Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

Indonesia

Bali vs. Chiang Mai Cost of Living Summary

Bali is 14.1% more expensive than Chiang Mai.

Restaurants: pay 22.0% more in Bali
Groceries: pay 27.3% more in Bali
Transportation: pay 47.7% less in Bali
Housing: pay 83.2% more in Bali
Childcare: pay 55.2% less in Bali
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.4% less in Bali
Clothing: pay 1.5% less in Bali

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

Planning a move to Indonesia? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Bali vs. Chiang Mai Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bali instead of Chiang Mai, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 22.0% more for restaurants

	Chiang Mai	Bali
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.23 THB74.95	$2.79 IDR50,553.15	+25.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.50 THB184.86	$4.75 IDR85,940.36	-13.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.67 THB22.62	$1.41 IDR25,502.63	+109.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.32 THB10.74	$0.67 IDR12,114.98	+109.7%
Average			+22.0%

Chiang Mai vs. Bali - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 27.3% more for groceries

	Chiang Mai	Bali
Bread 1 loaf	$1.42 THB47.88	$2.14 IDR38,801.07	+50.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.32 THB279.93	$8.31 IDR150K	-0.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.60 THB255.64	$5.59 IDR101K	-26.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.24 THB75.25	$2.01 IDR36,449.82	-9.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.26 THB42.30	$1.69 IDR30,635.22	+34.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.10 THB37.12	$1.55 IDR28,096.89	+40.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.45 THB15.27	$0.68 IDR12,242.32	+49.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 THB24.08	$1.00 IDR18,011.71	+39.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.67 THB22.55	$0.85 IDR15,331.69	+26.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 THB19.31	$0.79 IDR14,365.73	+38.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 THB16.57	$1.02 IDR18,524.67	+107.9%
Average			+27.3%

Chiang Mai vs. Bali - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 47.7% less for transportation

	Chiang Mai	Bali
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.55 THB186.70	$3.25 IDR58,732.80	-41.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$53.48 THB1,798.69	$8.10 IDR147K	-84.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,795.89 THB699K	$24,199.28 IDR438M	+16.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.59 THB187.86	$3.99 IDR72,209.51	-28.5%
Average			-47.7%

Chiang Mai vs. Bali - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 83.2% more for housing

	Chiang Mai	Bali
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.03 THB673.84	$18.63 IDR337K	-7.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$462.86 THB15,568.62	$978.18 IDR18M	+111.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$302.57 THB10,177.18	$593.00 IDR11M	+96.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.59 THB1,600.70	$62.40 IDR1M	+31.1%
Average			+83.2%

Chiang Mai vs. Bali - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 55.2% less for childcare

	Chiang Mai	Bali
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$781.39 THB26,282.93	$440.88 IDR8M	-43.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,653.84 THB493K	$5,207.68 IDR94M	-64.5%
Average			-55.2%

Chiang Mai vs. Bali - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Chiang Mai	Bali
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.38 THB79.94	$2.24 IDR40,442.52	-6.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.70 THB57.27	$2.25 IDR40,741.40	+32.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.24 THB142.70	$2.12 IDR38,420.40	-49.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.50 THB1,261.45	$46.04 IDR833K	+22.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.54 THB219.84	$3.63 IDR65,719.10	-44.4%
Average			-11.4%

Chiang Mai vs. Bali - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 1.5% less for clothing

	Chiang Mai	Bali
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.22 THB1,823.63	$43.44 IDR786K	-19.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.82 THB834.83	$33.52 IDR606K	+35.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.16 THB3,066.09	$76.00 IDR1M	-16.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.04 THB2,423.04	$75.10 IDR1M	+4.2%
Average			-1.5%

Chiang Mai vs. Bali - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

Compare further: Chiang Mai vs. Bali

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Bali?

More cost comparisons

Chiang Mai vs.

Moscow

Chiang Mai vs.

New York City

Chiang Mai vs.

Reykjavik

Chiang Mai vs.

Quito

Chiang Mai vs.

Athens

Chiang Mai vs.

Warsaw

Chiang Mai vs.

Vienna

Chiang Mai vs.

Paris

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Thailand vs. Indonesia. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Thailand and Indonesia.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Chiang Mai

Add prices for Bali

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Bali or Chiang Mai. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.