Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Glasgow and Chiang Mai

For one person, living is cheaper in Chiang Mai: $936 a month against $2,425 in Glasgow, rent and utilities included – about $17,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

117

Cost of Living Index in Glasgow
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Glasgow Living Index
45

Cost of Living Index in Chiang Mai
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Chiang Mai Living Index

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Glasgow

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,425

/mo nomad

Chiang Mai

🇹🇭 Thailand

$936

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Glasgow 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 Glasgow and in Chiang Mai actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

A single person spends $2,425 per month in Glasgow vs $936 in Chiang Mai, rent included.

Glasgow $2,425
Chiang Mai $936

A couple spends around $3,706 per month in Glasgow vs $1,457 in Chiang Mai, rent included.

Glasgow $3,706
Chiang Mai $1,457

A family of three spends $4,987 per month in Glasgow vs $1,979 in Chiang Mai, rent included.

Glasgow $4,987
Chiang Mai $1,979

Glasgow costs about 159% more than Chiang Mai, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Glasgow sits 78% above the global median, while Chiang Mai is 31% below – they fall on opposite sides of the world average.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$21.28 £15.97

$2.24 ฿75.5

850.00%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$67.2 £50.4

$19.00 ฿640

253.79%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.58 £7.94

$5.55 ฿187

90.63%

Cappuccino

$4.81 £3.61

$1.67 ฿56.4

188.02%

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

$2.26 £1.69

$0.64 ฿21.51

253.12%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.83 £1.37

$0.31 ฿10.29

490.32%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$5.48 £4.11

$2.36 ฿79.5

132.20%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$6.63 £4.98

$3.66 ฿123

81.15%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.67 £1.25

$1.95 ฿65.7

-14.36%

White Bread (500g)

$1.64 £1.23

$1.44 ฿48.41

13.89%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.00 £1.50

$1.33 ฿44.97

50.38%

Eggs

$4.00 £3.00

$2.28 ฿77.0

75.44%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.28 £6.96

$16.45 ฿554

-43.59%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.08 £6.82

$2.78 ฿93.8

226.62%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$16.75 £12.57

$9.31 ฿314

79.91%

Apples (1kg)

$3.02 £2.27

$2.35 ฿79.3

28.51%

Banana (1kg)

$1.51 £1.13

$0.97 ฿32.75

55.67%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.91 £2.19

$1.60 ฿53.8

81.88%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.19 £2.39

$1.50 ฿50.6

112.67%

Potato (1kg)

$1.93 £1.45

$1.28 ฿43.06

50.78%

Onion (1kg)

$1.55 £1.16

$1.10 ฿37.14

40.91%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.13 £0.85

$0.71 ฿23.79

59.15%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.58 £1.19

$0.49 ฿16.34

222.45%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.96 £17.98

$4.14 ฿140

478.74%

Wine (Bottle)

$11.32 £8.49

$17.52 ฿590

-35.39%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.37 £2.53

$1.61 ฿54.4

109.32%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.33 £2.50

$2.78 ฿93.8

19.78%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.98 £2.99

$0.87 ฿29.27

357.47%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$108 £81.1

$54.1 ฿1,823

99.72%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$5.75 £4.32

$1.16 ฿39.00

395.69%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.14 £0.86

$0.53 ฿17.78

115.09%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$60.6 £45.48

$2.42 ฿81.6

2404.55%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.09 £1.57

$1.45 ฿48.82

44.14%

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

$39.3K £29.5K

$21.1K ฿709.7K

86.50%

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

$40.6K £30.5K

$26.9K ฿907.9K

50.81%

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

$312 £234

$62.2 ฿2,095

402.57%

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

$20.29 £15.22

$12.17 ฿410

66.72%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$42.05 £31.55

$20.12 ฿678

109.00%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$37.31 £28.00

$37.31 ฿1,257

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$20.73 £15.56

$3.77 ฿127

449.87%

Cinema Ticket

$16.26 £12.20

$6.49 ฿219

150.54%

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

$1,124 £843

$736 ฿24.8K

52.70%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$21.6K £16.2K

$14.8K ฿497.6K

46.31%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$132 £99.0

$53.4 ฿1,799

147.27%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$45.81 £34.37

$24.64 ฿830

85.92%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$107 £80.0

$91.5 ฿3,083

16.55%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$93.4 £70.1

$71.9 ฿2,424

29.84%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,368 £1,027

$482 ฿16.3K

183.70%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,047 £786

$309 ฿10.4K

239.02%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,770 £2,078

$1,006 ฿33.9K

175.33%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,080 £1,561

$633 ฿21.3K

228.33%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,035 £3,027

$2,363 ฿79.6K

70.74%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,923 £2,193

$1,589 ฿53.6K

83.92%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$3,339 £2,505

$590 ฿19.9K

466.16%

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 Glasgow: October 27, 2026

Last update for Chiang Mai: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Glasgow

$1K 43.2%

Chiang Mai

$309 33% 70.5% $738

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Glasgow

$375 15.5%

Chiang Mai

$94 10.1% 74.8% $280

Eating Out

Glasgow

$317 13.1%

Chiang Mai

$78 8.3% 75.5% $239

Groceries & Markets

Glasgow

$311 12.8%

Chiang Mai

$234 25.1% 24.6% $76

Clothing & Footwear

Glasgow

$170 7%

Chiang Mai

$109 11.6% 36.1% $61

Getting Around

Glasgow

$135 5.6%

Chiang Mai

$61 6.6% 54.7% $74

Sport & Entertainment

Glasgow

$70 2.9%

Chiang Mai

$50 5.4% 28% $20

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $1,368 in Glasgow versus $482 in Chiang Mai. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

Salaries in Glasgow are about 5.7 times higher. Purchasing power depends on which expenses matter most to you.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $67 in Glasgow versus $19 in Chiang Mai. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $311 vs $234 – making Chiang Mai the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Glasgow

🇹🇭 Chiang Mai

🕒 Local time

04:03 4:03 AM

11:03 11:03 AM

7 h ahead of Glasgow

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

606,340

127,240

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.2 EUR

100 THB = 2.97 USD

100 THB = 2.67 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 October 29, 2026: 1 USD = 0.75 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.835 GBP (1 GBP = 1.2 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of October 29, 2026: 1 USD = 33.7 THB (100 THB = 2.97 USD). 1 EUR = 37.52 THB (100 THB = 2.67 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Glasgow Chiang Mai 9,080 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Glasgow
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

Glasgow vs Chiang Mai: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Glasgow costs about 159% more than Chiang Mai, and outside of rent the gap comes mainly from eating out. That’s enough to noticeably affect everyday spending and lifestyle for anyone choosing between the two.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $3,637 per month in Glasgow and $1,403 in Chiang Mai. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Chiang Mai, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $482 there versus $1,368 in Glasgow.

Kindergarten costs $1,124 per month in Glasgow and $736 in Chiang Mai. For families with young kids, this one expense can tip the scales when choosing between the two cities.

Groceries cost about 33% more in Glasgow, though the gap depends on what you buy.

$800 is a stretch for both – monthly costs hit $2,425 in Glasgow and $936 in Chiang Mai. You’ll need shared housing and careful budgeting no matter which city you pick.

For digital nomads, it depends on budget. Chiang Mai costs $936 versus $2,425 in Glasgow. Both appeal to remote workers, and the cost gap matters when income varies month to month.

If budget matters most, go with Chiang Mai. If higher salaries or specific career opportunities are the priority, Glasgow makes more sense. Both are solid long-term options with distinct trade-offs.