There is no honest "$X a day" for Southeast Asia, and multiplying one low daily average by 30 is the fastest way to break a budget. A month on the road is made of two kinds of lines. Some have a published price or rule: visa and e-visa fees, arrival cards, Angkor passes, how train tickets can be changed. Everything else (rooms, food, local transport, ATM and card fees, activities, insurance) has no official price and has to be quoted for your dates. This guide gives you the first kind with the page each fact comes from, and a method for filling in the second kind without guessing.
Why one daily average fails
A daily average hides the lumpy items. An Angkor day, a border crossing, a train you have to change, an arrival at an airport where your chosen visa is not accepted: none of these behaves like an ordinary day, and each has its own rule or fee. If you spread them across 30 days, you lose sight of when the money leaves your account and what happens if plans move.
Split the sheet into two blocks instead:
- Block A, fixed by an official page. Enter the fee exactly as published, in the currency the page uses. Write the page name next to it.
- Block B, check locally. Leave the amount empty until you have a quote for your dates. Record where the quote came from and the date you got it.
Do not convert currencies from memory. Keep each line in its original currency and convert the whole sheet once, on a date you write at the top.
Entry paperwork: what the official pages publish
Visa rules depend on your passport, so check the official page for your own passport before you copy any line below. The table shows only what each page publishes for a scheme; it does not say who qualifies.
| Country | Scheme and page | What the page publishes |
|---|---|---|
| Thailand | Visa-on-arrival, Royal Thai Embassy Doha page (updated 16 September 2026) | For nationals of Azerbaijan, Belarus and Serbia only (effective 15 September 2026): stay up to 15 days; fee 2,000 baht, cash in Thai baht only, non-refundable; fully completed application form and one recent photo; proof of funds 10,000 baht per person or 20,000 baht per family; passport valid at least 6 months with 2 blank pages; fully paid onward ticket usable within 30 days |
| Thailand | Tourist visa exemption, same page | Up to 30 days for nationals of 60 listed countries and territories (effective 15 September 2026); other listed passports get 14, 15 or 90 days; the stay can be extended at the immigration officer's discretion; cash of 20,000 baht per person or 40,000 baht per family |
| Vietnam | E-visa, national immigration e-visa portal | USD 25 single entry, USD 50 multiple entry; paid online; processed in 3 working days; print the e-visa to enter and exit |
| Laos | eVisa, Lao eVisa site | Single entry, tourist visa only, ordinary passports only; 30-day stay; usually processed in 3 working days after submitting a complete application and paying the fee, but processing can take longer; fee is non-refundable |
| Cambodia | e-Visa, Royal Embassy of Cambodia in Berlin page | Run by the E-Visa Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation at evisa.gov.kh, not by embassies |
| Indonesia | Visitor Visa, Indonesian eVisa FAQ | IDR 500,000; single entry; 30-day stay from arrival; valid 90 days from the date in your application |
The Berlin embassy page lists a Cambodian tourist visa fee for applications through that embassy, not a general fee for other application routes. The official pages cited here don't state a Laos visa fee, a Thai tourist visa fee for travellers who are neither exempt nor eligible for visa-on-arrival, or the stay length of Vietnam's e-visa. Leave the missing fee cells blank until you check the official application page for your passport; use the Lao eVisa fee calculator for Laos. Check Vietnam's official e-visa page separately for the permitted stay.
Thailand
The embassy page changed on 16 September 2026. It now describes four passport-dependent exemption arrangements: up to 30 days for nationals of 60 countries and territories and up to 15 days for Seychelles and Mauritius (both effective 15 September 2026), up to 14 days for Cambodia and Myanmar, and up to 90 days under bilateral agreements for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, South Korea and Peru. The 60-day exemption that older guides describe is no longer on the page. Anyone who wants to stay longer has to apply for an extension before the permitted stay ends, and the page leaves it to the immigration officer's discretion. Entering by land or sea under the exemption is allowed only twice in a calendar year, except for nationals of Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore; check the rule for your passport. Visa-on-arrival is now limited to three nationalities, and those travellers generally cannot apply to extend their stay, except in special cases of illness. The cash figures matter for the sheet because you must carry them at the border, not because you spend them.
Vietnam
Use only the government e-visa portal. The portal's English instruction page puts the fee in step 2, and it does not state a validity or stay length, so this guide doesn't either.
Laos
The Lao eVisa FAQ adds four conditions: the approval letter is valid for a maximum of 60 days after you receive it, your passport must be valid for more than 180 days on arrival, every applicant including children and infants needs a visa, and you must present the same passport you applied with. The fee is not stated on the FAQ page; the site's fee calculator shows it for your nationality. The Lao eVisa FAQ also requires you to print the approval letter and present it to the immigration officer.
Cambodia
Not every entry point accepts e-visas, according to the Berlin embassy page. The same embassy's how-to page says a visa on arrival is available at any international border or entry point, and adds that airline staff have occasionally denied boarding to travellers without proper documents. That embassy also lists its own fees for applications made at its counter or by post. They are that embassy's fees, not a national price list, so leave them out of your sheet.
