Cost of living comparison

compared to

Chiang Mai vs. Chiang Rai Cost of Living Summary

Chiang Mai is 32.2% more expensive than Chiang Rai.

Restaurants: pay 29.5% more in Chiang Mai
Groceries: pay 19.5% more in Chiang Mai
Transportation: pay 3.9% less in Chiang Mai
Housing: pay 32.3% more in Chiang Mai
Childcare: pay 96.5% more in Chiang Mai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.7% more in Chiang Mai
Clothing: pay 27.6% more in Chiang Mai

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

Chiang Mai vs. Chiang Rai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 29.5% more for restaurants

	Chiang Rai	Chiang Mai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.02 THB64.14	$2.02 THB64.12
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.58 THB177.61	$8.05 THB255.99	+44.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.62 THB19.73	$0.79 THB25.23	+27.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.29 THB9.28	$0.34 THB10.80	+16.5%
Average			+29.5%

Chiang Rai vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 19.5% more for groceries

	Chiang Rai	Chiang Mai
Bread 1 loaf	$1.58 THB50.32	$1.58 THB50.31
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.37 THB266.20	$8.36 THB266.13
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.70 THB213.21	$6.70 THB213.16
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.94 THB61.67	$2.07 THB65.77	+6.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.36 THB43.32	$1.36 THB43.31
Apples (1 lb)	$1.18 THB37.48	$1.33 THB42.38	+13.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.47 THB14.92	$0.53 THB16.74	+12.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 THB24.62	$0.79 THB25.22	+2.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.42 THB13.43	$0.74 THB23.68	+76.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 THB20.48	$0.64 THB20.47
Onions (1 lb)	$0.52 THB16.41	$0.55 THB17.42	+6.1%
Average			+19.5%

Chiang Rai vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.9% less for transportation

	Chiang Rai	Chiang Mai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.83 THB153.73	$4.83 THB153.69
Monthly public transit pass	$23.26 THB740.04	$19.14 THB609.04	-17.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,468.61 THB651,237.92	$22,478.88 THB715,197.55	+9.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.94 THB379.89	$11.94 THB379.79
Average			-3.9%

Chiang Rai vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of transportation

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pay 32.3% more for housing

	Chiang Rai	Chiang Mai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$14.34 THB456.11	$19.34 THB615.25	+34.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$268.78 THB8,551.61	$440.41 THB14,012.16	+63.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$259.73 THB8,263.81	$249.32 THB7,932.45	-4.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$38.14 THB1,213.40	$51.23 THB1,630.04	+34.3%
Average			+32.3%

Chiang Rai vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of housing

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pay 96.5% more for childcare

	Chiang Rai	Chiang Mai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$644.81 THB20,515.64	$644.65 THB20,510.55
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,753.26 THB246,681.03	$15,231.38 THB484,607.99	+96.5%
Average			+96.5%

Chiang Rai vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Chiang Rai	Chiang Mai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.86 THB59.20	$2.25 THB71.52	+20.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.28 THB40.70	$1.90 THB60.60	+48.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.72 THB118.41	$4.34 THB138.11	+16.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.22 THB1,184.07	$35.28 THB1,122.37	-5.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.72 THB118.41	$5.12 THB162.77	+37.5%
Average			+23.7%

Chiang Rai vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 27.6% more for clothing

	Chiang Rai	Chiang Mai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.03 THB1,973.45	$62.01 THB1,972.96
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$19.90 THB633.15	$19.90 THB632.99
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.88 THB2,318.80	$93.02 THB2,959.44	+27.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$67.19 THB2,137.90	$67.18 THB2,137.37
Average			+27.6%

Chiang Rai vs. Chiang Mai - 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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