Cost of living comparison

compared to

Beijing vs. Chiang Rai Cost of Living Summary

Beijing is 41.9% more expensive than Chiang Rai.

Restaurants: pay 19.8% more in Beijing
Groceries: pay 2.6% more in Beijing
Transportation: pay 12.4% less in Beijing
Housing: pay 83.8% more in Beijing
Childcare: pay 2.0 times more in Beijing
Entertainment and Sports: pay 56.3% more in Beijing
Clothing: pay 38.1% more in Beijing

The cost of childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, clothing, restaurants, and groceries in Beijing are more expensive than in Chiang Rai. Notably, childcare and housing are significantly more expensive in Beijing.

Beijing vs. Chiang Rai Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Beijing instead of Chiang Rai, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 19.8% more for restaurants

	Chiang Rai	Beijing
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.02 THB64.14	$4.21 CN¥29.74	+108.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.58 THB177.61	$4.91 CN¥34.69	-12.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.62 THB19.73	$0.48 CN¥3.39	-22.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.29 THB9.28	$0.31 CN¥2.17	+5.3%
Average			+19.8%

Chiang Rai vs. Beijing - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.6% more for groceries

	Chiang Rai	Beijing
Bread 1 loaf	$1.58 THB50.32	$1.71 CN¥12.07	+7.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.37 THB266.20	$7.47 CN¥52.80	-10.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.70 THB213.21	$6.64 CN¥46.96	-0.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.94 THB61.67	$1.78 CN¥12.56	-8.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.36 THB43.32	$1.53 CN¥10.83	+12.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.18 THB37.48	$0.98 CN¥6.95	-16.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.47 THB14.92	$0.77 CN¥5.44	+64.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 THB24.62	$0.80 CN¥5.66	+3.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.42 THB13.43	$0.60 CN¥4.26	+42.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 THB20.48	$0.35 CN¥2.46	-45.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.52 THB16.41	$0.41 CN¥2.92	-20.0%
Average			+2.6%

Chiang Rai vs. Beijing - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.4% less for transportation

	Chiang Rai	Beijing
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.83 THB153.73	$4.21 CN¥29.77	-12.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.26 THB740.04	$31.54 CN¥223.02	+35.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,468.61 THB651,237.92	$18,225.66 CN¥128,857.25	-11.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.94 THB379.89	$4.63 CN¥32.71	-61.3%
Average			-12.4%

Chiang Rai vs. Beijing - Cost of transportation

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pay 83.8% more for housing

	Chiang Rai	Beijing
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$14.34 THB456.11	$12.93 CN¥91.43	-9.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$268.78 THB8,551.61	$935.23 CN¥6,612.19	+248.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$259.73 THB8,263.81	$504.41 CN¥3,566.20	+94.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$38.14 THB1,213.40	$39.27 CN¥277.61	+3.0%
Average			+83.8%

Chiang Rai vs. Beijing - Cost of housing

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pay 2.0 times more for childcare

	Chiang Rai	Beijing
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$644.81 THB20,515.64	$710.76 CN¥5,025.17	+10.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,753.26 THB246,681.03	$23,242.73 CN¥164,328.40	+199.8%
Average			+105.0%

Chiang Rai vs. Beijing - Cost of childcare

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pay 56.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Chiang Rai	Beijing
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.86 THB59.20	$1.12 CN¥7.93	-39.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.28 THB40.70	$2.90 CN¥20.52	+126.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.72 THB118.41	$4.21 CN¥29.74	+13.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.22 THB1,184.07	$57.84 CN¥408.91	+55.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.72 THB118.41	$8.41 CN¥59.47	+126.0%
Average			+56.3%

Chiang Rai vs. Beijing - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 38.1% more for clothing

	Chiang Rai	Beijing
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.03 THB1,973.45	$62.30 CN¥440.46	+0.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$19.90 THB633.15	$36.37 CN¥257.16	+82.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.88 THB2,318.80	$81.74 CN¥577.91	+12.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$67.19 THB2,137.90	$105.53 CN¥746.11	+57.1%
Average			+38.1%

Chiang Rai vs. Beijing - 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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