Indonesia
The FAQ says the Visitor Visa is currently available only at Soekarno-Hatta Airport and Ngurah Rai Airport, requires a passport valid at least 6 months from arrival, and is paid by Mastercard, Visa or JCB card. Immigration may ask for a return ticket. Other visa types have their own fees inside the application flow. The e-visa home page says visa fees can be paid through SIMPONI or by Mastercard, Visa or JCB, and that e-VOA applications can be made for 5 people at once.
Bali adds a separate line. The Love Bali site shows a Tourist Levy of IDR 150,000 for international tourists, paid through the official Love Bali system, and cites Bali Provincial Regulation No. 2 of 2025, which amends Regulation No. 6 of 2023. The levy voucher is sent to your email. If you pay in another currency, the exchange rate shown on the payment page is the one applied, and the site says your issuing bank may add charges.
Arrival cards: what to complete before arrival
| Card | Who and when | Notes from the official page |
|---|---|---|
| Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) | All non-Thai nationals, by air, land or sea; submit within 3 days before arrival, counting the arrival date | One use only; you can update it before travel; group submission takes a maximum of 10 entries |
| Indonesia arrival card | All travellers, within 3 days before arrival | Submitted through the arrival-card system linked from the e-visa home page |
| Cambodia e-Arrival | In advance, not more than 7 days before arrival | The Royal Embassy of Cambodia in Berlin's how-to page says to keep the QR code you receive ready to show |
| Malaysia Digital Arrival Card (MDAC) | Foreign visitors | Complete it on the immigration department's MDAC portal, which has a registration and status-check function |
The TDAC guide and FAQ carry the most detail, so here is what matters for planning:
- TDAC is compatible with every visa type, including visa-on-arrival and visa-exempt entries. It does not replace a visa.
- You need these ready: passport details, flight number and arrival date, an address in Thailand, travel purpose, a health declaration, and an email address. The FAQ says it takes about 3-5 minutes per person if everything is ready, and you cannot save progress and finish later.
- Transit or technical-landing flights do not need one if you are not passing through immigration; if you leave the airport, you do.
- Full name, passport number, nationality and date of birth cannot be edited afterwards. In that case submit a new form; the latest valid submission is the one used.
- The system sends no reminders. If the QR code email does not arrive, the FAQ says to contact the immigration officer at the entry checkpoint.
- Kiosks exist at five airports: Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Hat Yai.
For Malaysia, check and complete the MDAC on the immigration department's official portal under its current rules; the portal page does not state submission timing or exemptions.
Angkor and the other Cambodian temple tickets
Angkor is the one big attraction line that has a published price. As listed on the Angkor Enterprise ticket page:
| Ticket | Price | Temples | Expires in | Entry and closing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angkor Temples Park, 1-day pass | USD 37 | 50+ accessible | 1 day | 5:00 AM to 6:30 PM |
| Angkor Temples Park, 3-day pass | USD 62 | 50+ accessible | 7 days | 5:00 AM to 6:30 PM |
| Angkor Temples Park, 7-day pass | USD 72 | 50+ accessible | 30 days | 5:00 AM to 6:30 PM |
| Koh Ker Temples Park, 1-day pass | USD 15 | 10+ accessible | 1 day | 6:00 AM to 6:30 PM |
| Beng Mealea, 1-day pass | USD 10 | 1 | 1 day | 6:00 AM to 6:30 PM |
| Kbal Spean, 1-day pass | USD 5 | 1 | 1 day | 6:00 AM to 6:30 PM |
The 3-day and 7-day passes are used inside a longer window than their day count: seven days for the 3-day pass, thirty for the 7-day pass. That window is what lets you space temple days between rest days, and it is worth entering in your sheet as a date range, not only a price. The page does not say how transport to the temples is priced, so that stays in Block B.
Trains: what the state railways publish
Thailand
As stated on the State Railway of Thailand online booking page:
- Express, special express and rapid trains can be booked online from at least 3 hours to at most 180 days before departure. Ordinary, suburban and local trains cannot be booked online, and the same is true for trains in periods of special fares.
- You must enter the name and passport or ID number of the person who will actually travel, because of passenger insurance. The name on a ticket cannot be changed.
- Payment is in full by credit or debit card, or by PromptPay. The page also says you must print the ticket from the system.
- A ticket can generally be changed an unlimited number of times; excursion tickets can be changed only once, at a railway station. The change fee is 50% of the ticket value one day before departure, 30% two days before and 20% three days before, counted from the date and time the train leaves its origin station.
- Refunds can be requested in the online system at least 3 hours before departure. A refund fee is deducted and the rest goes back to the card used to pay, within 45 days depending on the card's bank. The page's refund line mentions 70 percent without making clear whether that share is kept or returned, so read the amount on the refund screen before you confirm. Tickets paid by PromptPay QR code are refunded only at a railway station, and excursion tickets are not refundable.
- The help line is 1690.
The page gives no fares, so fares are a Block B line you price from the booking screen for your date.
Vietnam
Vietnam Railways sells tickets online at dsvn.vn. Its rules are dated and change with the season, which is the main point for a budget sheet.
