Chiang Mai vs Thimphu - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Chiang Mai	Thimphu
🚶 Cost of living one person	$742	$387
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2009	$1009
🏠 One person rent	$320	$122
🏘️ Family rent	$613	$227
🍽️ Food expenses	$253	$177
🚐 Transport expenses	$91.2	$32.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$627	$570
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	52	5
😀 Quality of life	63	50
🏙️ Population	1.2M	115K

The cost of living in Chiang Mai is 92% more expensive than in Thimphu. Cities ranked 6705th and 9013th ($742 vs $387) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 18th and 2nd in Thailand and Bhutan, respectively. Check Thailand vs Bhutan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.8 months in Chiang Mai compared to 1.5 months in Thimphu. Chiang Mai ranked 3rd best city to live in Thailand vs Thimphu ranked 1st in Bhutan, while ranked 4766th and 6232nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Chiang Mai vs Thimphu infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/chiang-mai/thimphu.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Chiang Mai vs Thimphu infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/chiang-mai/thimphu" target="_blank">Chiang Mai vs Thimphu - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Chiang Mai vs Thimphu

Prices for goods and services in Chiang Mai and Thimphu are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Chiang Mai	Thimphu
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$1.85	$2.99
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$19.8	$16.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.71	$3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.29	$6.45
☕ Cappuccino	$1.84	$1.54
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.65	$0.56
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$388	$119
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$232	$65.3
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$854	$222
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$458	$161
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$36.8	$13.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$56.6	$21.3
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$19.7	$32.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.13%	9.56%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2266	$625
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1540	$869
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.93	$1.52
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$24.5	$4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$12.3	$15.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.24	$1.04
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.74	$0.85
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.61	$0.97
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$0.74
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.16	$2.25
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.9	$3.43
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.87	$3.93
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$4.33
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.97	$2.39
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$1.82
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.1	$0.82
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.46	$0.51
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$0.57
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.36	$0.22
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.38	$1.07
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.3	$3.55
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.91	$0.73
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.58	$3.92
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.34	$1.64
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.19	$3.7
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.3	$1.27
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.11	$0.66
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.5	$49.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.08	$3.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$18.9	$29.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.76	$3.33
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.2	$33.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$85.4	$32.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$488	$251
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13977	$691

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Chiang Mai

Distance	City	Cost of living
86 km or 53 mi	Pai	$655
153 km or 95 mi	Chiang Rai	$513
255 km or 158 mi	Hpa-an	$612
258 km or 160 mi	Phitsanulok	$559
294 km or 183 mi	Mawlamyine	$564
306 km or 190 mi	Taunggyi	$617
308 km or 191 mi	Bago	$783
317 km or 197 mi	Naypyidaw	$690
353 km or 219 mi	Luang Prabang	$1251
363 km or 226 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$674
365 km or 227 mi	Vang Vieng	$1174
373 km or 232 mi	Yangon	$919
392 km or 244 mi	Vientiane	$1168
404 km or 251 mi	Jinghong	$599
426 km or 265 mi	Udon Thani	$555
466 km or 289 mi	Mandalay	$613
485 km or 301 mi	Khon Kaen	$608
489 km or 304 mi	Pu'er	$626
503 km or 313 mi	Pathein	$792
537 km or 334 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$564
545 km or 339 mi	Monywa	$588
551 km or 342 mi	Tha Khlong	$664
561 km or 349 mi	Rangsit	$613
564 km or 351 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$564
566 km or 352 mi	Pak Kret	$739
571 km or 355 mi	Nonthaburi	$759
578 km or 359 mi	Lincang	$623
584 km or 363 mi	Bangkok	$994
597 km or 371 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$786
597 km or 371 mi	Lat Luang	$787
634 km or 394 mi	Thakhek	$1151
641 km or 398 mi	Sa Pa	$549
656 km or 407 mi	Sittwe	$593
666 km or 414 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$758
667 km or 415 mi	Laem Chabang	$769
681 km or 423 mi	Pattaya	$800
685 km or 426 mi	Nong Prue	$773
699 km or 435 mi	Hua Hin	$676
704 km or 438 mi	Baoshan	$625
707 km or 439 mi	Vinh	$583

Cities near Thimphu

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Paro	$455
147 km or 91 mi	Siliguri	$314
196 km or 122 mi	Rangpur	$298
203 km or 126 mi	Saidpur	$293
211 km or 131 mi	Shigatse	$930
214 km or 133 mi	Damak	$331
257 km or 159 mi	Raiganj	$312
257 km or 160 mi	Guwahati	$370
258 km or 160 mi	Biratnagar	$339
259 km or 161 mi	Dispur	$359
266 km or 166 mi	Balurghat	$311
280 km or 174 mi	Lhasa	$997
287 km or 178 mi	Purnia	$303
294 km or 183 mi	Bogra	$282
308 km or 191 mi	Shillong	$390
313 km or 195 mi	Malda	$311
313 km or 195 mi	Mymensingh	$256
350 km or 217 mi	Saharsa	$297
360 km or 224 mi	Bhagalpur	$268
362 km or 225 mi	Rajshahi	$279
364 km or 226 mi	Sylhet	$296
377 km or 234 mi	Janakpur	$321
401 km or 249 mi	Berhampore	$309
413 km or 257 mi	Narsingdi	$271
418 km or 260 mi	Brahmanbaria	$290
421 km or 262 mi	Kathmandu	$443
424 km or 264 mi	Lalitpur	$350
426 km or 265 mi	Dhaka	$428
438 km or 272 mi	Agartala	$380
439 km or 273 mi	Narayanganj	$301
444 km or 276 mi	Muzaffarpur	$294
454 km or 282 mi	Hetauda	$311
468 km or 291 mi	Krishnanagar	$294
474 km or 295 mi	Birgunj	$335
482 km or 299 mi	Jessore	$290
486 km or 302 mi	Shantipur	$307
493 km or 306 mi	Patna	$356
495 km or 308 mi	Durgapur	$288
500 km or 311 mi	Asansol	$273
502 km or 312 mi	Kulti	$284