Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Ashton-under-Lyne and Chiang Mai

For one person, living is cheaper in Chiang Mai: $935 a month against $2,224 in Ashton-under-Lyne, rent and utilities included – about $15,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

109

Cost of Living Index in Ashton-under-Lyne
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Ashton-under-Lyne Living Index
45

Cost of Living Index in Chiang Mai
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Chiang Mai Living Index

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Ashton-under-Lyne

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,224

/mo nomad

Chiang Mai

🇹🇭 Thailand

$935

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Ashton-under-Lyne and in Chiang Mai

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Ashton-under-Lyne and in Chiang Mai actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,224 in Ashton-under-Lyne versus $935 in Chiang Mai.

Ashton-under-Lyne $2,224
Chiang Mai $935

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,437 in Ashton-under-Lyne versus $1,467 in Chiang Mai.

Ashton-under-Lyne $3,437
Chiang Mai $1,467

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,649 in Ashton-under-Lyne versus $1,999 in Chiang Mai.

Ashton-under-Lyne $4,649
Chiang Mai $1,999

Living in Ashton-under-Lyne is roughly 138% more expensive than in Chiang Mai, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Ashton-under-Lyne is 64% above, Chiang Mai is 31% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$19.91 £14.76

$2.13 ฿71.8

834.74%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$89.0 £66.0

$18.62 ฿626

378.14%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.40 £7.71

$5.60 ฿188

85.71%

Cappuccino

$4.64 £3.44

$1.66 ฿55.9

179.52%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.41 £1.79

$0.65 ฿21.75

270.77%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.75 £1.30

$0.30 ฿10.25

483.33%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$6.57 £4.87

$2.32 ฿78.1

183.19%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$6.61 £4.90

$3.67 ฿123

80.11%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.43 £1.06

$2.02 ฿67.8

-29.21%

White Bread (500g)

$1.77 £1.31

$1.41 ฿47.34

25.53%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.93 £1.43

$1.39 ฿46.79

38.85%

Eggs

$4.05 £3.00

$2.37 ฿79.6

70.89%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.21 £6.09

$16.52 ฿555

-50.30%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.70 £6.45

$2.67 ฿89.8

225.84%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$14.16 £10.50

$9.02 ฿303

56.98%

Apples (1kg)

$2.77 £2.05

$2.40 ฿80.6

15.42%

Banana (1kg)

$1.59 £1.18

$1.04 ฿35.01

52.88%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.91 £2.16

$1.66 ฿55.8

75.30%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.97 £2.20

$1.56 ฿52.4

90.38%

Potato (1kg)

$1.55 £1.15

$1.24 ฿41.61

25.00%

Onion (1kg)

$1.43 £1.06

$1.09 ฿36.53

31.19%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.24 £0.92

$0.76 ฿25.61

63.16%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 £1.03

$0.51 ฿17.29

172.55%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.97 £17.78

$4.12 ฿139

481.80%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.13 £7.52

$17.93 ฿603

-43.50%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.47 £1.83

$1.62 ฿54.6

52.47%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.04 £2.26

$2.82 ฿94.9

7.80%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$4.30 £3.19

$0.93 ฿31.42

362.37%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$107 £79.0

$52.9 ฿1,778

101.36%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.67 £3.46

$1.18 ฿39.56

295.76%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.81 £1.34

$0.17 ฿5.76

964.71%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$15.93 £11.81

$1.81 ฿60.9

780.11%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.10 £1.56

$1.47 ฿49.51

42.86%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$39.2K £29.1K

$21.0K ฿706.4K

86.48%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$41.4K £30.7K

$26.5K ฿891.4K

56.17%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$252 £187

$62.6 ฿2,103

302.33%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$16.53 £12.26

$11.60 ฿390

42.50%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$41.03 £30.43

$20.30 ฿683

102.12%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$39.26 £29.11

$37.88 ฿1,274

3.64%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$3.70 ฿124

Cinema Ticket

$13.55 £10.05

$6.51 ฿219

108.14%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$1,493 £1,107

$727 ฿24.4K

105.35%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$17.8K £13.2K

$16.6K ฿557.2K

7.11%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$85.2 £63.2

$53.5 ฿1,800

59.19%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$42.93 £31.84

$24.80 ฿834

73.10%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$92.5 £68.6

$90.4 ฿3,039

2.38%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$101 £75.2

$72.0 ฿2,420

40.93%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,280 £950

$481 ฿16.2K

166.10%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$973 £721

$310 ฿10.4K

213.85%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,855 £1,376

$1,058 ฿35.6K

75.28%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,859 £1,378

$659 ฿22.1K

182.20%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,608 £3,418

$2,418 ฿81.3K

90.62%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,858 £2,861

$1,609 ฿54.1K

139.78%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$595 ฿20.0K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.79

5.57

-14.00%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Ashton-under-Lyne: November 1, 2026

Last update for Chiang Mai: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Ashton-under-Lyne

$973 43.7%

Chiang Mai

$310 33.1% 68.1% $663

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Ashton-under-Lyne

$309 13.9%

Chiang Mai

$94 10.1% 69.5% $215

Eating Out

Ashton-under-Lyne

$309 13.9%

Chiang Mai

$77 8.2% 75.2% $232

Groceries & Markets

Ashton-under-Lyne

$284 12.8%

Chiang Mai

$237 25.3% 16.8% $48

Clothing & Footwear

Ashton-under-Lyne

$145 6.5%

Chiang Mai

$108 11.6% 25.3% $37

Getting Around

Ashton-under-Lyne

$137 6.2%

Chiang Mai

$59 6.3% 57.3% $79

Sport & Entertainment

Ashton-under-Lyne

$66 3%

Chiang Mai

$51 5.4% 23.3% $15

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,280 in Ashton-under-Lyne and $481 in Chiang Mai. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $89 in Ashton-under-Lyne vs $19 in Chiang Mai for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $284 vs $237 per month, with Chiang Mai cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Ashton-under-Lyne

🇹🇭 Chiang Mai

🕒 Local time

16:23 4:23 PM

23:23 11:23 PM

7 h ahead of Ashton-under-Lyne

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

48,604

127,240

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.35 USD

1 GBP = 1.2 EUR

100 THB = 2.97 USD

100 THB = 2.65 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to GBP – British Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇧 British Pound (£)

British Pound exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 0.742 GBP (1 GBP = 1.35 USD). 1 EUR = 0.831 GBP (1 GBP = 1.2 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 33.62 THB (100 THB = 2.97 USD). 1 EUR = 37.69 THB (100 THB = 2.65 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

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Between locations

Ashton-under-Lyne Chiang Mai 9,040 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Ashton-under-Lyne
Chiang Mai

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Ashton-under-Lyne vs Chiang Mai: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Chiang Mai wins on cost – living expenses run 58% lower than in Ashton-under-Lyne. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Chiang Mai the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

You’d need roughly $3,336 in Ashton-under-Lyne and $1,403 in Chiang Mai to live well. The gap comes down to housing and overall price levels. Both cities are liveable on less, but these numbers represent actual comfort.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,280 in Ashton-under-Lyne versus $481 in Chiang Mai. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 20% higher in Ashton-under-Lyne. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

Dining out is cheaper in Chiang Mai – a meal for two runs $19 versus $89 in Ashton-under-Lyne. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

Both cities are expensive relative to $800. Chiang Mai is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

Expats usually find Chiang Mai gentler on the wallet – expenses run 58% less than in Ashton-under-Lyne. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.