Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

China

Shanghai vs. Rayong Cost of Living Summary

Shanghai is 22.3% more expensive than Rayong.

Restaurants: pay 13.6% more in Shanghai
Groceries: pay 15.7% less in Shanghai
Transportation: pay 25.8% less in Shanghai
Housing: pay 95.7% more in Shanghai
Childcare: pay 2.0 times more in Shanghai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.7% more in Shanghai
Clothing: pay 16.1% less in Shanghai

The cost of childcare, housing, restaurants, and entertainment and sports in Shanghai are more expensive than in Rayong. Expenses including transportation, clothing, and groceries are lower in Shanghai. Notably, childcare and housing are significantly more expensive in Shanghai.

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Shanghai vs. Rayong Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Shanghai instead of Rayong, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 13.6% more for restaurants

	Rayong	Shanghai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.97 THB98.83	$4.47 CN¥29.94	+50.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.98 THB232.24	$5.22 CN¥34.93	-25.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 THB17.54	$0.60 CN¥4.01	+13.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.27 THB8.89	$0.37 CN¥2.47	+38.3%
Average			+13.6%

Rayong vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.7% less for groceries

	Rayong	Shanghai
Bread 1 loaf	$1.34 THB44.47	$1.98 CN¥13.22	+47.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.63 THB287.02	$8.60 CN¥57.52	-0.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.27 THB241.89	$6.88 CN¥46.02	-5.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.56 THB85.32	$1.70 CN¥11.36	-33.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.28 THB42.59	$1.48 CN¥9.89	+15.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.51 THB50.25	$0.99 CN¥6.65	-34.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 THB26.83	$0.77 CN¥5.16	-4.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.00 THB33.27	$0.90 CN¥6.05	-9.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.87 THB29.09	$0.77 CN¥5.15	-12.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 THB26.00	$0.36 CN¥2.40	-54.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.69 THB23.01	$0.43 CN¥2.90	-37.4%
Average			-15.7%

Rayong vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries

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pay 25.8% less for transportation

	Rayong	Shanghai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.23 THB174.04	$4.96 CN¥33.21	-5.1%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$29.83 CN¥199.59
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,193.83 THB1M	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	-37.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.55 THB350.83	$5.67 CN¥37.92	-46.3%
Average			-25.8%

Rayong vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation

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pay 95.7% more for housing

	Rayong	Shanghai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.88 THB395.30	$10.55 CN¥70.59	-11.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$415.92 THB13,835.56	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	+149.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.08 THB9,882.54	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	+98.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$34.08 THB1,133.59	$44.06 CN¥294.77	+29.3%
Average			+95.7%

Rayong vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing

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pay 2.0 times more for childcare

	Rayong	Shanghai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$568.31 THB18,904.94	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	+148.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,500.59 THB549K	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	+67.8%
Average			+104.3%

Rayong vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Rayong	Shanghai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.78 THB59.30	$1.19 CN¥7.98	-33.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.63 THB54.35	$3.35 CN¥22.41	+105.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.60 THB153.18	$3.73 CN¥24.95	-19.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.84 THB2,223.57	$65.69 CN¥439.52	-1.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.68 THB222.36	$8.95 CN¥59.88	+33.9%
Average			+11.7%

Rayong vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 16.1% less for clothing

	Rayong	Shanghai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$70.75 THB2,353.53	$54.37 CN¥363.79	-23.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.94 THB1,428.36	$37.09 CN¥248.19	-13.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$97.05 THB3,228.30	$75.49 CN¥505.08	-22.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$109.92 THB3,656.54	$105.70 CN¥707.25	-3.8%
Average			-16.1%

Rayong 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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