Affiliate Disclosure
We believe in complete transparency about how this site earns revenue and how (or whether) that affects what we write.
Rankings aren't for sale
No business can pay to appear in a list, rank higher, or receive a more positive review. Every recommendation reflects genuine assessment.
Links are labelled when relevant
Where it is practical to do so, affiliate links are noted. All external links work the same whether they are affiliate or non-affiliate.
Many top picks have no affiliate
A significant number of our highest-rated recommendations have no affiliate relationship with us at all. We recommend them because they are the best option.
What is an affiliate link?
An affiliate link is a URL that contains a tracking code. When you click one of our affiliate links and complete a purchase (such as booking a hotel or buying insurance), we earn a small commission from the merchant. The price you pay is identical to what you would pay by going directly to the merchant's website — you are not charged more, and you are not disadvantaged in any way.
Affiliate commissions are how many independent travel websites — including this one — fund the work of creating and maintaining free, accurate content. We choose this model over advertising because it aligns our interests with yours: we only earn when you find something genuinely useful.
How affiliate relationships do NOT affect our content
ThailandKnowledge maintains a strict editorial independence policy:
- No paid placements:No business can pay to appear in a "top picks" list, featured section, or any editorial recommendation. These are always based on genuine quality assessment.
- No ranking manipulation: Having an affiliate relationship with a business does not improve its ranking in our comparisons. We have ranked non-affiliate options above affiliate options in many guides.
- No suppression of negatives: We do not omit negative information about a business because it has an affiliate relationship with us.
- Review independence: We do not accept free stays, meals, or services in exchange for editorial coverage. Complimentary items accepted for testing purposes are disclosed clearly in the relevant content.
Affiliate programs we participate in
We currently earn affiliate commissions from the following program categories. This list is updated when relationships change.
We link to hotel and accommodation listings on Booking.com. We earn a small commission when users complete a booking through our links at no extra cost to the user.
Similar to Booking.com, we link to Agoda for hotels and resorts, particularly for properties with better availability in the Agoda inventory.
We link to tour and activity bookings via Get Your Guide for experiences we have verified as legitimate and worth recommending.
We use Klook links for certain activities and transport passes, particularly for Bangkok attractions and day trips.
We recommend Wise (formerly TransferWise) for currency exchange and international transfers. We earn a referral fee if users sign up through our links.
We earn referral commissions from insurance providers when users purchase policies through our comparison and recommendation content.
Non-affiliate content
The majority of ThailandKnowledge content — visa guides, destination overviews, cultural guides, safety information, transport explanations, and general Thailand knowledge — has no affiliate relationship whatsoever and earns us nothing directly. We create this content because we believe it is genuinely useful and because it helps establish the trust that makes the site valuable.
Even within content that includes affiliate links, many of the recommendations are non-affiliate. Our Top 3 frequently includes businesses that do not have affiliate programs or with whom we have not established a relationship.
Questions about this disclosure
If you have questions about how our affiliate relationships work, or would like to flag a potential conflict of interest you have noticed, please contact us. We take commercial transparency seriously and will respond to all reasonable enquiries.