Cost of living comparison

compared to

Koh Samui vs. Bellingham Cost of Living Summary

Koh Samui vs. Bellingham Cost Breakdown

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

pay 69.9% less for restaurants

 
Bellingham
Koh Samui
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $25.00
 
$4.46
THB149.58
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$13.21
 
$8.62
THB289.18
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $3.19
 
$0.92
THB30.81

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pay 52.9% less for groceries

 
Bellingham
Koh Samui
Bread
1 loaf
$4.82
 
$1.42
THB47.75
Local cheese (8 oz) $9.46
 
$9.70
THB325.43
Milk (1 gallon) $4.30
 
$5.59
THB187.48

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pay 2.2% less for transportation

 
Bellingham
Koh Samui
Gasoline (1 gallon) $5.31
 
$5.41
THB181.64
Monthly public transit pass $30.00
 
$44.56
THB1,495.76
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $36,318.00
 
$26,737.57
THB897K

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pay 64.4% less for housing

 
Bellingham
Koh Samui
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$76.95
 
$17.15
THB575.63
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,772.00
 
$842.23
THB28,269.80
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,507.50
 
$391.56
THB13,142.72

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pay 64.7% less for childcare

 
Bellingham
Koh Samui
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,136.00
 
$555.38
THB18,641.56
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $31,129.44
 
$7,921.52
THB266K

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pay 60.4% less for entertainment and sports

 
Bellingham
Koh Samui
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $7.00
 
$2.38
THB79.77
Cappuccino in mid-range area $6.00
 
$2.14
THB71.67
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$12.56
 
$4.33
THB145.19

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pay 27.6% less for clothing

 
Bellingham
Koh Samui
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$77.77
 
$41.59
THB1,396.04
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$28.50
 
$28.69
THB963.11
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$110.00
 
$95.68
THB3,211.43

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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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