Cost of living comparison

Bali, Indonesia

compared to

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Chiang Mai vs. Bali Cost of Living Summary

Chiang Mai is 10.4% more expensive than Bali.

Restaurants: pay 24.0% less in Chiang Mai
Groceries: pay 25.5% less in Chiang Mai
Transportation: pay 94.6% more in Chiang Mai
Housing: pay 50.4% less in Chiang Mai
Childcare: pay 69.5% more in Chiang Mai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.6% more in Chiang Mai
Clothing: pay 1.3% more in Chiang Mai

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

Chiang Mai vs. Bali Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Chiang Mai instead of Bali, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 24.0% less for restaurants

	Bali	Chiang Mai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.64 IDR44,301.57	$1.75 THB58.57	-33.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.46 IDR75,023.38	$7.28 THB244.03	+63.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.23 IDR20,748.22	$0.65 THB21.88	-47.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.53 IDR25,727.80	$0.33 THB11.12	-78.3%
Average			-24.0%

Bali vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 25.5% less for groceries

	Bali	Chiang Mai
Bread 1 loaf	$2.22 IDR37,368.67	$1.47 THB49.13	-34.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$10.01 IDR168,263.98	$7.16 THB239.88	-28.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.52 IDR109,616.61	$5.98 THB200.50	-8.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.94 IDR32,571.00	$2.02 THB67.66	+4.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.81 IDR30,335.38	$1.25 THB41.86	-30.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.32 IDR22,165.67	$1.19 THB39.74	-10.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.75 IDR12,552.80	$0.52 THB17.31	-30.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.22 IDR20,464.17	$0.57 THB19.09	-53.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.00 IDR16,818.09	$0.68 THB22.88	-31.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.68 IDR11,450.30	$0.60 THB20.20	-11.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.93 IDR15,642.48	$0.51 THB17.16	-45.0%
Average			-25.5%

Bali vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 94.6% more for transportation

	Bali	Chiang Mai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.35 IDR56,245.25	$4.46 THB149.57	+33.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$8.42 IDR141,560.73	$23.30 THB780.89	+176.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,046.15 IDR437,721,243.16	$21,118.56 THB707,682.68	-18.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.08 IDR68,592.84	$11.72 THB392.89	+187.3%
Average			+94.6%

Bali vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 50.4% less for housing

	Bali	Chiang Mai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.17 IDR523,823.97	$18.20 THB609.83	-41.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,235.95 IDR20,770,895.11	$388.93 THB13,033.17	-68.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$614.33 IDR10,324,141.20	$233.89 THB7,837.62	-61.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.78 IDR1,172,770.58	$49.06 THB1,644.08	-29.7%
Average			-50.4%

Bali vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 69.5% more for childcare

	Bali	Chiang Mai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$255.10 IDR4,287,050.40	$461.21 THB15,455.14	+80.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,370.36 IDR140,668,841.34	$13,232.91 THB443,434.66	+58.1%
Average			+69.5%

Bali vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 7.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Bali	Chiang Mai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.87 IDR48,229.32	$2.26 THB75.65	-21.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 IDR39,760.98	$1.79 THB59.85	-24.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.23 IDR37,511.69	$4.37 THB146.42	+95.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$83.41 IDR1,401,676.15	$34.96 THB1,171.58	-58.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.99 IDR66,985.16	$5.83 THB195.22	+46.2%
Average			+7.6%

Bali vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 1.3% more for clothing

	Bali	Chiang Mai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.85 IDR921,790.97	$55.83 THB1,870.89	+1.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$27.10 IDR455,499.11	$30.29 THB1,015.16	+11.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.72 IDR1,339,703.25	$81.56 THB2,733.12	+2.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$71.73 IDR1,205,464.99	$64.08 THB2,147.45	-10.7%
Average			+1.3%

Bali vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: April 2025

More cost comparisons

Bali vs.

Madrid

Bali vs.

Phnom Penh

Bali vs.

Lima

Bali vs.

Manila

Bali vs.

Nairobi

Bali vs.

Kiev

Bali vs.

Paris

Bali vs.

Algiers

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Indonesia vs. Thailand. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Indonesia and Thailand.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Bali

Add prices for Chiang Mai

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Chiang Mai or Bali. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.