Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

South Korea

Busan vs. Bangkok Cost of Living Summary

Busan is 37.3% more expensive than Bangkok.

Restaurants: pay 89.5% more in Busan
Groceries: pay 99.5% more in Busan
Transportation: pay 10.6% more in Busan
Housing: pay 17.6% more in Busan
Childcare: pay 21.4% more in Busan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.7% more in Busan
Clothing: pay 25.7% more in Busan

The cost of groceries, restaurants, clothing, entertainment and sports, childcare, and housing in Busan are more expensive than in Bangkok. Notably, groceries and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Busan.

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Busan vs. Bangkok Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Busan instead of Bangkok, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 89.5% more for restaurants

	Bangkok	Busan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.97 THB98.83	$7.46 ₩9,962	+151.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.98 THB232.24	$6.64 ₩8,867	-4.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 THB21.64	$1.82 ₩2,433	+180.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.35 THB11.72	$1.42 ₩1,893	+302.4%
Average			+89.5%

Bangkok vs. Busan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 99.5% more for groceries

	Bangkok	Busan
Bread 1 loaf	$1.48 THB49.16	$3.17 ₩4,234	+114.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.63 THB287.02	$5.50 ₩7,347	-36.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.27 THB241.89	$8.67 ₩11,568	+19.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.56 THB85.32	$2.66 ₩3,556	+3.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.63 THB54.28	$4.74 ₩6,326	+190.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.77 THB58.85	$5.08 ₩6,778	+187.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 THB26.83	$1.65 ₩2,203	+104.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.24 THB41.35	$3.68 ₩4,906	+195.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.87 THB29.09	$2.69 ₩3,593	+207.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 THB26.00	$2.71 ₩3,615	+246.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.69 THB23.01	$1.51 ₩2,011	+117.8%
Average			+99.5%

Bangkok vs. Busan - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.6% more for transportation

	Bangkok	Busan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.32 THB176.90	$5.24 ₩6,996	-1.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.98 THB1,163.67	$59.71 ₩79,700	+70.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,193.83 THB1M	$29,385.60 ₩39M	-5.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.55 THB350.83	$9.55 ₩12,752	-9.4%
Average			+10.6%

Bangkok vs. Busan - Cost of transportation

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pay 17.6% more for housing

	Bangkok	Busan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.88 THB594.63	$27.06 ₩36,114	+51.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$675.80 THB22,480.48	$720.80 ₩962K	+6.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$346.10 THB11,513.16	$365.55 ₩488K	+5.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.03 THB2,728.64	$152.90 ₩204K	+86.4%
Average			+17.6%

Bangkok vs. Busan - Cost of housing

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pay 21.4% more for childcare

	Bangkok	Busan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$568.31 THB18,904.94	$634.44 ₩847K	+11.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,500.59 THB549K	$21,781.84 ₩29M	+32.0%
Average			+21.4%

Bangkok vs. Busan - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Bangkok	Busan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.67 THB88.94	$3.73 ₩4,981	+39.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.79 THB92.95	$3.68 ₩4,908	+31.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.60 THB153.18	$3.36 ₩4,483	-27.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.43 THB1,943.57	$62.51 ₩83,435	+7.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.58 THB252.00	$11.94 ₩15,940	+57.6%
Average			+24.7%

Bangkok vs. Busan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 25.7% more for clothing

	Bangkok	Busan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$70.75 THB2,353.53	$104.50 ₩139K	+47.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.94 THB1,428.36	$65.31 ₩87,171	+52.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$97.05 THB3,228.30	$93.30 ₩125K	-3.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$109.92 THB3,656.54	$126.89 ₩169K	+15.4%
Average			+25.7%

Bangkok vs. Busan - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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