and price.

Day 5: Departure. Breakfast, any last-minute shopping, and a transfer to Bangkok airport.

Realistic cost for this route: Land-only packages for a 5-night Bangkok-Pattaya trip currently start from around ₹11,660–₹25,000 per person on twin sharing (budget to standard 3-star category), covering hotels, transfers, breakfast, and the core tours listed above. Add flights from India, and a complete 5-day trip typically totals ₹38,000–₹58,000 per person depending on your departure city and how far ahead you book.

7-Day Thailand Itinerary: Bangkok + Pattaya + Phuket

If you can stretch to a week, adding Phuket to the Bangkok-Pattaya combo gives you a genuinely different half of the trip — city and nightlife first, then beach and islands.

Days 1–3: Follow the same Bangkok-Pattaya-Bangkok structure as the 5-day plan above.

Day 4: Bangkok → Phuket. A short domestic flight (roughly 90 minutes) gets you to Phuket. Check in and keep it low-key — Patong Beach and Phuket Old Town are both walkable from most central hotels if you want to stretch your legs.

Day 5: Phi Phi Islands. This is the headline day of the whole trip for most travellers. A full-day tour by speedboat typically costs ₹3,500–₹7,000 depending on the operator and boat type, and covers snorkelling stops and beach time around the Phi Phi archipelago. Book this through your package or a reputable operator rather than the cheapest tout on the beach — boat quality and group size vary a lot at the low end.

Day 6: Phuket at your own pace. Promthep Cape for sunset, Phuket Old Town's Sino-Portuguese architecture and cafés, and Patong's markets round out the day. The Big Buddha is still commonly listed on itineraries, but access has been inconsistent at times due to site conditions — confirm current access with your operator before building your whole afternoon around it.

Day 7: Departure from Phuket.

Realistic cost for this route: A 7-night Bangkok-Pattaya-Phuket land package with 4-star hotels currently runs from around ₹32,000 per person (twin sharing, land-only), including hotels, transfers, breakfast, and the tours mentioned above. Add return flights from India (₹18,000–₹30,000 in shoulder season, more around Diwali and December), and the complete trip lands between ₹50,000 and ₹95,000 per person depending on hotel category and flight timing.

7-Day Alternative: Bangkok + Phuket + Krabi

If beaches matter more to you than nightlife, swap Pattaya for Krabi.

Days 1–2: Bangkok arrival and sightseeing.

Day 3: Fly Bangkok → Phuket.

Day 4: Phuket sightseeing or a Phi Phi Islands day.

Day 5: Travel from Phuket to Krabi — this is usually a 2-3 hour road transfer rather than a flight, since the two are relatively close by Thai standards.

Day 6: Krabi island-hopping, typically covering Poda Island, Chicken Island, Tup Island, and Phra Nang Beach — availability shifts slightly with sea conditions, so your operator may adjust the exact island order on the day.

Day 7: Departure.

This route trades Bangkok's temple-and-shopping time and Pattaya's nightlife for more beach and island days, which is the right call if Instagram-worthy limestone cliffs matter more to your group than city sightseeing.

10-Day Thailand Itinerary: The Full Circuit

With 10 days, Chiang Mai becomes a realistic addition, and this is genuinely the itinerary that shows you a different, less touristy side of Thailand.

Days 1–2: Bangkok. Temples, markets, and shopping at a relaxed pace.

Day 3: Bangkok → Pattaya. Beach time and evening entertainment.

Day 4: Pattaya → Bangkok → Chiang Mai (flight). A travel-heavy day, worth planning with an early departure so you land in Chiang Mai with some evening left.

Days 5–6: Chiang Mai. Doi Suthep temple, the walled Old City, night markets (the Sunday Walking Street market is the one most people mean when they say "the Chiang Mai market"), and — if it matters to your group — an ethical elephant sanctuary visit rather than the riding camps that are increasingly discouraged.

Days 7–8: Chiang Mai → Phuket. Fly south and spend two days on Phuket's beaches, with an optional island excursion if you haven't already done Phi Phi elsewhere in the trip.

