Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

China

Shanghai vs. Chiang Rai Cost of Living Summary

Shanghai is 71.8% more expensive than Chiang Rai.

Restaurants: pay 39.0% more in Shanghai
Groceries: pay 11.9% more in Shanghai
Transportation: pay 4.9% more in Shanghai
Housing: pay 3.0 times more in Shanghai
Childcare: pay 84.9% more in Shanghai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 72.6% more in Shanghai
Clothing: pay 22.3% more in Shanghai

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

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Shanghai vs. Chiang Rai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 39.0% more for restaurants

	Chiang Rai	Shanghai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.23 THB74.12	$4.47 CN¥29.94	+100.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 THB177.89	$5.22 CN¥34.93	-2.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.62 THB20.75	$0.60 CN¥4.01	-3.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.28 THB9.29	$0.37 CN¥2.47	+32.5%
Average			+39.0%

Chiang Rai vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.9% more for groceries

	Chiang Rai	Shanghai
Bread 1 loaf	$1.42 THB47.35	$1.98 CN¥13.22	+38.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.32 THB276.85	$8.60 CN¥57.52	+3.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.60 THB252.83	$6.88 CN¥46.02	-9.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.86 THB61.77	$1.70 CN¥11.36	-8.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.26 THB41.84	$1.48 CN¥9.89	+17.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.10 THB36.71	$0.99 CN¥6.65	-10.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 THB12.33	$0.77 CN¥5.16	+107.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 THB23.82	$0.90 CN¥6.05	+26.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.40 THB13.45	$0.77 CN¥5.15	+90.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 THB19.05	$0.36 CN¥2.40	-37.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 THB16.38	$0.43 CN¥2.90	-12.0%
Average			+11.9%

Chiang Rai vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries

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pay 4.9% more for transportation

	Chiang Rai	Shanghai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.04 THB167.54	$4.96 CN¥33.21	-1.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$22.28 THB741.19	$29.83 CN¥199.59	+33.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,795.89 THB692K	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	-6.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.59 THB185.79	$5.67 CN¥37.92	+1.5%
Average			+4.9%

Chiang Rai vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.0 times more for housing

	Chiang Rai	Shanghai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.73 THB456.82	$10.55 CN¥70.59	-23.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$230.24 THB7,658.97	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	+350.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$153.49 THB5,105.98	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	+283.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.59 THB1,583.05	$44.06 CN¥294.77	-7.4%
Average			+204.9%

Chiang Rai vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing

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pay 84.9% more for childcare

	Chiang Rai	Shanghai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$781.39 THB25,993.20	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	+80.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,653.84 THB487K	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	+88.9%
Average			+84.9%

Chiang Rai vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare

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pay 72.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Chiang Rai	Shanghai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.63 THB54.35	$1.19 CN¥7.98	-27.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.34 THB44.47	$3.35 CN¥22.41	+150.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.86 THB128.47	$3.73 CN¥24.95	-3.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$35.65 THB1,185.91	$65.69 CN¥439.52	+84.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.97 THB98.83	$8.95 CN¥59.88	+201.2%
Average			+72.6%

Chiang Rai vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 22.3% more for clothing

	Chiang Rai	Shanghai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.22 THB1,803.53	$54.37 CN¥363.79	+0.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.82 THB825.63	$37.09 CN¥248.19	+49.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$74.27 THB2,470.64	$75.49 CN¥505.08	+1.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.04 THB2,396.33	$105.70 CN¥707.25	+46.7%
Average			+22.3%

Chiang Rai vs. Shanghai - 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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