Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

Mexico

Chapala vs. Bangkok Cost of Living Summary

Chapala is 9.7% cheaper than Bangkok.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Chapala
Groceries: pay 16.1% less in Chapala
Transportation: pay 0.6% more in Chapala
Housing: pay 3.4% less in Chapala
Childcare: pay 73.9% less in Chapala
Entertainment and Sports: pay 37.3% less in Chapala
Clothing: pay 40.2% less in Chapala

The cost of restaurants and transportation in Chapala are more expensive than in Bangkok. Expenses including childcare, clothing, entertainment and sports, groceries, and housing are lower in Chapala. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Chapala.

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Chapala vs. Bangkok Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Bangkok	Chapala
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.97 THB98.83	$11.67 MX$215.86	+292.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.98 THB232.24	$7.23 MX$133.74	+3.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 THB21.64	$1.67 MX$30.86	+156.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.35 THB11.72	$1.22 MX$22.63	+247.3%
Average			+133.2%

Bangkok vs. Chapala - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.1% less for groceries

	Bangkok	Chapala
Bread 1 loaf	$1.48 THB49.16	$2.24 MX$41.46	+51.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.63 THB287.02	$4.06 MX$75.10	-52.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.27 THB241.89	$5.62 MX$103.85	-22.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.56 THB85.32	$2.34 MX$43.21	-8.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.63 THB54.28	$2.52 MX$46.67	+54.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.77 THB58.85	$1.03 MX$19.02	-41.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 THB26.83	$0.60 MX$11.08	-25.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.24 THB41.35	$0.70 MX$12.89	-43.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.87 THB29.09	$0.79 MX$14.70	-9.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 THB26.00	$0.73 MX$13.42	-7.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.69 THB23.01	$0.63 MX$11.67	-8.8%
Average			-16.1%

Bangkok vs. Chapala - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.6% more for transportation

	Bangkok	Chapala
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.32 THB176.90	$5.60 MX$103.63	+5.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.98 THB1,163.67	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,193.83 THB1M	$21,528.95 MX$398K	-31.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.55 THB350.83	$27.89 MX$515.77	+164.5%
Average			+0.6%

Bangkok vs. Chapala - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.4% less for housing

	Bangkok	Chapala
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.88 THB594.63	$24.93 MX$461.07	+39.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$675.80 THB22,480.48	$584.13 MX$10,802.33	-13.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$346.10 THB11,513.16	$472.87 MX$8,744.74	+36.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.03 THB2,728.64	$37.40 MX$691.64	-54.4%
Average			-3.4%

Bangkok vs. Chapala - Cost of housing

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pay 73.9% less for childcare

	Bangkok	Chapala
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$568.31 THB18,904.94	$216.96 MX$4,012.29	-61.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,500.59 THB549K	$2,948.48 MX$54,526.03	-82.1%
Average			-73.9%

Bangkok vs. Chapala - Cost of childcare

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pay 37.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Bangkok	Chapala
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.67 THB88.94	$2.23 MX$41.15	-16.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.79 THB92.95	$3.36 MX$62.22	+20.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.60 THB153.18	$4.21 MX$77.88	-8.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.43 THB1,943.57	$23.63 MX$436.92	-59.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.58 THB252.00	$3.00 MX$55.48	-60.4%
Average			-37.3%

Bangkok vs. Chapala - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 40.2% less for clothing

	Bangkok	Chapala
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$70.75 THB2,353.53	$55.63 MX$1,028.79	-21.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.94 THB1,428.36	$38.94 MX$720.16	-9.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$97.05 THB3,228.30	$52.85 MX$977.35	-45.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$109.92 THB3,656.54	$36.16 MX$668.72	-67.1%
Average			-40.2%

Bangkok vs. Chapala - 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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