Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lachen and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Phuket: $1,278 a month against $3,423 in Lachen, rent and utilities included – about $25,700 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

165

Cost of Living Index in Lachen
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Lachen Living Index
62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Lachen

🇨🇭 Switzerland

$3,423

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lachen and in Phuket

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $3,423 in Lachen versus $1,278 in Phuket.

Lachen $3,423
Phuket $1,278

Estimated couple costs with rent: $5,210 in Lachen versus $2,216 in Phuket.

Lachen $5,210
Phuket $2,216

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $6,997 in Lachen versus $3,154 in Phuket.

Lachen $6,997
Phuket $3,154

Living in Lachen is roughly 168% more expensive than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Lachen is 152% above, Phuket is 6% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$32.82 CHF 27.21

$4.47 ฿151

634.23%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$119 CHF 98.4

$32.41 ฿1,094

266.43%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$16.19 CHF 13.42

$8.81 ฿297

83.77%

Cappuccino

$6.35 CHF 5.27

$2.83 ฿95.5

124.38%

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

$5.83 CHF 4.83

$0.87 ฿29.43

570.11%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.06 CHF 4.20

$0.49 ฿16.67

932.65%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$8.32 CHF 6.90

$2.56 ฿86.4

225.00%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$9.35 CHF 7.75

$3.68 ฿124

154.08%

Milk (1 liter)

$2.23 CHF 1.85

$1.66 ฿56.0

34.34%

White Bread (500g)

$3.27 CHF 2.71

$1.46 ฿49.35

123.97%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$4.34 CHF 3.60

$1.50 ฿50.6

189.33%

Eggs

$7.60 CHF 6.30

$2.09 ฿70.5

263.64%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$26.92 CHF 22.32

$19.07 ฿644

41.16%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$25.91 CHF 21.48

$3.30 ฿111

685.15%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$40.57 CHF 33.62

$10.91 ฿368

271.86%

Apples (1kg)

$3.58 CHF 2.97

$2.93 ฿99.0

22.18%

Banana (1kg)

$2.04 CHF 1.69

$1.69 ฿57.1

20.71%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.60 CHF 2.15

$2.25 ฿75.8

15.56%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.83 CHF 4.00

$2.08 ฿70.1

132.21%

Potato (1kg)

$2.04 CHF 1.69

$1.51 ฿51.0

35.10%

Onion (1kg)

$2.17 CHF 1.80

$1.38 ฿46.56

57.25%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.35 CHF 1.95

$1.07 ฿35.99

119.63%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.43 CHF 1.18

$0.52 ฿17.52

175.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$10.97 CHF 9.09

$4.20 ฿142

161.19%

Wine (Bottle)

$13.13 CHF 10.88

$18.79 ฿634

-30.12%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.32 CHF 1.92

$1.82 ฿61.5

27.47%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.46 CHF 2.87

$2.84 ฿95.9

21.83%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$4.39 CHF 3.64

$1.45 ฿49.03

202.76%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$103 CHF 85.0

$56.7 ฿1,913

80.97%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$7.85 CHF 6.50

$3.02 ฿102

159.93%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$4.92 CHF 4.08

$1.02 ฿34.36

382.35%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$87.3 CHF 72.4

$3.69 ฿125

2266.12%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.17 CHF 1.80

$1.47 ฿49.81

47.62%

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

$38.3K CHF 31.8K

$26.8K ฿904.3K

43.19%

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

$39.0K CHF 32.3K

$26.7K ฿901.3K

45.99%

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

$237 CHF 197

$96.4 ฿3,254

146.24%

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

$32.20 CHF 26.69

$11.26 ฿380

185.97%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$65.7 CHF 54.4

$16.85 ฿569

289.67%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$89.4 CHF 74.1

$67.2 ฿2,270

32.93%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$45.79 CHF 37.96

$10.73 ฿362

326.75%

Cinema Ticket

$21.98 CHF 18.22

$7.50 ฿253

193.07%

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

$2,810 CHF 2,329

$476 ฿16.1K

490.37%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$44.5K CHF 36.9K

$11.3K ฿380.4K

295.14%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$137 CHF 113

$62.4 ฿2,106

119.52%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$86.5 CHF 71.7

$28.41 ฿959

204.54%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$146 CHF 121

$94.3 ฿3,184

54.32%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$173 CHF 143

$85.8 ฿2,898

101.19%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,781 CHF 1,476

$716 ฿24.2K

148.73%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,486 CHF 1,232

$491 ฿16.6K

202.71%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,940 CHF 2,437

$1,927 ฿65.1K

52.59%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,494 CHF 2,067

$1,431 ฿48.3K

74.30%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$16.4K CHF 13.6K

$4,175 ฿141.0K

293.11%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$12.5K CHF 10.4K

$3,045 ฿102.8K

312.17%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$9,492 CHF 7,868

$502 ฿17.0K

1789.78%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

1.72

5.57

-69.12%

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

Last update for Lachen: October 25, 2026

Last update for Phuket: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Lachen

$1.5K 43.4%

Phuket

$491 38.4% 67% $995

Groceries & Markets

Lachen

$581 17%

Phuket

$266 20.8% 54.2% $315

Eating Out

Lachen

$491 14.4%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 75.2% $370

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lachen

$335 9.8%

Phuket

$124 9.7% 62.9% $211

Clothing & Footwear

Lachen

$244 7.1%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 50% $122

Getting Around

Lachen

$153 4.5%

Phuket

$71 5.5% 53.7% $82

Sport & Entertainment

Lachen

$133 3.9%

Phuket

$82 6.4% 38.3% $51

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,781 in Lachen and $716 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Lachen pays about 19 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $119 in Lachen vs $32 in Phuket for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $581 vs $266 per month, with Phuket cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇨🇭 Lachen

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

12:56 12:56 PM

18:56 6:56 PM

6 h ahead of Lachen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,000

79,308

💱 Currency

Swiss Franc CHF Fr

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

1 CHF = 1.21 USD

1 CHF = 1.08 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to CHF – Swiss Franc Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇨🇭 Swiss Franc (Fr)

Swiss Franc exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 0.829 CHF (1 CHF = 1.21 USD). 1 EUR = 0.923 CHF (1 CHF = 1.08 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 33.77 THB (100 THB = 2.96 USD). 1 EUR = 37.58 THB (100 THB = 2.66 EUR).

USD to CHF in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Lachen Phuket 9,330 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Lachen
Phuket

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

Lachen vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Phuket wins on cost – living expenses run 63% lower than in Lachen. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Phuket the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

Average pay in Lachen is about 19 times higher, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,781 in Lachen versus $716 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

A monthly transit pass in Phuket runs roughly 45% less than in Lachen. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you’re watching your budget.

Childcare runs $2,810 in Lachen versus $476 in Phuket. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

At $1,278 in Phuket versus $3,423 in Lachen, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Phuket but tight or insufficient in Lachen. The gap between the two cities makes Phuket the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

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.

Safety-wise, Lachen and Phuket are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Phuket gentler on the wallet – expenses run 63% less than in Lachen. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.