Cost of living comparison

Chiang Mai, Thailand

compared to

Beijing, China

Beijing vs. Chiang Mai Cost of Living Summary

Beijing is 28.2% more expensive than Chiang Mai.

Restaurants: pay 21.1% more in Beijing
Groceries: pay 3.4% more in Beijing
Transportation: pay 5.2% less in Beijing
Housing: pay 52.1% more in Beijing
Childcare: pay 69.3% more in Beijing
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.2% more in Beijing
Clothing: pay 24.2% more in Beijing

The cost of childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, clothing, restaurants, and groceries in Beijing are more expensive than in Chiang Mai.

Beijing vs. Chiang Mai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 21.1% more for restaurants

	Chiang Mai	Beijing
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.75 THB58.50	$4.17 CN¥30.44	+138.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.28 THB243.76	$5.57 CN¥40.59	-23.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 THB21.86	$0.50 CN¥3.62	-24.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 THB11.10	$0.31 CN¥2.25	-6.8%
Average			+21.1%

Chiang Mai vs. Beijing - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.4% more for groceries

	Chiang Mai	Beijing
Bread 1 loaf	$1.47 THB49.08	$1.43 CN¥10.46	-2.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.16 THB239.62	$7.31 CN¥53.28	+2.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.98 THB200.28	$7.17 CN¥52.28	+19.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.02 THB67.59	$1.74 CN¥12.67	-13.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.25 THB41.81	$1.53 CN¥11.16	+22.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.19 THB39.69	$0.92 CN¥6.69	-22.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 THB17.29	$0.71 CN¥5.19	+37.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 THB19.07	$0.89 CN¥6.47	+55.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.68 THB22.85	$0.58 CN¥4.25	-14.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 THB20.18	$0.37 CN¥2.69	-38.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 THB17.14	$0.47 CN¥3.43	-8.0%
Average			+3.4%

Chiang Mai vs. Beijing - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.2% less for transportation

	Chiang Mai	Beijing
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.46 THB149.40	$4.36 CN¥31.79	-2.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.30 THB780.03	$33.40 CN¥243.53	+43.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,118.56 THB706,901.38	$20,872.18 CN¥152,204.10	-1.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.72 THB392.45	$4.59 CN¥33.48	-60.8%
Average			-5.2%

Chiang Mai vs. Beijing - Cost of transportation

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pay 52.1% more for housing

	Chiang Mai	Beijing
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$18.20 THB609.15	$13.28 CN¥96.87	-27.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$388.93 THB13,018.78	$929.88 CN¥6,780.86	+139.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$233.89 THB7,828.97	$492.44 CN¥3,590.99	+110.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$49.06 THB1,642.27	$42.04 CN¥306.57	-14.3%
Average			+52.1%

Chiang Mai vs. Beijing - Cost of housing

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pay 69.3% more for childcare

	Chiang Mai	Beijing
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$461.21 THB15,438.08	$763.49 CN¥5,567.55	+65.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,232.91 THB442,945.10	$22,913.01 CN¥167,086.28	+73.2%
Average			+69.3%

Chiang Mai vs. Beijing - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Chiang Mai	Beijing
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.26 THB75.57	$1.11 CN¥8.12	-50.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 THB59.79	$3.60 CN¥26.27	+101.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.37 THB146.26	$3.48 CN¥25.37	-20.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.96 THB1,170.29	$65.46 CN¥477.32	+87.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.83 THB195.01	$8.35 CN¥60.88	+43.3%
Average			+32.2%

Chiang Mai vs. Beijing - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 24.2% more for clothing

	Chiang Mai	Beijing
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.83 THB1,868.82	$62.65 CN¥456.89	+12.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$30.29 THB1,014.04	$34.69 CN¥252.94	+14.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$81.56 THB2,730.10	$83.45 CN¥608.56	+2.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$64.08 THB2,145.08	$107.64 CN¥784.91	+68.0%
Average			+24.2%

Chiang Mai vs. Beijing - 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: April 2025

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