Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Shaab and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Phuket: $1,278 a month against $1,386 in Shaab, rent and utilities included – about $1,300 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

66

Cost of Living Index in Shaab
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Shaab Living Index
62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Shaab

🇰🇼 Kuwait

$1,386

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Shaab 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 Shaab and in Phuket actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,386 in Shaab versus $1,278 in Phuket.

Shaab $1,386
Phuket $1,278

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,294 in Shaab versus $2,216 in Phuket.

Shaab $2,294
Phuket $2,216

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,201 in Shaab versus $3,154 in Phuket.

Shaab $3,201
Phuket $3,154

Living in Shaab is roughly 8% more expensive than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Shaab is 2% above, Phuket is 6% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$12.70 KWD 3.91

$4.47 ฿151

184.12%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$63.2 KWD 19.47

$32.41 ฿1,094

95.03%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.88 KWD 2.74

$8.81 ฿297

0.79%

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.12 KWD 0.96

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.97 KWD 1.53

Cappuccino

$5.21 KWD 1.61

$2.83 ฿95.5

84.10%

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

$0.70 KWD 0.22

$0.87 ฿29.43

-19.54%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.29 KWD 0.09

$0.49 ฿16.67

-40.82%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.56 ฿86.4

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.68 ฿124

Milk (1 liter)

$1.58 KWD 0.49

$1.66 ฿56.0

-4.82%

White Bread (500g)

$1.46 KWD 0.45

$1.46 ฿49.35

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.98 KWD 0.61

$1.50 ฿50.6

32.00%

Eggs

$2.07 KWD 0.64

$2.09 ฿70.5

-0.96%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$4.42 KWD 1.36

$19.07 ฿644

-76.82%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.74 KWD 2.08

$3.30 ฿111

104.24%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$10.17 KWD 3.13

$10.91 ฿368

-6.78%

Apples (1kg)

$2.52 KWD 0.78

$2.93 ฿99.0

-13.99%

Banana (1kg)

$1.92 KWD 0.59

$1.69 ฿57.1

13.61%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.87 KWD 0.58

$2.25 ฿75.8

-16.89%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.48 KWD 0.46

$2.08 ฿70.1

-28.85%

Potato (1kg)

$1.32 KWD 0.41

$1.51 ฿51.0

-12.58%

Onion (1kg)

$1.49 KWD 0.46

$1.38 ฿46.56

7.97%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.30 KWD 0.71

$1.07 ฿35.99

114.95%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.57 KWD 0.18

$0.52 ฿17.52

9.62%

Bottle of Non-Alcoholic Wine (Mid-Range)

$3.15 KWD 0.97

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.04 KWD 0.32

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.39 KWD 0.43

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.69 KWD 0.83

$4.20 ฿142

-35.95%

Wine (Bottle)

$18.79 ฿634

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.82 ฿61.5

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.84 ฿95.9

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.81 KWD 0.25

$1.45 ฿49.03

-44.14%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$56.7 ฿1,913

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.87 KWD 1.50

$3.02 ฿102

61.26%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.30 KWD 1.02

$1.02 ฿34.36

223.53%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$15.86 KWD 4.89

$3.69 ฿125

329.81%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.35 KWD 0.11

$1.47 ฿49.81

-76.19%

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

$23.6K KWD 7,262

$26.8K ฿904.3K

-11.98%

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

$19.5K KWD 6,015

$26.7K ฿901.3K

-26.86%

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

$66.5 KWD 20.47

$96.4 ฿3,254

-31.03%

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

$22.82 KWD 7.03

$11.26 ฿380

102.66%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$29.54 KWD 9.10

$16.85 ฿569

75.31%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$102 KWD 31.37

$67.2 ฿2,270

51.44%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$10.73 ฿362

Cinema Ticket

$12.90 KWD 3.97

$7.50 ฿253

72.00%

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

$503 KWD 155

$476 ฿16.1K

5.77%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$9,302 KWD 2,866

$11.3K ฿380.4K

-17.41%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$37.18 KWD 11.46

$62.4 ฿2,106

-40.38%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$39.66 KWD 12.22

$28.41 ฿959

39.60%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$97.4 KWD 30.01

$94.3 ฿3,184

3.31%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$87.5 KWD 26.94

$85.8 ฿2,898

1.92%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$796 KWD 245

$716 ฿24.2K

11.13%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$617 KWD 190

$491 ฿16.6K

25.64%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,694 KWD 522

$1,927 ฿65.1K

-12.11%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,320 KWD 407

$1,431 ฿48.3K

-7.75%

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)

$3,175 KWD 978

$502 ฿17.0K

532.06%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

6.53

5.57

17.24%

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

Last update for Shaab: 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

Shaab

$617 44.5%

Phuket

$491 38.4% 20.4% $126

Eating Out

Shaab

$195 14.1%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 37.5% $73

Groceries & Markets

Shaab

$186 13.4%

Phuket

$266 20.8% 43.1% $80

Sport & Entertainment

Shaab

$128 9.2%

Phuket

$82 6.4% 35.6% $45

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Shaab

$119 8.6%

Phuket

$124 9.7% 4.8% $5.7

Clothing & Footwear

Shaab

$118 8.5%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 3.5% $4.1

Getting Around

Shaab

$25 * 1.8%

Phuket

$71 5.5% 187% $46

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 $796 in Shaab and $716 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Shaab pays about 6.3 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $63 in Shaab vs $32 in Phuket. Groceries flip the comparison at $186 vs $266, with Shaab cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇰🇼 Shaab

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

23:21 11:21 PM

03:21 3:21 AM

4 h ahead of Shaab

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

164,212

79,308

💱 Currency

Kuwaiti Dinar KWD د.ك

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

1 KWD = 3.25 USD

1 KWD = 2.92 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to KWD – Kuwaiti Dinar Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇰🇼 Kuwaiti Dinar (د.ك)

Kuwaiti Dinar exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 0.308 KWD (1 KWD = 3.25 USD). 1 EUR = 0.343 KWD (1 KWD = 2.92 EUR).

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).

USD to KWD in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Shaab Phuket 5,760 km ≈ 8 h nonstop flight

From you

Shaab
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

Shaab vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Phuket is about 8% cheaper overall, especially in eating out, leisure, and utilities. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay in Shaab is about 6.3 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: $796 in Shaab versus $716 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $503 in Shaab versus $476 in Phuket. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Phuket – a meal for two runs $32 versus $63 in Shaab. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

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, Shaab and Phuket are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.

It comes down to priorities – Phuket wins on affordability, Shaab on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.