Cost of living comparison

compared to

Chiang Rai vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Chiang Rai is 47.3% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 71.4% less in Chiang Rai
Groceries: pay 27.2% less in Chiang Rai
Transportation: pay 38.1% less in Chiang Rai
Housing: pay 72.6% less in Chiang Rai
Childcare: pay 26.3% less in Chiang Rai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 56.0% less in Chiang Rai
Clothing: pay 39.4% less in Chiang Rai

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

Chiang Rai vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 71.4% less for restaurants

	Wellington	Chiang Rai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$24.97	$2.02 THB64.14	-86.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$15.98	$5.58 THB177.61	-39.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.26	$0.62 THB19.73	-74.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.42	$0.29 THB9.28	-85.3%
Average			-71.4%

Wellington vs. Chiang Rai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 27.2% less for groceries

	Wellington	Chiang Rai
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.42	$1.58 THB50.32	-20.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$6.96	$8.37 THB266.20	+108.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.75	$6.70 THB213.21	-1.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.73	$1.94 THB61.67	-71.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.26	$1.36 THB43.32	-71.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.36	$1.18 THB37.48	-13.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.75	$0.47 THB14.92	-53.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.30	$0.77 THB24.62	-41.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$4.01	$0.42 THB13.43	-81.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.55	$0.64 THB20.48	-28.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.17	$0.52 THB16.41	-23.9%
Average			-27.2%

Wellington vs. Chiang Rai - Cost of groceries

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pay 38.1% less for transportation

	Wellington	Chiang Rai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.63	$4.83 THB153.73	-21.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$189.75	$23.26 THB740.04	-78.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$53,928.03	$20,468.61 THB651,237.92	-34.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.19	$11.94 THB379.89	-18.0%
Average			-38.1%

Wellington vs. Chiang Rai - Cost of transportation

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pay 72.6% less for housing

	Wellington	Chiang Rai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$84.39	$14.34 THB456.11	-70.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,147.43	$268.78 THB8,551.61	-78.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,903.02	$259.73 THB8,263.81	-76.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$189.31	$38.14 THB1,213.40	-65.1%
Average			-72.6%

Wellington vs. Chiang Rai - Cost of housing

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pay 26.3% less for childcare

	Wellington	Chiang Rai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,330.22	$644.81 THB20,515.64	-16.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,138.46	$7,753.26 THB246,681.03	-36.5%
Average			-26.3%

Wellington vs. Chiang Rai - Cost of childcare

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pay 56.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Chiang Rai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.48	$1.86 THB59.20	-72.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.13	$1.28 THB40.70	-63.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.44	$3.72 THB118.41	-85.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$59.06	$37.22 THB1,184.07	+9.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$19.97	$3.72 THB118.41	-67.7%
Average			-56.0%

Wellington vs. Chiang Rai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 39.4% less for clothing

	Wellington	Chiang Rai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$119.97	$62.03 THB1,973.45	-10.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$80.73	$19.90 THB633.15	-57.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$196.13	$72.88 THB2,318.80	-35.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$253.12	$67.19 THB2,137.90	-54.0%
Average			-39.4%

Wellington vs. Chiang Rai - 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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