Cost of living comparison

compared to

Phnom Penh vs. Chiang Mai Cost of Living Summary

Phnom Penh is 8.1% more expensive than Chiang Mai.

Restaurants: pay 80.3% more in Phnom Penh
Groceries: pay 29.1% more in Phnom Penh
Transportation: pay 8.4% more in Phnom Penh
Housing: pay 22.9% more in Phnom Penh
Childcare: pay 53.8% less in Phnom Penh
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.8% less in Phnom Penh
Clothing: pay 14.2% less in Phnom Penh

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

Phnom Penh vs. Chiang Mai Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Phnom Penh instead of Chiang Mai, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 80.3% more for restaurants

	Chiang Mai	Phnom Penh
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.02 THB64.12	$5.00 KHR20,018.85	+148.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.05 THB255.99	$7.00 KHR28,026.39	-13.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 THB25.23	$0.93 KHR3,721.15	+17.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.34 THB10.80	$0.91 KHR3,656.62	+168.9%
Average			+80.3%

Chiang Mai vs. Phnom Penh - Cost of restaurants

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pay 29.1% more for groceries

	Chiang Mai	Phnom Penh
Bread 1 loaf	$1.58 THB50.31	$1.65 KHR6,608.28	+4.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.36 THB266.13	$6.70 KHR26,825.26	-19.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.70 THB213.16	$8.17 KHR32,701.82	+21.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.07 THB65.77	$1.82 KHR7,282.41	-12.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.36 THB43.31	$2.01 KHR8,041.21	+47.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.33 THB42.38	$1.81 KHR7,249.19	+35.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.53 THB16.74	$0.88 KHR3,541.36	+68.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.79 THB25.22	$1.91 KHR7,663.87	+141.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.74 THB23.68	$0.73 KHR2,942.05	-1.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 THB20.47	$0.88 KHR3,511.09	+36.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.55 THB17.42	$0.54 KHR2,149.03	-1.9%
Average			+29.1%

Chiang Mai vs. Phnom Penh - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.4% more for transportation

	Chiang Mai	Phnom Penh
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.83 THB153.69	$4.33 KHR17,336.51	-10.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$19.14 THB609.04	$9.60 KHR38,436.20	-49.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,478.88 THB715,197.55	$49,000.00 KHR196,184,757.29	+118.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.94 THB379.79	$9.05 KHR36,245.37	-24.2%
Average			+8.4%

Chiang Mai vs. Phnom Penh - Cost of transportation

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pay 22.9% more for housing

	Chiang Mai	Phnom Penh
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.34 THB615.25	$21.29 KHR85,223.90	+10.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$440.41 THB14,012.16	$481.60 KHR1,928,225.26	+9.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$249.32 THB7,932.45	$273.92 KHR1,096,705.90	+9.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$51.23 THB1,630.04	$82.99 KHR332,257.04	+62.0%
Average			+22.9%

Chiang Mai vs. Phnom Penh - Cost of housing

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pay 53.8% less for childcare

	Chiang Mai	Phnom Penh
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$644.65 THB20,510.55	$293.33 KHR1,174,439.36	-54.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,231.38 THB484,607.99	$7,141.67 KHR28,593,594.73	-53.1%
Average			-53.8%

Chiang Mai vs. Phnom Penh - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Chiang Mai	Phnom Penh
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 THB71.52	$1.21 KHR4,837.39	-46.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.90 THB60.60	$2.53 KHR10,114.79	+32.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.34 THB138.11	$1.88 KHR7,507.07	-56.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$35.28 THB1,122.37	$41.67 KHR166,823.77	+18.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.12 THB162.77	$3.75 KHR15,014.14	-26.7%
Average			-15.8%

Chiang Mai vs. Phnom Penh - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 14.2% less for clothing

	Chiang Mai	Phnom Penh
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.01 THB1,972.96	$25.75 KHR103,097.09	-58.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$19.90 THB632.99	$23.33 KHR93,421.31	+17.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$93.02 THB2,959.44	$88.00 KHR352,331.81	-5.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$67.18 THB2,137.37	$60.20 KHR241,026.99	-10.4%
Average			-14.2%

Chiang Mai vs. Phnom Penh - 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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