Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

Thailand

Bangkok vs. Chiang Mai Cost of Living Summary

Bangkok is 25.0% more expensive than Chiang Mai.

Restaurants: pay 24.6% more in Bangkok
Groceries: pay 30.6% more in Bangkok
Transportation: pay 6.6% more in Bangkok
Housing: pay 32.5% more in Bangkok
Childcare: pay 9.5% less in Bangkok
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.1% more in Bangkok
Clothing: pay 38.4% more in Bangkok

The cost of clothing, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, restaurants, and transportation in Bangkok are more expensive than in Chiang Mai.

Bangkok vs. Chiang Mai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 24.6% more for restaurants

	Chiang Mai	Bangkok
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.23 THB74.68	$2.97 THB99.58	+33.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.50 THB184.22	$6.98 THB234.01	+27.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.67 THB22.54	$0.65 THB21.81	-3.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.32 THB10.70	$0.35 THB11.81	+10.3%
Average			+24.6%

Chiang Mai vs. Bangkok - Cost of restaurants

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pay 30.6% more for groceries

	Chiang Mai	Bangkok
Bread 1 loaf	$1.42 THB47.71	$1.48 THB49.54	+3.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.32 THB278.96	$8.63 THB289.21	+3.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.60 THB254.75	$7.27 THB243.73	-4.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.24 THB74.98	$2.56 THB85.97	+14.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.26 THB42.16	$1.63 THB54.69	+29.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.10 THB36.99	$1.77 THB59.30	+60.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.45 THB15.22	$0.81 THB27.03	+77.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 THB24.00	$1.24 THB41.66	+73.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.67 THB22.47	$0.87 THB29.31	+30.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 THB19.24	$0.78 THB26.20	+36.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 THB16.51	$0.69 THB23.19	+40.4%
Average			+30.6%

Chiang Mai vs. Bangkok - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.6% more for transportation

	Chiang Mai	Bangkok
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.55 THB186.05	$5.32 THB178.25	-4.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$53.48 THB1,792.42	$34.98 THB1,172.54	-34.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,795.89 THB697K	$31,193.83 THB1M	+50.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.59 THB187.21	$10.55 THB353.50	+88.8%
Average			+6.6%

Chiang Mai vs. Bangkok - Cost of transportation

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pay 32.5% more for housing

	Chiang Mai	Bangkok
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.03 THB671.49	$17.88 THB599.16	-10.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$462.86 THB15,514.36	$675.80 THB22,651.82	+46.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$302.57 THB10,141.70	$346.10 THB11,600.91	+14.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.59 THB1,595.12	$82.03 THB2,749.44	+72.4%
Average			+32.5%

Chiang Mai vs. Bangkok - Cost of housing

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pay 9.5% less for childcare

	Chiang Mai	Bangkok
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$781.39 THB26,191.32	$568.31 THB19,049.03	-27.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,653.84 THB491K	$16,500.59 THB553K	+12.6%
Average			-9.5%

Chiang Mai vs. Bangkok - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Chiang Mai	Bangkok
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.38 THB79.66	$2.67 THB89.62	+12.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.70 THB57.07	$2.79 THB93.66	+64.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.24 THB142.20	$4.60 THB154.35	+8.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.50 THB1,257.06	$58.43 THB1,958.38	+55.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.54 THB219.07	$7.58 THB253.93	+15.9%
Average			+32.1%

Chiang Mai vs. Bangkok - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 38.4% more for clothing

	Chiang Mai	Bangkok
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.22 THB1,817.28	$70.75 THB2,371.47	+30.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.82 THB831.92	$42.94 THB1,439.24	+73.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.16 THB3,055.40	$97.05 THB3,252.90	+6.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.04 THB2,414.59	$109.92 THB3,684.41	+52.6%
Average			+38.4%

Chiang Mai vs. Bangkok - 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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