Bangkok vs Chiang Mai for couples
Bangkok and Chiang Mai are both in Thailand, about 583 km apart. Every figure below comes from the data behind our city pages: an estimated monthly cost for a couple, tax tier, annual climate, safety, healthcare, internet speed, language and residency rules. Chiang Mai leads on cost.
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Side by side
Source: the datasets behind our city pages. Cost is our model estimate (a country-level cost index scaled for city size); tax tiers are assigned by hand from each country's top marginal income tax rate and overall tax reputation; temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages); rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals); safety and healthcare are our own country-level estimates; internet from the Ookla Speedtest Global Index; English from the EF English Proficiency Index; residency from our hand-reviewed residency dataset (not legal advice); short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset.
Factor by factor
Cost of living
Chiang Mai is cheaper: we estimate about €2,303 a month for a couple living centrally, against €2,636 in Bangkok. That is €333 a month, or 13%, less.
Taxes
Same country, same tax: Thailand is in our low to medium tax tier.
Climate
Bangkok is 2°C warmer on average over the year: 28°C against 26°C in Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is drier, with about 1,051 mm of rain a year against 1,310 mm in Bangkok (20% less).
Safety
Our safety score is country-level, so both cities get the same 60 out of 100.
Healthcare
Our healthcare score is country-level, so both cities get the same 70 out of 100.
Internet
Our broadband figure is country-level: about 210 Mbps median fixed download in both.
Language
Main languages in both: Thai. English proficiency is rated the same in both: limited English.
Residency and visas
Same country, same rules: long-term residency in Thailand is rated comparatively open, with a self-funded route from about $1,986 a month in income.
Which one fits a couple
On the factors we measure, Chiang Mai leads on cost (€2,303 against €2,636 a month), and Bangkok leads on none of them. What our data does not cover can still tip it toward Bangkok: jobs, family nearby, or simply which one each of you prefers after a visit.
Climate can pull the two of you apart too: a partner who wants warmth leans toward Bangkok (28°C on average), while one who minds the heat leans toward Chiang Mai (26°C).
Size differs too: Bangkok is a major city (over 5 million people) and Chiang Mai a smaller one (under 250,000 people). Bangkok is coastal; Chiang Mai is inland.
OurNextCity has each partner answer 12 questions privately, then ranks Bangkok, Chiang Mai and 913 other cities for both of you at once.