Cost of living comparison

compared to

Beijing vs. Surat Thani Cost of Living Summary

Beijing is 26.4% more expensive than Surat Thani.

Restaurants: pay 29.6% more in Beijing
Groceries: pay 16.4% less in Beijing
Transportation: pay 11.3% less in Beijing
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Beijing
Childcare: pay 37.1% more in Beijing
Entertainment and Sports: pay 34.4% more in Beijing
Clothing: pay 0.3% more in Beijing

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

Beijing vs. Surat Thani Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Beijing instead of Surat Thani, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 29.6% more for restaurants

	Surat Thani	Beijing
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.94 THB61.57	$4.21 CN¥29.01	+117.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.65 THB147.78	$4.91 CN¥33.84	+5.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 THB15.76	$0.48 CN¥3.31	-3.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 THB9.85	$0.31 CN¥2.12	-1.0%
Average			+29.6%

Surat Thani vs. Beijing - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.4% less for groceries

	Surat Thani	Beijing
Bread 1 loaf	$1.26 THB40.06	$1.71 CN¥11.77	+35.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.53 THB271.01	$7.47 CN¥51.51	-12.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.55 THB239.92	$6.64 CN¥45.81	-12.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.95 THB62.07	$1.78 CN¥12.25	-9.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.84 THB58.48	$1.53 CN¥10.56	-16.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.51 THB47.96	$0.98 CN¥6.78	-34.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.90 THB28.61	$0.77 CN¥5.31	-14.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.98 THB31.28	$0.80 CN¥5.52	-18.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 THB25.32	$0.60 CN¥4.15	-24.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 THB17.87	$0.35 CN¥2.40	-38.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.63 THB20.03	$0.41 CN¥2.85	-34.6%
Average			-16.4%

Surat Thani vs. Beijing - Cost of groceries

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pay 11.3% less for transportation

	Surat Thani	Beijing
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.69 THB149.11	$4.21 CN¥29.04	-10.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.71 THB689.62	$31.54 CN¥217.56	+45.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,911.74 THB887K	$18,225.66 CN¥126K	-34.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.50 THB269.92	$4.63 CN¥31.91	-45.6%
Average			-11.3%

Surat Thani vs. Beijing - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Surat Thani	Beijing
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.53 THB620.48	$12.93 CN¥89.18	-33.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$242.94 THB7,717.22	$935.23 CN¥6,450.12	+285.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$155.07 THB4,925.88	$504.41 CN¥3,478.79	+225.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$58.70 THB1,864.59	$39.27 CN¥270.81	-33.1%
Average			+110.9%

Surat Thani vs. Beijing - Cost of housing

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pay 37.1% more for childcare

	Surat Thani	Beijing
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$623.36 THB19,802.05	$710.76 CN¥4,902.00	+14.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,508.83 THB461K	$23,242.73 CN¥160K	+60.2%
Average			+37.1%

Surat Thani vs. Beijing - Cost of childcare

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pay 34.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Surat Thani	Beijing
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.17 THB68.96	$1.12 CN¥7.74	-48.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.55 THB49.26	$2.90 CN¥20.02	+87.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.10 THB98.52	$4.21 CN¥29.01	+35.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.62 THB1,576.28	$57.84 CN¥398.88	+16.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.65 THB147.78	$8.41 CN¥58.01	+80.8%
Average			+34.4%

Surat Thani vs. Beijing - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.3% more for clothing

	Surat Thani	Beijing
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$66.46 THB2,111.09	$62.30 CN¥429.67	-6.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.92 THB950.53	$36.37 CN¥250.86	+21.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$117.41 THB3,729.60	$81.74 CN¥563.75	-30.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$90.82 THB2,885.16	$105.53 CN¥727.82	+16.2%
Average			+0.3%

Surat Thani vs. Beijing - 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: March 2026

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