Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

Germany

Essen vs. Bangkok Cost of Living Summary

Essen is 48.9% more expensive than Bangkok.

Restaurants: pay 4.3 times more in Essen
Groceries: pay 13.4% more in Essen
Transportation: pay 56.1% more in Essen
Housing: pay 42.2% more in Essen
Childcare: pay 31.3% less in Essen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 47.7% more in Essen
Clothing: pay 43.8% more in Essen

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

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Essen vs. Bangkok Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 4.3 times more for restaurants

	Bangkok	Essen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.97 THB98.83	$20.16 €17.94	+578.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.98 THB232.24	$13.44 €11.96	+92.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 THB21.64	$3.20 €2.85	+391.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.35 THB11.72	$2.71 €2.41	+667.9%
Average			+328.0%

Bangkok vs. Essen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.4% more for groceries

	Bangkok	Essen
Bread 1 loaf	$1.48 THB49.16	$2.13 €1.90	+44.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.63 THB287.02	$8.23 €7.33	-4.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.27 THB241.89	$4.70 €4.18	-35.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.56 THB85.32	$3.70 €3.29	+44.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.63 THB54.28	$4.73 €4.21	+189.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.77 THB58.85	$1.49 €1.32	-15.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 THB26.83	$0.94 €0.84	+17.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.24 THB41.35	$1.00 €0.89	-19.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.87 THB29.09	$1.81 €1.61	+107.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 THB26.00	$0.61 €0.54	-22.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.69 THB23.01	$0.58 €0.52	-16.2%
Average			+13.4%

Bangkok vs. Essen - Cost of groceries

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pay 56.1% more for transportation

	Bangkok	Essen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.32 THB176.90	$8.44 €7.51	+58.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.98 THB1,163.67	$64.94 €57.80	+85.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,193.83 THB1M	$32,914.63 €29,295.20	+5.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.55 THB350.83	$32.65 €29.06	+209.6%
Average			+56.1%

Bangkok vs. Essen - Cost of transportation

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pay 42.2% more for housing

	Bangkok	Essen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.88 THB594.63	$41.21 €36.68	+130.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$675.80 THB22,480.48	$637.02 €566.97	-5.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$346.10 THB11,513.16	$492.12 €438.01	+42.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.03 THB2,728.64	$297.02 €264.36	+262.1%
Average			+42.2%

Bangkok vs. Essen - Cost of housing

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pay 31.3% less for childcare

	Bangkok	Essen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$568.31 THB18,904.94	$467.83 €416.38	-17.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,500.59 THB549K	$9,450.01 €8,410.85	-42.7%
Average			-31.3%

Bangkok vs. Essen - Cost of childcare

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pay 47.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Bangkok	Essen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.67 THB88.94	$6.16 €5.48	+130.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.79 THB92.95	$3.82 €3.40	+36.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.60 THB153.18	$9.74 €8.67	+111.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.43 THB1,943.57	$41.21 €36.68	-29.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.58 THB252.00	$15.11 €13.45	+99.5%
Average			+47.7%

Bangkok vs. Essen - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 43.8% more for clothing

	Bangkok	Essen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$70.75 THB2,353.53	$96.07 €85.51	+35.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.94 THB1,428.36	$83.79 €74.58	+95.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$97.05 THB3,228.30	$109.88 €97.80	+13.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$109.92 THB3,656.54	$156.72 €139.48	+42.6%
Average			+43.8%

Bangkok vs. Essen - 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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