Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

Thailand

Phuket vs. Chiang Rai Cost of Living Summary

Phuket is 68.6% more expensive than Chiang Rai.

Restaurants: pay 77.0% more in Phuket
Groceries: pay 28.7% more in Phuket
Transportation: pay 19.6% more in Phuket
Housing: pay 2.7 times more in Phuket
Childcare: pay 25.5% less in Phuket
Entertainment and Sports: pay 77.4% more in Phuket
Clothing: pay 20.5% more in Phuket

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

Phuket vs. Chiang Rai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 77.0% more for restaurants

	Chiang Rai	Phuket
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.23 THB74.12	$4.46 THB148.24	+100.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 THB177.89	$8.62 THB286.59	+61.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.62 THB20.75	$0.92 THB30.54	+47.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.28 THB9.29	$0.48 THB15.87	+70.8%
Average			+77.0%

Chiang Rai vs. Phuket - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.7% more for groceries

	Chiang Rai	Phuket
Bread 1 loaf	$1.42 THB47.35	$1.42 THB47.33	-0.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.32 THB276.85	$9.70 THB322.52	+16.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.60 THB252.83	$6.39 THB212.60	-15.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.86 THB61.77	$2.13 THB70.84	+14.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.26 THB41.84	$1.52 THB50.73	+21.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.10 THB36.71	$1.32 THB43.97	+19.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 THB12.33	$0.75 THB24.92	+102.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 THB23.82	$1.02 THB33.84	+42.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.40 THB13.45	$0.95 THB31.62	+135.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 THB19.05	$0.67 THB22.39	+17.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 THB16.38	$0.61 THB20.32	+24.0%
Average			+28.7%

Chiang Rai vs. Phuket - Cost of groceries

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pay 19.6% more for transportation

	Chiang Rai	Phuket
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.04 THB167.54	$5.52 THB183.69	+9.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$22.28 THB741.19	$22.39 THB744.96	+0.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,795.89 THB692K	$26,737.57 THB889K	+28.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.59 THB185.79	$11.29 THB375.54	+102.1%
Average			+19.6%

Chiang Rai vs. Phuket - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.7 times more for housing

	Chiang Rai	Phuket
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.73 THB456.82	$17.15 THB570.48	+24.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$230.24 THB7,658.97	$726.87 THB24,179.29	+215.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$153.49 THB5,105.98	$463.45 THB15,416.77	+201.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.59 THB1,583.05	$74.96 THB2,493.60	+57.5%
Average			+166.7%

Chiang Rai vs. Phuket - Cost of housing

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pay 25.5% less for childcare

	Chiang Rai	Phuket
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$781.39 THB25,993.20	$555.38 THB18,474.87	-28.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,653.84 THB487K	$11,455.56 THB381K	-21.8%
Average			-25.5%

Chiang Rai vs. Phuket - Cost of childcare

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pay 77.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Chiang Rai	Phuket
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.63 THB54.35	$2.53 THB84.00	+54.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.34 THB44.47	$2.77 THB92.02	+106.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.86 THB128.47	$4.33 THB143.89	+12.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$35.65 THB1,185.91	$52.26 THB1,738.47	+46.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.97 THB98.83	$7.58 THB252.00	+155.0%
Average			+77.4%

Chiang Rai vs. Phuket - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 20.5% more for clothing

	Chiang Rai	Phuket
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.22 THB1,803.53	$62.94 THB2,093.63	+16.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.82 THB825.63	$28.69 THB954.49	+15.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$74.27 THB2,470.64	$95.68 THB3,182.71	+28.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.04 THB2,396.33	$87.87 THB2,922.95	+22.0%
Average			+20.5%

Chiang Rai vs. Phuket - 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 October 2026). How we calculate this

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