Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Korea vs. Bangkok Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 28.0% more expensive than Bangkok.

Restaurants: pay 84.5% more in South Korea
Groceries: pay 90.8% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 9.2% less in South Korea
Housing: pay 25.6% more in South Korea
Childcare: pay 12.5% less in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.5% more in South Korea
Clothing: pay 7.2% more in South Korea

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

South Korea vs. Bangkok Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Korea instead of Bangkok, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 84.5% more for restaurants

	Bangkok	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.10 THB98.65	$6.72 ₩9,907	+116.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.20 THB197.30	$5.50 ₩8,102	-11.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 THB25.19	$1.47 ₩2,161	+85.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 THB10.61	$0.82 ₩1,216	+147.5%
Average			+84.5%

Bangkok vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 90.8% more for groceries

	Bangkok	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$1.44 THB45.81	$2.87 ₩4,235	+99.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.50 THB270.59	$5.63 ₩8,290	-33.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.23 THB230.01	$7.67 ₩11,311	+6.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.28 THB72.68	$2.84 ₩4,180	+24.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.38 THB43.91	$3.34 ₩4,917	+141.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.59 THB50.61	$3.24 ₩4,768	+103.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 THB25.98	$1.39 ₩2,045	+69.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.02 THB32.56	$2.80 ₩4,121	+173.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.85 THB27.13	$2.40 ₩3,543	+181.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 THB22.92	$1.78 ₩2,627	+147.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.65 THB20.65	$1.20 ₩1,775	+85.5%
Average			+90.8%

Bangkok vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.2% less for transportation

	Bangkok	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.69 THB149.30	$4.40 ₩6,485	-6.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.21 THB1,183.78	$47.17 ₩69,524	+26.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,206.42 THB1,183,775.25	$26,440.41 ₩38,967,875	-28.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.63 THB369.93	$8.33 ₩12,280	-28.3%
Average			-9.2%

Bangkok vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 25.6% more for housing

	Bangkok	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.91 THB537.90	$21.68 ₩31,958	+28.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$675.06 THB21,477.90	$473.91 ₩698,442	-29.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$321.97 THB10,243.81	$357.19 ₩526,420	+10.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.69 THB2,185.37	$132.53 ₩195,326	+93.0%
Average			+25.6%

Bangkok vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 12.5% less for childcare

	Bangkok	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$609.37 THB19,388.11	$378.52 ₩557,869	-37.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,346.39 THB424,634.53	$15,055.40 ₩22,188,655	+12.8%
Average			-12.5%

Bangkok vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Bangkok	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.79 THB88.78	$3.12 ₩4,595	+11.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.54 THB80.83	$3.57 ₩5,258	+40.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.40 THB139.83	$3.18 ₩4,693	-27.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.03 THB1,623.73	$49.86 ₩73,483	-2.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.06 THB256.48	$10.12 ₩14,912	+25.5%
Average			+9.5%

Bangkok vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.2% more for clothing

	Bangkok	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.81 THB1,870.97	$66.46 ₩97,948	+13.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.03 THB1,210.07	$50.68 ₩74,697	+33.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.24 THB3,316.45	$72.74 ₩107,204	-30.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.47 THB2,910.11	$103.23 ₩152,146	+12.9%
Average			+7.2%

Bangkok vs. South Korea - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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