Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

New Zealand

Nelson vs. Koh Samui Cost of Living Summary

Nelson is 46.2% more expensive than Koh Samui.

Restaurants: pay 99.0% more in Nelson
Groceries: pay 45.5% more in Nelson
Transportation: pay 8.2% less in Nelson
Housing: pay 57.8% more in Nelson
Childcare: pay 14.6% more in Nelson
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.4 times more in Nelson
Clothing: pay 19.9% more in Nelson

The cost of entertainment and sports, restaurants, housing, groceries, clothing, and childcare in Nelson are more expensive than in Koh Samui. Notably, entertainment and sports and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Nelson.

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Nelson vs. Koh Samui Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 99.0% more for restaurants

	Koh Samui	Nelson
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.46 THB148.24	$13.73 NZ$24.27	+208.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.62 THB286.59	$8.40 NZ$14.86	-2.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.92 THB30.54	$1.75 NZ$3.10	+90.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.48 THB15.87	$1.68 NZ$2.97	+252.2%
Average			+99.0%

Koh Samui vs. Nelson - Cost of restaurants

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pay 45.5% more for groceries

	Koh Samui	Nelson
Bread 1 loaf	$1.42 THB47.33	$2.11 NZ$3.73	+48.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.70 THB322.52	$4.62 NZ$8.18	-52.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.59 THB185.80	$7.12 NZ$12.59	+27.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.13 THB70.84	$5.68 NZ$10.04	+166.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.46 THB48.50	$3.39 NZ$5.99	+132.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.32 THB43.97	$1.40 NZ$2.47	+5.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.50 THB16.51	$0.99 NZ$1.75	+99.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.02 THB33.84	$1.37 NZ$2.42	+34.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 THB31.62	$2.59 NZ$4.58	+172.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.62 THB20.62	$0.95 NZ$1.69	+53.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.61 THB20.32	$0.57 NZ$1.01	-6.8%
Average			+45.5%

Koh Samui vs. Nelson - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.2% less for transportation

	Koh Samui	Nelson
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.41 THB180.01	$5.97 NZ$10.56	+10.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$44.56 THB1,482.38	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,737.57 THB889K	$17,086.24 NZ$30,214.40	-36.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.29 THB375.54	$16.19 NZ$28.63	+43.4%
Average			-8.2%

Koh Samui vs. Nelson - Cost of transportation

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pay 57.8% more for housing

	Koh Samui	Nelson
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.15 THB570.48	$42.72 NZ$75.54	+149.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$842.23 THB28,017.01	$1,022.37 NZ$1,807.91	+21.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$391.56 THB13,025.19	$812.30 NZ$1,436.42	+107.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$74.96 THB2,493.60	$98.59 NZ$174.34	+31.5%
Average			+57.8%

Koh Samui vs. Nelson - Cost of housing

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pay 14.6% more for childcare

	Koh Samui	Nelson
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$555.38 THB18,474.87	$448.16 NZ$792.51	-19.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,921.52 THB264K	$12,899.11 NZ$22,810.11	+62.8%
Average			+14.6%

Koh Samui vs. Nelson - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.4 times more for entertainment and sports

	Koh Samui	Nelson
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.38 THB79.06	$7.28 NZ$12.88	+206.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.14 THB71.03	$3.22 NZ$5.70	+50.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.33 THB143.89	$25.18 NZ$44.53	+482.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$40.11 THB1,334.14	$100.84 NZ$178.31	+151.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.94 THB197.65	$11.20 NZ$19.81	+88.6%
Average			+139.0%

Koh Samui vs. Nelson - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 19.9% more for clothing

	Koh Samui	Nelson
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$41.59 THB1,383.56	$52.29 NZ$92.46	+25.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.69 THB954.49	$28.15 NZ$49.78	-1.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$95.68 THB3,182.71	$101.77 NZ$179.97	+6.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$87.87 THB2,922.95	$138.65 NZ$245.18	+57.8%
Average			+19.9%

Koh Samui vs. Nelson - 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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