Cost of living comparison

Zambia

compared to

Thailand

Thailand vs. Zambia Cost of Living Summary

Thailand is 16.9% more expensive than Zambia overall.

Restaurants: pay 14.7% less in Thailand
Groceries: pay 13.8% less in Thailand
Transportation: pay 27.6% more in Thailand
Housing: pay 33.5% more in Thailand
Childcare: pay 60.8% more in Thailand
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.5% more in Thailand
Clothing: pay 68.4% more in Thailand

The cost of clothing, childcare, housing, transportation, and entertainment and sports in Thailand are more expensive than in Zambia. Expenses including restaurants and groceries are lower in Thailand.

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Thailand vs. Zambia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Thailand instead of Zambia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 14.7% less for restaurants

	Zambia	Thailand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.53 ZMW110.20	$2.89 THB96.05	-47.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.03 ZMW100.18	$6.99 THB232.42	+39.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.63 ZMW12.52	$0.75 THB24.81	+18.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.36 ZMW7.20	$0.37 THB12.19	+1.4%
Average			-14.7%

Zambia vs. Thailand - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.8% less for groceries

	Zambia	Thailand
Bread 1 loaf	$1.18 ZMW23.48	$1.34 THB44.43	+13.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.15 ZMW102.63	$7.95 THB264.36	+54.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.37 ZMW126.88	$7.12 THB236.74	+11.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.77 ZMW35.36	$2.06 THB68.55	+16.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.87 ZMW57.22	$1.37 THB45.52	-52.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.11 ZMW22.03	$1.35 THB44.98	+22.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.10 ZMW21.94	$0.57 THB18.99	-48.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 ZMW32.94	$0.93 THB31.07	-43.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZMW13.88	$0.82 THB27.38	+18.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.16 ZMW23.20	$0.72 THB24.01	-38.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.83 ZMW16.51	$0.57 THB18.88	-31.5%
Average			-13.8%

Zambia vs. Thailand - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.6% more for transportation

	Zambia	Thailand
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.47 ZMW108.98	$5.07 THB168.49	-7.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$50.15 ZMW999.41	$32.87 THB1,093.53	-34.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$7,541.11 ZMW150K	$29,201.01 THB971K	+287.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.58 ZMW290.52	$10.77 THB358.41	-26.1%
Average			+27.6%

Zambia vs. Thailand - Cost of transportation

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pay 33.5% more for housing

	Zambia	Thailand
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.99 ZMW1,095.72	$19.17 THB637.71	-65.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$280.45 ZMW5,588.55	$407.64 THB13,560.34	+45.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$165.11 ZMW3,290.10	$268.13 THB8,919.39	+62.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$61.51 ZMW1,225.74	$60.86 THB2,024.59	-1.1%
Average			+33.5%

Zambia vs. Thailand - Cost of housing

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pay 60.8% more for childcare

	Zambia	Thailand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$138.25 ZMW2,754.96	$515.68 THB17,154.28	+273.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,638.36 ZMW332K	$11,528.28 THB383K	-30.7%
Average			+60.8%

Zambia vs. Thailand - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Zambia	Thailand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.26 ZMW25.05	$2.10 THB69.86	+67.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.82 ZMW56.21	$2.00 THB66.47	-29.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.02 ZMW60.11	$4.15 THB138.07	+37.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$54.67 ZMW1,089.46	$50.07 THB1,665.52	-8.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.03 ZMW120.22	$6.05 THB201.30	+0.3%
Average			+4.5%

Zambia vs. Thailand - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 68.4% more for clothing

	Zambia	Thailand
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$23.28 ZMW463.85	$44.30 THB1,473.73	+90.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$15.45 ZMW307.88	$32.84 THB1,092.57	+112.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$45.19 ZMW900.42	$83.65 THB2,782.57	+85.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.53 ZMW1,445.30	$77.91 THB2,591.55	+7.4%
Average			+68.4%

Zambia vs. Thailand - 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: Zambia vs. Thailand

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 25 statistics

Make 6.1 times more money in Thailand

Size Comparison · See true size

Zambia is about 1.5 times bigger than Thailand.

Moving from Zambia to Thailand · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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