The Tet 2027 page (dated 8 September 2026 in its address) sets a 30% deduction on refunds and changes for tickets in listed date windows: 29 January to 8 February 2027 for even-numbered trains, 9 to 17 February 2027 for odd-numbered trains, plus two narrower windows for trains running to and from Hanoi that the page describes. In those windows, individual tickets must be changed or refunded at least 24 hours before departure. Outside those windows, its table for individual tickets reads:
| Action | Timing before departure | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Change | Under 24 hours | Not permitted |
| Change | 24 hours or more | 5% of the fare, minimum VND 20,000 per ticket |
| Refund | Under 4 hours | Not permitted |
| Refund | 4 hours to under 24 hours | 20% of the fare, minimum VND 20,000 per ticket |
| Refund | 24 hours or more | 10% of the fare, minimum VND 20,000 per ticket |
A ticket can be changed once. The same page says the departure and destination stations must stay the same, the change must alter the travel date, train or carriage type, and the passenger's details cannot change. The older ticket-policy page (dated 1 January 2026 in its address) shows a different change fee, a flat VND 20,000 per ticket at 24 hours or more, and a minimum refund fee of VND 10,000. The Tet page is newer, so plan on its figures and read the table on dsvn.vn on the day you buy.
The older page also lists two rules useful for the sheet: children under 6 travel free when sharing a seat with an adult, one free child per adult ticket, and individual round-trip tickets get a 10% discount on the return leg. It lists advance-purchase discounts of 5% (20 to 39 days ahead) and 10% (40 days or more) on named long-distance trains, but only for 21 May to 16 August 2026, so they have ended. Treat any such promotion as a dated line, never as a standing discount.
For online purchases the older page says refunds go back to the account used to pay, with international cards refunded within 45 days.
Overstays, land borders and entry ports
- Indonesia is the one country where the pages give an overstay penalty: you might be asked to pay fines of IDR 1,000,000 per day, or be detained, deported or banned from future travel. The Visitor Visa FAQ also says your stay is 30 days from the arrival date, separate from the 90-day validity.
- Laos limits its eVisa to nine designated ports: Wattay International Airport (Vientiane), Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge I (Vientiane), Luang Prabang International Airport, Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge II (Savannakhet), Pakse International Airport, Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge IV (Bokeo), Boten International Checkpoint, Boten Railway Station and Khamsavath Railway Station (Vientiane). If you arrive at an undesignated port you must apply for a visa on arrival, and the eVisa fee is non-refundable.
- Thailand counts land and sea entries under the visa exemption: twice per calendar year, with the exceptions above.
- Cambodia e-visas are not accepted at every entry point.
- Indonesia's Visitor Visa works only at two airports; landing elsewhere means a different visa type.
The pages used here do not state overstay penalties for the other countries, so don't write a number into your sheet for them.
Costs with no official price: how to fill the rows
Rooms, food, local transport, ATM and card fees, activities and insurance have no official price on the pages above, so no number belongs in these rows until you have a quote. For each row, use this method:
| Row | How to fill it |
|---|---|
| Rooms and dorms | Screenshot the same dates, same occupancy, tax-inclusive total. Note the cancellation deadline and the payment currency. Keep at least three options per stop. |
| Food and water | Leave it empty until you have paid for real meals in your first days. Then enter your own recorded figure, not a guess. |
| Local transport | Price each transfer you can name (airport to city, station to hostel) from the operator's or app's screen on the day. |
| ATM and card fees | Read your own bank's fee schedule. Record the fee terms and the source page. |
| Activities | Use the operator's own booking page, and note inclusions, pickup and cancellation terms. |
| Insurance | Get a written quote for your dates and activities. Record the exclusions next to the price. |
Add three columns to every row: source, date of the quote, and whether it can be cancelled. A number without a source and a date is a guess.
Which should you choose
- Vietnam e-visa, single or multiple entry? Choose single (USD 25) if you enter Vietnam once. Choose multiple (USD 50) if your route leaves Vietnam and comes back, for example a loop through Cambodia.
- Angkor pass? Choose the 1-day pass (USD 37) if you will spend one day on temples. Choose the 3-day pass (USD 62) if you want three temple days spread across a week, since it is valid for seven days. Choose the 7-day pass (USD 72) if you want more than three temple days or plan to space them across a month, since it is valid for 30 days. Three separate 1-day passes would be 3 times USD 37.
- Cambodia visa route? If your passport allows it, the e-visa is applied for online before you fly, and the embassy page says a visa on arrival is available at any international border or entry point.
- Book train tickets early or late? If your dates may move, remember that the Thai change fee rises the closer you get to departure, and the Vietnam Tet windows raise the deduction. Buy train tickets when your dates are firm and keep the rest of the sheet flexible.
- Booking order? Fill Block A first. It is small, dated and checkable. Then price Block B stop by stop.
Sheet checklist
- Block A rows: entry scheme, fee, currency, page name, and any date the page states.
- Arrival cards: the earliest submission date for each country, based on the windows above.
- Angkor: pass type, price, and the date range in which the pass must be used.
- Trains: booking window, change and refund terms, and any effective dates the official page states.
- Block B rows: source, quote date, cancellation terms.
- A single date at the top for currency conversion.
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