Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Thailand Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 53.3% more expensive than Thailand overall.

Restaurants: pay 67.9% more in South Korea
Groceries: pay 2.1 times more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 5.1% more in South Korea
Housing: pay 53.2% more in South Korea
Childcare: pay 36.2% more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 46.2% more in South Korea
Clothing: pay 32.2% more in South Korea

The cost of groceries, restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, childcare, and clothing in South Korea are more expensive than in Thailand. Notably, groceries is significantly more expensive in South Korea.

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South Korea vs. Thailand Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Korea instead of Thailand, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 67.9% more for restaurants

	Thailand	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.89 THB96.05	$7.06 ₩9,422	+144.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.99 THB232.42	$6.17 ₩8,230	-11.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.75 THB24.81	$1.53 ₩2,039	+104.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 THB12.19	$0.88 ₩1,181	+141.6%
Average			+67.9%

Thailand vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.1 times more for groceries

	Thailand	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$1.34 THB44.43	$3.04 ₩4,055	+127.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.95 THB264.36	$6.12 ₩8,174	-22.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.12 THB236.74	$8.23 ₩10,982	+15.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.06 THB68.55	$2.94 ₩3,923	+42.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.37 THB45.52	$4.11 ₩5,484	+200.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.35 THB44.98	$4.00 ₩5,342	+196.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.57 THB18.99	$1.55 ₩2,069	+171.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.93 THB31.07	$3.00 ₩4,000	+220.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.82 THB27.38	$2.63 ₩3,513	+219.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 THB24.01	$2.03 ₩2,715	+181.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.57 THB18.88	$1.26 ₩1,685	+122.4%
Average			+114.8%

Thailand vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.1% more for transportation

	Thailand	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.07 THB168.49	$5.01 ₩6,685	-1.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$32.87 THB1,093.53	$46.10 ₩61,538	+40.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,201.01 THB971K	$28,394.53 ₩38M	-2.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.77 THB358.41	$8.59 ₩11,470	-20.2%
Average			+5.1%

Thailand vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 53.2% more for housing

	Thailand	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.17 THB637.71	$24.34 ₩32,490	+27.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$407.64 THB13,560.34	$561.73 ₩750K	+37.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$268.13 THB8,919.39	$387.83 ₩518K	+44.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$60.86 THB2,024.59	$153.72 ₩205K	+152.6%
Average			+53.2%

Thailand vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 36.2% more for childcare

	Thailand	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$515.68 THB17,154.28	$545.93 ₩729K	+5.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,528.28 THB383K	$20,214.53 ₩27M	+75.3%
Average			+36.2%

Thailand vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 46.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Thailand	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.10 THB69.86	$3.30 ₩4,403	+57.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.00 THB66.47	$3.66 ₩4,888	+83.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.15 THB138.07	$3.35 ₩4,467	-19.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$50.07 THB1,665.52	$57.32 ₩76,507	+14.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.05 THB201.30	$11.28 ₩15,062	+86.5%
Average			+46.2%

Thailand vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 32.2% more for clothing

	Thailand	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.30 THB1,473.73	$67.53 ₩90,139	+52.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.84 THB1,092.57	$53.43 ₩71,316	+62.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$83.65 THB2,782.57	$78.10 ₩104K	-6.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$77.91 THB2,591.55	$102.84 ₩137K	+32.0%
Average			+32.2%

Thailand vs. South Korea - 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

Compare further: Thailand vs. South Korea

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Korea?

Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Make 4.5 times more money in South Korea

Size Comparison · See true size

Thailand is about 5 times bigger than South Korea.

Moving from Thailand to South Korea · OECD 2023

34,846 people moved from Thailand to South Korea.

City Size Comparison · See true size

Compare the size of Bangkok vs Seoul

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