Cost of living comparison

Australia

compared to

Thailand

Chiang Rai vs. Sydney Cost of Living Summary

Chiang Rai is 74.8% cheaper than Sydney.

Restaurants: pay 79.0% less in Chiang Rai
Groceries: pay 53.7% less in Chiang Rai
Transportation: pay 50.8% less in Chiang Rai
Housing: pay 88.8% less in Chiang Rai
Childcare: pay 57.2% less in Chiang Rai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 75.3% less in Chiang Rai
Clothing: pay 45.4% less in Chiang Rai

Expenses including housing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, childcare, groceries, and transportation are lower in Chiang Rai.

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Chiang Rai vs. Sydney Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Chiang Rai instead of Sydney, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 79.0% less for restaurants

	Sydney	Chiang Rai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.41 A$25.04	$2.23 THB74.12	-87.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.84 A$17.03	$5.35 THB177.89	-54.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.81 A$4.04	$0.62 THB20.75	-77.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.22 A$3.19	$0.28 THB9.29	-87.4%
Average			-79.0%

Sydney vs. Chiang Rai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 53.7% less for groceries

	Sydney	Chiang Rai
Bread 1 loaf	$2.85 A$4.09	$1.42 THB47.35	-50.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.93 A$8.54	$8.32 THB276.85	+40.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.42 A$9.24	$7.60 THB252.83	+18.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.56 A$7.99	$1.86 THB61.77	-66.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 A$6.24	$1.26 THB41.84	-71.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.81 A$2.60	$1.10 THB36.71	-38.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.45 A$2.09	$0.37 THB12.33	-74.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.56 A$2.24	$0.72 THB23.82	-54.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.98 A$2.85	$0.40 THB13.45	-79.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.48 A$2.12	$0.57 THB19.05	-61.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.07 A$1.54	$0.49 THB16.38	-54.0%
Average			-53.7%

Sydney vs. Chiang Rai - Cost of groceries

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pay 50.8% less for transportation

	Sydney	Chiang Rai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 A$7.77	$5.04 THB167.54	-6.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$151.36 A$217.75	$22.28 THB741.19	-85.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,893.97 A$41,568.07	$20,795.89 THB692K	-28.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.24 A$23.36	$5.59 THB185.79	-65.6%
Average			-50.8%

Sydney vs. Chiang Rai - Cost of transportation

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pay 88.8% less for housing

	Sydney	Chiang Rai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$56.21 A$80.87	$13.73 THB456.82	-75.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,517.32 A$3,621.52	$230.24 THB7,658.97	-90.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,743.66 A$2,508.51	$153.49 THB5,105.98	-91.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$168.46 A$242.35	$47.59 THB1,583.05	-71.8%
Average			-88.8%

Sydney vs. Chiang Rai - Cost of housing

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pay 57.2% less for childcare

	Sydney	Chiang Rai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,195.71 A$3,158.84	$781.39 THB25,993.20	-64.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$28,441.13 A$40,916.61	$14,653.84 THB487K	-48.5%
Average			-57.2%

Sydney vs. Chiang Rai - Cost of childcare

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pay 75.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Sydney	Chiang Rai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.66 A$11.02	$1.63 THB54.35	-78.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.97 A$5.72	$1.34 THB44.47	-66.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$44.55 A$64.09	$3.86 THB128.47	-91.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$75.28 A$108.30	$35.65 THB1,185.91	-52.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$17.41 A$25.04	$2.97 THB98.83	-82.9%
Average			-75.3%

Sydney vs. Chiang Rai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 45.4% less for clothing

	Sydney	Chiang Rai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$78.68 A$113.19	$54.22 THB1,803.53	-31.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$69.62 A$100.16	$24.82 THB825.63	-64.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$111.40 A$160.26	$74.27 THB2,470.64	-33.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$133.24 A$191.68	$72.04 THB2,396.33	-45.9%
Average			-45.4%

Sydney vs. Chiang Rai - 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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