Day 9: Phuket → Krabi. Ao Nang or Railay Beach, or a final island tour.

Day 10: Departure from Krabi.

Fair warning built into this route: it involves four separate transfers/flights within Thailand, which eats a meaningful chunk of your 10 days in airports and vehicles. If a slower pace matters more to you than seeing five regions, cut it down to three destinations instead — Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and one beach stop covers the country's three distinct "flavours" (capital, north, islands) without the transfer fatigue.

Realistic cost for a 10-day trip: Expect ₹90,000–₹1,50,000+ per person depending heavily on hotel category, the number of domestic flights versus buses, and how many paid excursions you add. Domestic flights within Thailand (Bangkok-Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai-Phuket) typically run ₹4,000-₹8,000 each way and are the main extra cost this route has over the 7-day plans.

What Does It Actually Cost Day to Day?

Once you're on the ground, here's what things genuinely cost, not the marketing-brochure version:

• BTS/MRT trains in Bangkok: ₹20–₹80 per ride — the easiest, cheapest way to get around the city, and worth figuring out on day one rather than defaulting to taxis.
• Grab (Thailand's Uber equivalent): Reasonably priced and far less hassle than negotiating with tuk-tuk drivers, especially useful in Phuket and Krabi where public transport is thin.
• Mid-range restaurant meal: ₹500–₹1,200 per person; rooftop dining runs ₹2,500–₹5,500+ for a full experience.
• 7-Eleven meals: Genuinely everywhere, genuinely fine, and a real money-saver if you're not fussed about a sit-down meal every time.
• Phi Phi/Maya Bay day tour: ₹3,500–₹7,000 depending on speedboat vs. longtail boat.
• James Bond Island tour (from Phuket): ₹3,000–₹6,500.
• Floating market tour (Damnoen Saduak or Amphawa): ₹800–₹2,500, with a noticeable markup if booked through Klook/GetYourGuide-style platforms versus a local agent.
• Safari World, Bangkok: ₹3,500–₹5,500 with a lunch package.
• 1-hour Thai massage: ₹600–₹1,500 at a street-level shop; spa chains start around ₹2,000.

Thailand Trip Cost for Couples and Families

Couples travelling together don't pay double a solo traveller's cost, since you're sharing rooms and splitting Grab rides — a mid-range 7-day couple's trip typically totals ₹1,35,000–₹2,10,000 combined, not per person. A family of four on a similar mid-range 7-day trip usually lands around ₹2,40,000–₹3,80,000+ total, with the exact figure swinging a lot based on whether you're taking domestic flights between cities or sticking to road transfers, and how many paid island excursions you're doing as a group (family rates for boat tours often work out cheaper per head than solo bookings).

What's Actually Included in a Thailand Tour Package?

This varies more between operators than people expect, so always get the exact list rather than assuming. Common inclusions: hotel accommodation, daily breakfast, airport transfers, intercity transfers, core sightseeing, and at least one island tour. Return flights are sometimes bundled and sometimes not — a "land package" specifically means flights are booked separately, while a "flight + hotel package" bundles them. Lunches, dinners beyond what's specified, personal shopping, and certain "optional" activities (parasailing at Coral Island, for instance) are the most common exclusions that catch people off guard, so ask specifically about these before comparing two quotes side by side.

Thailand Trip from Hyderabad

Hyderabad has good flight connectivity for this route, with reasonable options into Bangkok and Phuket, so the itineraries above work without much modification. Popular combinations for Hyderabad travellers:

• Hyderabad → Bangkok → Pattaya → Hyderabad (the 5-day plan)
• Hyderabad → Bangkok → Phuket → Hyderabad (skipping Pattaya for more beach time)
• Hyderabad → Bangkok → Phuket → Krabi → Hyderabad (for longer trips)

When booking from Hyderabad specifically, check your domestic Thailand connections carefully — a Bangkok-Phuket domestic leg needs enough buffer time after your international arrival, especially if you're flying in on a red-eye and don't want to risk a missed connection on day one of the holiday.

