The arithmetic
An advertised $50,000 week leaves your account at $74,922
Every operator advertises the base rate. Almost none of them advertises the total. Here is the whole calculation, and a calculator to run it on your own quote.
The short answer
What does a yacht charter in Phuket actually cost?
Take the advertised weekly rate and add roughly half again. On top of the base rate come an advance provisioning allowance of 25 to 35 percent, 7 percent Thai VAT on the base rate, national park fees of 300 to 500 baht per person per park, and a customary crew gratuity of 10 to 20 percent.
On a $50,000 week for eight guests crossing two national parks, that lands at about $74,922. Up to $15,000 of it comes back, because the provisioning allowance is a float spent against receipts rather than a fee. The final figure is driven mostly by how much fuel the itinerary burns.
Your own quote
Put the advertised rate in and see the whole bill
Adjust the APA and the gratuity to what your operator quotes rather than to the defaults. The gap between a 25 percent APA and a 35 percent one on a large charter is several thousand dollars, and it is the line most quotes hide behind a percentage sign.
Advertised rate for the week
The number the operator puts on the listing
Advance provisioning allowance, 30 percent
Operators quote between 25 and 35 percent. Fuel is the reason a motor yacht sits at the top of that range and a catamaran at the bottom.
Crew gratuity, 12.5 percent
Customary in this market at 10 to 20 percent. It is not in the contract, and it is not optional in practice.
National parks the route crosses
Each park charges separately, per person, per park, in cash.
What actually leaves your account
$74,922
for a week at an advertised $50,000, which is 50 percent more than the headline.
| Base charter rateThe advertised figure | $50,000 |
|---|---|
| Advance provisioning allowance, 30%Refunded if unspent | $15,000 |
| Thai VAT, 7% of the base rateNot charged on APA | $3,500 |
| National park fees5,600 baht, cash at the ranger station | $172 |
| Crew gratuity, 12.5%Customary, not contractual | $6,250 |
| Total | $74,922 |
| Refundable if the APA is not spent | up to $15,000 |
Park fees convert at 32.5 baht to the dollar. The APA line is a deposit against real spending, so the true total lands between $59,922 and $74,922 depending on how much fuel the itinerary burns. Flights, transfers and travel insurance are not in this figure.
Line by line
What each part of the bill actually pays for
- Base charter rate
The yacht, the crew, the insurance and the standard equipment aboard, including the tender and snorkelling gear.
Quoted per week or per day. This is the figure operators advertise, and it is the only one most of them advertise.
- Advance Provisioning Allowance
Fuel, food, drink, marina and mooring fees, national park entry, and any diving or excursions the crew arrange.
Between 25 and 35 percent of the base rate, paid up front. The crew spend it against receipts and whatever is left is refunded at the end of the charter.
- Thai VAT
Value added tax on the charter fee, charged by the operator and paid to the Thai Revenue Department.
7 percent of the base rate. Applied to the charter fee, not to the APA.
- National park fees
Entry to each national park the itinerary crosses. Paid per person, per park, in cash at the ranger station.
300 to 500 baht per adult and half that per child, depending on the park. A route crossing two parks pays both. Divers pay a supplement in some parks.
- Crew gratuity
The customary tip to the crew, divided by the captain among the whole team at the end of the charter.
10 to 20 percent of the base rate, at your discretion. It is not a service charge and it is not in the contract, but in this market it is expected.
- Delivery or repositioning fee
Moving the yacht to the marina you want to board at, when that is not where it lies.
Charged when it applies, usually as fuel and crew time for the passage. Frequently zero.
Per person, per park, in cash
National park fees in the Andaman
| Park | Adult | Child | Diver supplement | Annual closure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ao Phang Nga National Park | 300 THB | 150 THB | none | open all year |
| Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park | 400 THB | 200 THB | 200 THB per diving day | open all year |
| Mu Ko Similan National Park | 500 THB | 250 THB | 200 THB per diving day | 16 May to 14 October |
| Mu Ko Surin National Park | 500 THB | 250 THB | none | 16 May to 14 October |
| Mu Ko Lanta National Park | 400 THB | 200 THB | none | mid-May to mid-October |
| Mu Ko Hong National Park, Krabi | 300 THB | 150 THB | none | open all year |
Source: Department of National Parks fee schedules, as published by Phuket operators. Checked 6 September 2026.
The closure column matters more than the fee column. Mu Ko Similan, Mu Ko Surin and Mu Ko Lanta shut by order for roughly five months a year, and no operator can arrange around it. The full season matrix.
Comparing two quotes
Three numbers, not one
When two operators quote you, compare the base rate, the APA percentage and the gratuity expectation as three separate figures. An operator quoting a lower base with a 35 percent APA can easily be more expensive than one quoting a higher base with 25 percent, and the listing pages will not tell you that.
Then ask two questions. First, what the passage times are in hours for each leg, because that tells you whether the itinerary is real. Second, whether the yacht is foreign-flagged and 24 metres or more, because that decides whether the Thai charter licence question applies at all.
Neither question is rude and both are answered in a line by an operator who has the answer to hand.
Questions people ask about charter cost
- How much does it cost to charter a yacht in Phuket?
- Bareboat catamarans start around four to nine thousand dollars a week. Crewed catamarans run from about sixteen thousand. Motor yachts of 24 to 30 metres start around fifty thousand, and superyachts above 35 metres from about two hundred and fifty thousand. To any of those add 25 to 35 percent for the advance provisioning allowance, 7 percent Thai VAT, national park fees per person and a crew gratuity of 10 to 20 percent.
- Is the APA refundable?
- Whatever is not spent is returned at the end of the charter against receipts. It is a spending float rather than a fee, and the captain will ask for a top-up before it runs out rather than after.
- Do I have to pay the crew gratuity?
- It is not in the contract and it is genuinely at your discretion. In practice charter crew wages in this market are set on the assumption that 10 to 20 percent is paid, so it should be budgeted from the start rather than treated as optional.
- Are national park fees included in the charter price?
- Usually they come out of the APA rather than the base rate, and they are charged per person per park in cash at the ranger station. A route crossing two parks pays both.