Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Phuket and Caernarfon

For one person, living is cheaper in Caernarfon: $1,211 a month against $1,278 in Phuket, rent and utilities included – about $800 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Phuket outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index
59

Cost of Living Index in Caernarfon
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Caernarfon Living Index

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Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Caernarfon

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$1,211

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Phuket and in Caernarfon

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,278 in Phuket versus $1,211 in Caernarfon.

Phuket $1,278
Caernarfon $1,211

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,216 in Phuket versus $2,727 in Caernarfon.

Phuket $2,216
Caernarfon $2,727

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,154 in Phuket versus $4,243 in Caernarfon.

Phuket $3,154
Caernarfon $4,243

Living in Phuket is roughly 6% more expensive than in Caernarfon, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in leisure.

Both cities sit below the global median: Phuket 6% lower, Caernarfon 11% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.47 ฿151

$13.08 £9.85

-65.83%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$32.41 ฿1,094

$94.0 £70.7

-65.52%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.81 ฿297

$9.57 £7.20

-7.94%

Cappuccino

$2.83 ฿95.5

$3.98 £2.99

-28.89%

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

$0.87 ฿29.43

$2.73 £2.05

-68.13%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.49 ฿16.67

$1.97 £1.48

-75.13%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.56 ฿86.4

$4.89 £3.68

-47.65%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.68 ฿124

$4.06 £3.06

-9.36%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.66 ฿56.0

$1.86 £1.40

-10.75%

White Bread (500g)

$1.46 ฿49.35

$1.76 £1.32

-17.05%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.50 ฿50.6

$2.22 £1.67

-32.43%

Eggs

$2.09 ฿70.5

$2.43 £1.83

-13.99%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$19.07 ฿644

$9.11 £6.85

109.33%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.30 ฿111

$7.14 £5.37

-53.78%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$10.91 ฿368

$15.44 £11.62

-29.34%

Apples (1kg)

$2.93 ฿99.0

$2.66 £2.00

10.15%

Banana (1kg)

$1.69 ฿57.1

$1.31 £0.98

29.01%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.25 ฿75.8

$1.30 £0.98

73.08%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.08 ฿70.1

$1.37 £1.03

51.82%

Potato (1kg)

$1.51 ฿51.0

$1.71 £1.29

-11.70%

Onion (1kg)

$1.38 ฿46.56

$1.81 £1.36

-23.76%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.07 ฿35.99

$1.38 £1.04

-22.46%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.52 ฿17.52

$1.66 £1.25

-68.67%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.20 ฿142

$22.58 £16.99

-81.40%

Wine (Bottle)

$18.79 ฿634

$9.08 £6.83

106.94%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.82 ฿61.5

$3.80 £2.86

-52.11%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.84 ฿95.9

$3.54 £2.67

-19.77%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.45 ฿49.03

$5.44 £4.09

-73.35%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$56.7 ฿1,913

$67.0 £50.5

-15.48%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.02 ฿102

$4.97 £3.74

-39.24%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.02 ฿34.36

$2.37 £1.78

-56.96%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$3.69 ฿125

$23.60 £17.76

-84.36%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.47 ฿49.81

$2.00 £1.51

-26.50%

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

$26.8K ฿904.3K

$38.4K £28.9K

-30.34%

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

$26.7K ฿901.3K

$40.9K £30.8K

-34.70%

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

$96.4 ฿3,254

$320 £241

-69.90%

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

$11.26 ฿380

$21.68 £16.32

-48.06%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$16.85 ฿569

$40.41 £30.41

-58.30%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$67.2 ฿2,270

$29.92 £22.52

124.70%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$10.73 ฿362

Cinema Ticket

$7.50 ฿253

$16.22 £12.20

-53.76%

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

$476 ฿16.1K

$1,608 £1,210

-70.39%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.3K ฿380.4K

$24.1K £18.1K

-53.24%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$62.4 ฿2,106

$105 £78.9

-40.54%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$28.41 ฿959

$49.01 £36.88

-42.03%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$94.3 ฿3,184

$108 £80.9

-12.30%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$85.8 ฿2,898

$78.6 £59.2

9.12%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$716 ฿24.2K

$673 £506

6.43%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$491 ฿16.6K

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,927 ฿65.1K

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,431 ฿48.3K

$1,597 £1,202

-10.43%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,175 ฿141.0K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,045 ฿102.8K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$502 ฿17.0K

$3,538 £2,663

-85.80%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.57

5.09

9.43%

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

Last update for Phuket: October 26, 2026

Last update for Caernarfon: October 24, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Phuket

$491 38.4%

Caernarfon

- * 0% 100%

Groceries & Markets

Phuket

$266 20.8%

Caernarfon

$276 22.8% 3.5% $9.4

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Phuket

$124 9.7%

Caernarfon

$382 31.6% 207% $258

Clothing & Footwear

Phuket

$122 9.5%

Caernarfon

$153 12.6% 25.5% $31

Eating Out

Phuket

$122 9.5%

Caernarfon

$232 19.2% 91% $111

Sport & Entertainment

Phuket

$82 6.4%

Caernarfon

$62 5.2% 24.2% $20

Getting Around

Phuket

$71 5.5%

Caernarfon

$106 8.7% 49.7% $35

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $716 in Phuket and $673 in Caernarfon. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Caernarfon pays about 7 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $32 in Phuket vs $94 in Caernarfon for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $266 vs $276 per month, with Phuket cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇹🇭 Phuket

🇬🇧 Caernarfon

🕒 Local time

06:45 6:45 AM

23:45 11:45 PM

7 h behind Phuket

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

79,308

9,500

💱 Currency

Thai Baht THB ฿

British Pound GBP £

📈 Exchange rate

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

GBP, USD, EUR to THB – Thai Baht Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇹🇭 Thai Baht (฿)

Thai Baht exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 33.77 THB (100 THB = 2.96 USD). 1 EUR = 37.59 THB (100 THB = 2.66 EUR).

British Pound exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 0.753 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.838 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

USD to THB in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Phuket Caernarfon 10,140 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Phuket
Caernarfon

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

Phuket vs Caernarfon: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Caernarfon is about 5% cheaper overall, especially in leisure. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 86% lower in Phuket. That’s worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $716 in Phuket versus $673 in Caernarfon. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in Phuket – a meal for two runs $32 versus $94 in Caernarfon. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

All in, you’ll spend $1,278 per month in Phuket versus $1,211 in Caernarfon – Caernarfon is about 5% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

Either city works on $1,500 a month, though Caernarfon gives you more room to save. At this income level, the choice is more about lifestyle than financial pressure.

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.