Cost of living comparison

compared to

Koh Samui vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

Koh Samui is 41.5% more expensive than Nairobi.

Restaurants: pay 11.9% less in Koh Samui
Groceries: pay 51.7% more in Koh Samui
Transportation: pay 8.2% more in Koh Samui
Housing: pay 55.6% more in Koh Samui
Childcare: pay 2.1 times more in Koh Samui
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.7% more in Koh Samui
Clothing: pay 71.4% more in Koh Samui

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

Koh Samui vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 11.9% less for restaurants

	Nairobi	Koh Samui
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.80 KES747.37	$3.10 THB97.52	-46.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.97 KES896.85	$8.99 THB282.80	+29.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 KES90.36	$0.71 THB22.38	+1.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.55 KES70.70	$0.38 THB11.85	-31.4%
Average			-11.9%

Nairobi vs. Koh Samui - Cost of restaurants

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pay 51.7% more for groceries

	Nairobi	Koh Samui
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 KES70.35	$1.73 THB54.25	+215.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.57 KES716.71	$8.53 THB268.27	+53.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.36 KES432.07	$6.58 THB206.99	+96.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 KES211.74	$2.28 THB71.68	+38.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.92 KES375.75	$1.07 THB33.51	-63.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.41 KES181.11	$1.51 THB47.48	+7.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.47 KES61.12	$0.56 THB17.60	+17.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.89 KES114.54	$1.03 THB32.46	+16.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 KES58.73	$0.98 THB30.81	+114.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.49 KES63.20	$0.73 THB22.84	+47.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 KES65.21	$0.63 THB19.83	+24.5%
Average			+51.7%

Nairobi vs. Koh Samui - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.2% more for transportation

	Nairobi	Koh Samui
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 KES695.11	$5.04 THB158.34	-6.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.96 KES3,985.98	$46.52 THB1,462.78	+50.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,671.83 KES2,790,186.52	$27,911.74 THB877,667.34	+28.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.03 KES2,192.29	$10.30 THB323.76	-39.5%
Average			+8.2%

Nairobi vs. Koh Samui - Cost of transportation

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pay 55.6% more for housing

	Nairobi	Koh Samui
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.86 KES5,132.38	$17.79 THB559.51	-55.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$476.96 KES61,406.69	$554.27 THB17,428.69	+16.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$206.31 KES26,561.75	$413.51 THB13,002.48	+100.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$29.32 KES3,775.48	$76.59 THB2,408.37	+161.2%
Average			+55.6%

Nairobi vs. Koh Samui - Cost of housing

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pay 2.1 times more for childcare

	Nairobi	Koh Samui
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$224.14 KES28,856.84	$623.36 THB19,601.24	+178.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,775.09 KES1,129,767.62	$13,335.61 THB419,329.95	+52.0%
Average			+115.0%

Nairobi vs. Koh Samui - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Nairobi	Koh Samui
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.32 KES298.95	$2.17 THB68.26	-6.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 KES305.12	$2.31 THB72.53	-2.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.10 KES398.60	$4.34 THB136.53	+40.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.30 KES5,831.99	$34.11 THB1,072.70	-24.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.35 KES946.67	$7.13 THB224.29	-3.0%
Average			+0.7%

Nairobi vs. Koh Samui - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 71.4% more for clothing

	Nairobi	Koh Samui
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$19.62 KES2,526.41	$52.72 THB1,657.82	+168.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.88 KES3,203.02	$29.92 THB940.89	+20.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.92 KES8,744.25	$102.34 THB3,218.11	+50.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$62.28 KES8,017.80	$90.82 THB2,855.90	+45.8%
Average			+71.4%

Nairobi 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: December 2025

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