Indian Food in Thailand

This genuinely isn't the concern it used to be. Indian restaurants are well established in Bangkok, Pattaya, and Phuket's main tourist areas, and most mid-range hotels catering to Indian tour groups already know to offer vegetarian breakfast options. That said, availability drops once you're outside the main tourist zones or in smaller towns on the Chiang Mai-Krabi route, so if strict vegetarian or Jain food is a hard requirement for your group, mention it explicitly when booking so your hotel and tour operator can plan around it rather than leaving you to figure it out on day 3.

What to Pack

• Passport with at least 6 months validity remaining, plus a printed copy of your TDAC confirmation
• Comfortable walking shoes (temple floors and island terrain both punish flip-flops)
• Light, breathable clothing plus one modest outfit for temple visits (shoulders and knees covered)
• Swimwear, sunscreen, sunglasses
• Basic medicines, particularly anything for motion sickness if you're doing multiple boat tours
• Universal travel adapter and a power bank
• A waterproof pouch for phones and cash during island days
• Digital and physical copies of your hotel bookings and travel insurance

Frequently Asked Questions

How many days are enough for Thailand?

Five days works for a focused Bangkok-Pattaya trip. Seven days lets you add one major beach destination like Phuket or Krabi at a comfortable pace. Ten days or more suits travellers who want to add Chiang Mai or cover multiple beach regions without feeling rushed between transfers.

Is 5 days enough for Thailand?

Yes, specifically for a Bangkok-Pattaya combination — this is genuinely the most common first-timer itinerary and covers city sightseeing, one island day trip, and enough beach time without needing internal flights.

Is 7 days enough for Thailand?

Yes. Seven days is enough to comfortably combine Bangkok with one additional destination — either Phuket for a beach-and-nightlife mix, or Krabi if islands and limestone cliffs matter more than city time.

Which is better, Phuket or Krabi?

Phuket has more resorts, nightlife, and a wider range of activities, making it the better pick for first-timers or groups wanting variety. Krabi is quieter and more scenic, with dramatic limestone cliffs and island tours, and suits travellers prioritising beaches over nightlife.

Do Indians need a visa for Thailand?

As of 15 September 2026, Indian ordinary passport holders get 30 days of visa-free entry for tourism, reduced from the previous 60-day exemption. This applies to arrivals from that date onward; travellers who entered before 15 September keep the stay period stamped at entry. Separately, every traveller must complete the free Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) online within 72 hours of arrival.

Do Indians need to complete TDAC?

Yes, this is mandatory for every non-Thai national entering Thailand, regardless of the visa exemption. It's free, submitted online, and must be completed within the 72-hour window before arrival — not too early, and not left until you're already at the airport.

How much does a Thailand trip from India cost?

A 5-day Bangkok-Pattaya trip typically costs ₹38,000–₹58,000 per person including flights. A 7-day trip adding Phuket or Krabi runs ₹50,000–₹95,000 per person, and a fuller 10-day multi-region trip lands between ₹90,000 and ₹1,50,000+ per person, depending heavily on hotel category and how many domestic flights are involved.

What is included in a Thailand tour package?

This varies significantly by operator — always confirm the specific list. Common inclusions are hotel accommodation, breakfast, transfers, and core sightseeing tours. Flights, most lunches and dinners, and certain "optional" activities like parasailing are frequently excluded and billed separately.

Can I plan a Thailand trip from Hyderabad?

Yes. Hyderabad has solid connectivity into Bangkok and Phuket, and all the itineraries in this guide work without modification — the main thing to check is buffer time on any domestic Thailand connection if you're flying in on an early or late international leg.

Plan Your Thailand Holiday with Leisure Trips

Whether it's a quick 5-day Bangkok-Pattaya trip or the full 10-day circuit down to Krabi, the itinerary that actually works for you depends on your travel dates, budget, and how much transfer time you're willing to trade for extra destinations.

Explore Thailand Tour Packages with Leisure Trips and get a itinerary built around your exact travel dates, departure city, and the pace you actually want — not a generic template.