Cost of living comparison

Taiwan

compared to

Thailand

Koh Samui vs. HsinChu Cost of Living Summary

Koh Samui is 8.4% cheaper than HsinChu.

Restaurants: pay 1.5% less in Koh Samui
Groceries: pay 34.8% less in Koh Samui
Transportation: pay 23.6% more in Koh Samui
Housing: pay 8.6% more in Koh Samui
Childcare: pay 11.6% less in Koh Samui
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.5% less in Koh Samui
Clothing: pay 18.5% less in Koh Samui

The cost of transportation and housing in Koh Samui are more expensive than in HsinChu. Expenses including groceries, entertainment and sports, clothing, childcare, and restaurants are lower in Koh Samui.

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Koh Samui vs. HsinChu Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Koh Samui instead of HsinChu, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 1.5% less for restaurants

	HsinChu	Koh Samui
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.93 NT$127.46	$3.10 THB104.19	-21.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.24 NT$169.95	$8.99 THB302.16	+71.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.85 NT$27.62	$0.71 THB23.91	-16.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.63 NT$20.36	$0.38 THB12.66	-40.0%
Average			-1.5%

HsinChu vs. Koh Samui - Cost of restaurants

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pay 34.8% less for groceries

	HsinChu	Koh Samui
Bread 1 loaf	$1.81 NT$58.69	$1.73 THB57.97	-4.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.76 NT$219.08	$8.53 THB286.63	+26.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$11.62 NT$376.62	$6.58 THB221.15	-43.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.18 NT$102.99	$2.28 THB76.58	-28.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.13 NT$69.06	$1.07 THB35.80	-50.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.90 NT$61.43	$1.51 THB50.73	-20.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 NT$35.33	$0.56 THB18.80	-48.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.83 NT$59.42	$1.03 THB34.68	-43.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.68 NT$54.60	$0.98 THB32.92	-41.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.98 NT$64.24	$0.73 THB24.40	-63.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.78 NT$57.82	$0.63 THB21.19	-64.6%
Average			-34.8%

HsinChu vs. Koh Samui - Cost of groceries

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pay 23.6% more for transportation

	HsinChu	Koh Samui
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.82 NT$123.66	$5.04 THB169.17	+32.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$39.32 NT$1,274.64	$46.52 THB1,562.89	+18.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$40,144.19 NT$1M	$27,911.74 THB938K	-30.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.90 NT$191.20	$10.30 THB345.92	+74.6%
Average			+23.6%

HsinChu vs. Koh Samui - Cost of transportation

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pay 8.6% more for housing

	HsinChu	Koh Samui
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$22.93 NT$743.19	$17.79 THB597.81	-22.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$550.55 NT$17,845.00	$554.27 THB18,621.51	+0.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$340.82 NT$11,046.90	$413.51 THB13,892.37	+21.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$56.76 NT$1,839.80	$76.59 THB2,573.20	+34.9%
Average			+8.6%

HsinChu vs. Koh Samui - Cost of housing

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pay 11.6% less for childcare

	HsinChu	Koh Samui
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$710.03 NT$23,014.38	$623.36 THB20,942.74	-12.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,992.63 NT$486K	$13,335.61 THB448K	-11.1%
Average			-11.6%

HsinChu vs. Koh Samui - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.5% less for entertainment and sports

	HsinChu	Koh Samui
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.29 NT$74.35	$2.17 THB72.93	-5.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.36 NT$108.88	$2.31 THB77.49	-31.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.92 NT$159.33	$4.34 THB145.87	-11.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.99 NT$1,911.96	$34.11 THB1,146.12	-42.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.49 NT$339.90	$7.13 THB239.64	-32.0%
Average			-24.5%

HsinChu vs. Koh Samui - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 18.5% less for clothing

	HsinChu	Koh Samui
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$84.38 NT$2,735.17	$52.72 THB1,771.28	-37.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.28 NT$1,208.25	$29.92 THB1,005.29	-19.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$95.04 NT$3,080.39	$102.34 THB3,438.36	+7.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$120.16 NT$3,894.74	$90.82 THB3,051.36	-24.4%
Average			-18.5%

HsinChu vs. Koh Samui - 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: July 2026

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