Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

Thailand

Koh Samui vs. Bangkok Cost of Living Summary

Koh Samui is 1.1% cheaper than Bangkok.

Restaurants: pay 37.8% more in Koh Samui
Groceries: pay 14.6% less in Koh Samui
Transportation: pay 2.8% more in Koh Samui
Housing: pay 13.0% more in Koh Samui
Childcare: pay 31.5% less in Koh Samui
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.2% less in Koh Samui
Clothing: pay 25.4% less in Koh Samui

The cost of restaurants, housing, and transportation in Koh Samui are more expensive than in Bangkok. Expenses including childcare, clothing, entertainment and sports, and groceries are lower in Koh Samui.

Koh Samui vs. Bangkok Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Koh Samui instead of Bangkok, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 37.8% more for restaurants

	Bangkok	Koh Samui
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.97 THB99.72	$4.46 THB149.58	+50.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.98 THB234.34	$8.62 THB289.18	+23.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 THB21.84	$0.92 THB30.81	+41.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.35 THB11.83	$0.48 THB16.02	+35.4%
Average			+37.8%

Bangkok vs. Koh Samui - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.6% less for groceries

	Bangkok	Koh Samui
Bread 1 loaf	$1.48 THB49.61	$1.42 THB47.75	-3.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.63 THB289.61	$9.70 THB325.43	+12.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.27 THB244.07	$5.59 THB187.48	-23.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.56 THB86.09	$2.13 THB71.48	-17.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.63 THB54.77	$1.46 THB48.94	-10.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.77 THB59.39	$1.32 THB44.37	-25.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 THB27.07	$0.50 THB16.66	-38.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.24 THB41.72	$1.02 THB34.15	-18.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.87 THB29.35	$0.95 THB31.90	+8.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 THB26.23	$0.62 THB20.81	-20.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.69 THB23.22	$0.61 THB20.50	-11.7%
Average			-14.6%

Bangkok vs. Koh Samui - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.8% more for transportation

	Bangkok	Koh Samui
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.32 THB178.50	$5.41 THB181.64	+1.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.98 THB1,174.17	$44.56 THB1,495.76	+27.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,193.83 THB1M	$26,737.57 THB897K	-14.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.55 THB354.00	$11.29 THB378.93	+7.0%
Average			+2.8%

Bangkok vs. Koh Samui - Cost of transportation

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pay 13.0% more for housing

	Bangkok	Koh Samui
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.88 THB600.00	$17.15 THB575.63	-4.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$675.80 THB22,683.32	$842.23 THB28,269.80	+24.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$346.10 THB11,617.04	$391.56 THB13,142.72	+13.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.03 THB2,753.26	$74.96 THB2,516.10	-8.6%
Average			+13.0%

Bangkok vs. Koh Samui - Cost of housing

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pay 31.5% less for childcare

	Bangkok	Koh Samui
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$568.31 THB19,075.51	$555.38 THB18,641.56	-2.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,500.59 THB554K	$7,921.52 THB266K	-52.0%
Average			-31.5%

Bangkok vs. Koh Samui - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Bangkok	Koh Samui
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.67 THB89.75	$2.38 THB79.77	-11.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.79 THB93.79	$2.14 THB71.67	-23.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.60 THB154.56	$4.33 THB145.19	-6.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.43 THB1,961.10	$40.11 THB1,346.18	-31.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.58 THB254.28	$5.94 THB199.43	-21.6%
Average			-21.2%

Bangkok vs. Koh Samui - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 25.4% less for clothing

	Bangkok	Koh Samui
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$70.75 THB2,374.76	$41.59 THB1,396.04	-41.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.94 THB1,441.24	$28.69 THB963.11	-33.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$97.05 THB3,257.43	$95.68 THB3,211.43	-1.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$109.92 THB3,689.53	$87.87 THB2,949.32	-20.1%
Average			-25.4%

Bangkok vs. Koh Samui - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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