How we compare
How to read our lists, sources and checks before choosing a place.
trip4am is an early version for planning a trip and finding places by area. Place details come from open map data and the venue’s own website. Inclusion in a list does not mean we have visited or used a place. We don’t show live prices or room availability; the provider confirms those when you open its site.
How lists are ordered
Places are grouped by area (on an all-Thailand list, by destination), and each group measures distances to its own landmark, such as Tha Phae Gate. Within a group, the default order, Most central, goes step by step; a later step only decides between places that are equal on the earlier ones:
- Villas before apartments (Villas & apartments).
- Places with an English name before those whose name we spelled out from Thai (Villas & apartments, Guesthouses & hotels, Cafes).
- Places checked by us before the rest, the most thorough check first (we stayed or worked there, then a visit, then a remote check). A check counts for 180 days.
- The nearest to the group’s landmark first, measured as a straight line on the map.
- Ties: the most complete details first, then by name.
So in Villas & apartments, a nearer apartment, or a place whose name we spelled out from Thai, can sit below a villa that is farther away. Hostels have neither the kind nor the name step. Most details uses the same steps up to “checked by us”, then puts the most recently checked first, then the most complete details, then sorts by name. Lists without a landmark, such as a province’s, use Most details. Commission never moves anything.
Distances
Distances are straight lines measured on the map, from the place to what is around it. Where a walking time is shown, it assumes 80 metres a minute; nothing further than 3 km is called walkable.
Prices
We don’t show prices yet. When we do, these rules apply:
- Prices are compared as all-in totals in Thai baht for your dates, cheapest first, never by commission. A “++” price (before the 10% service charge and 7% VAT) is multiplied by 1.177 and marked est.
- “Cheapest” and “Save X%” appear only when the offers match on room type, occupancy, meals and refundability.
- A dorm bed is priced per person, a private room per room, and the two are never mixed.
- Every price says how fresh it is. Prices older than 48 hours are hidden.
- Booking sites whose terms don’t allow side-by-side prices are unpriced links that open the site (with your dates once you pick them), left out of the ranking.
What “Checked” means
A “Checked” stamp must say when and how the check was made. It applies to the facts supported by that check, not to every detail on the page. The methods mean different things:
- Remote check: by message, phone call, Street View or the official website. The website check may be done by our software: it reads the venue’s own site, and the stamp links the page it read. It confirms only what the website states.
- Visit: someone from our team went there.
- Used: one of us stayed or worked there.
A website check confirms only what that website states; it is not a visit or a test of the facilities. A Wi-Fi number reported by a venue is different from a speed measured during a stay. Read the method, date and source beside a claim before relying on it. We never assume “No” for something nobody has told us, and a check older than 180 days no longer counts in the list ordering.
Villas & apartments
Where we know a rental’s legal status (licensed, small-operator exemption, or a condo where stays under 30 nights may be illegal), its page says so in plain words. We also link to an unpriced Airbnb search for the area, so you can compare yourself; we never copy Airbnb’s data.
Tours and animal welfare
Tour listings, where available, are for discovery. A listing does not confirm a departure, available places or a booking; check the itinerary and terms directly with the operator. Our animal-welfare policy excludes elephant riding, elephant bathing and shows, tiger contact and animal shows. Sanctuary visits must be observation-only.
What we don’t show
We don’t copy photos, descriptions or reviews from booking sites or Google, and we don’t show other sites’ star ratings.
How guides are written
An AI model may help draft a guide’s structure and wording. It never decides what is true: a guide’s facts are checked against the sources it lists, and a person reviews it before it is published. Each guide says who reviewed it and when, and lists its sources and changes at the end. Guide photos are real, openly licensed photographs, credited behind the ⓘ on each photo and on Credits; never AI images.
Dates and updates
Every guide shows when it was published or last updated. “Updated” changes only for changes that matter, such as a corrected fact or a new section, and a year goes in a title only when the whole guide was checked again that year.