Cha-am
- Population
- 49,000
- Coordinates
- 12.80° N, 99.97° E
- Time zone
- Asia/Bangkok
- Prices for
- Sep 2026
One person needs about $828 a month in Cha-am, rent included: 86% less than in New York. The average net salary is $359 a month.
Livability
Seven domain scores, weighted. 6 of them have data for Cha-am; a missing one is left out of the average, not counted as zero.
- Purchasing power25%34
- Safetycountry20%57
- Health carecountry15%64
- Climate10%No data
- Air qualitycountry10%38
- Connectivitycountry10%65
- Cost10%78
How each domain is scored
- Purchasing power, 25%
- What a local net salary buys against local prices, as a percentile.
- Safety, 20%
- Numbeo safety index for the city, or for its country when the city has no survey.
- Health care, 15%
- Numbeo health care index, city first, then country.
- Climate, 10%
- Numbeo climate index where surveyed, otherwise a comfort score from NASA climate normals.
- Air quality, 10%
- 30-day mean US AQI on a 0-100 scale: 100 at AQI 25 or cleaner, 0 at 150 or worse.
- Connectivity, 10%
- Percentile of median fixed broadband download speed, city first, then country.
- Cost, 10%
- Cheaper places score higher: the percentile of the cost-of-living plus rent index, inverted.
- Livability rank in Thailand
- #20
- Cheapest-city rank, worldwide
- #717
What it costs
US dollars a month. Indices compare with New York, which is 100; changes are against the same month a year earlier.
Prices
55 everyday prices in US dollars, the median of this month's contributions, each against a base you choose.
Differences are against New York; teal marks a price that is lower (or a salary that is higher).
| Item | Cha-am | New York | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants | |||
| Meal, inexpensive restaurant | $3.14 | $25.00 | −87% |
| Meal for 2, mid-range restaurant (3 courses) | $21.69 | $140 | −85% |
| McMeal at McDonald's (or equivalent combo meal) | $7.48 | $14.00 | −47% |
| Domestic beer (0.5 l, draught) | $2.39 | $8.00 | −70% |
| Imported beer (0.33 l bottle, restaurant) | $2.84 | $10.00 | −72% |
| Cappuccino (regular) | $2.04 | $6.37 | −68% |
| Coke/Pepsi (0.33 l bottle) | $0.71 | $3.80 | −81% |
| Water (0.33 l bottle) | $0.33 | $2.89 | −89% |
| Markets | |||
| Milk (1 l) | $1.77 | $1.36 | +30% |
| Loaf of fresh white bread (500g) | $1.46 | $4.68 | −69% |
| Rice, white (1 kg) | $1.38 | $6.97 | −80% |
| Eggs (12) | $1.91 | $5.73 | −67% |
| Local cheese (1 kg) | $12.48 | $17.38 | −28% |
| Chicken fillets (1 kg) | $2.63 | $15.11 | −83% |
| Beef round (1 kg, or equivalent red meat) | $10.19 | $17.77 | −43% |
| Apples (1 kg) | $3.48 | $6.11 | −43% |
| Bananas (1 kg) | $1.24 | $2.20 | −44% |
| Oranges (1 kg) | $1.90 | $5.77 | −67% |
| Tomato (1 kg) | $1.80 | $6.25 | −71% |
| Potato (1 kg) | $1.80 | $3.47 | −48% |
| Onion (1 kg) | $1.07 | $4.17 | −74% |
| Lettuce (1 head) | $1.20 | $2.72 | −56% |
| Water (1.5 l bottle) | $0.43 | $2.50 | −83% |
| Bottle of wine, mid-range | $17.95 | $20.00 | −10% |
| Domestic beer (0.5 l bottle) | $1.73 | $3.21 | −46% |
| Imported beer (0.33 l bottle) | $2.95 | $3.96 | −26% |
| Cigarettes (20 pack, Marlboro) | $4.36 | $19.00 | −77% |
| Transport | |||
| One-way ticket, local transport | $0.90 | $3.00 | −70% |
| Monthly pass, regular price | $22.44 | $140 | −84% |
| Taxi start, normal tariff | $1.35 | $3.00 | −55% |
| Taxi, 1 km, normal tariff | $1.11 | $2.18 | −49% |
| Taxi, 1 hour waiting, normal tariff | $3.59 | $42.00 | −91% |
| Gasoline (1 l) | $1.41 | $1.10 | +28% |
| Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (or equivalent new car) | $16,456 | $35,458 | −54% |
| Toyota Corolla Sedan 1.6l 97kW (or equivalent new car) | $26,748 | $25,309 | +6% |
| Utilities, per month | |||
| Basic utilities, 85m² apartment (electricity, heating, cooling, water, garbage) | — | — | — |
| Mobile plan (calls + 10GB data) | $11.65 | $73.50 | −84% |
| Internet (60 Mbps+, unlimited, cable/ADSL) | $22.62 | $71.93 | −69% |
| Sports and leisure | |||
| Fitness club, monthly fee (1 adult) | $23.94 | $126 | −81% |
| Tennis court rent (1 hour, weekend) | $5.98 | $62.38 | −90% |
| Cinema, 1 seat, international release | $6.58 | $23.00 | −71% |
| Childcare | |||
| Preschool, full day, private (monthly, 1 child) | $625 | $3,366 | −81% |
| International primary school (yearly, 1 child) | $10,901 | $60,589 | −82% |
| Clothing and shoes | |||
| 1 pair of jeans (Levi's 501 or similar) | $50.91 | $72.80 | −30% |
| 1 summer dress, chain store (Zara, H&M) | $29.43 | $53.22 | −45% |
| 1 pair of Nike running shoes, mid-range | $71.81 | $118 | −39% |
| 1 pair of men's leather business shoes | $53.86 | $125 | −57% |
| Rent, per month | |||
| Apartment (1 bedroom) in city centre | $374 | $4,417 | −92% |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) outside centre | $269 | $3,033 | −91% |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) in city centre | $748 | $9,242 | −92% |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) outside centre | $658 | $5,461 | −88% |
| Buying an apartment | |||
| Price per square meter, apartment in city centre | — | $18,759 | — |
| Price per square meter, apartment outside centre | — | $6,523 | — |
| Salary and financing | |||
| Average monthly net salary, after tax | $359 | $5,178 | −93% |
| Mortgage interest rate, 20-year fixed rate (%) | 5.96% | 6.49% | −0.5 pts |
Three years of prices
Each line starts at 100 in its first month, so a rise in rent can be read against a rise in salary on the same scale. The core basket is twelve everyday prices. Hover for the actual values.
Show the monthly values
| Month | Core basket index | Rent, 1 bedroom | Net salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2026 | — | $374 | $359 |
| Jun 2026 | — | — | — |
| May 2026 | — | — | — |
| Sep 2025 | — | $387 | $371 |
| Aug 2025 | — | $463 | $370 |
| May 2025 | — | $448 | — |
| Apr 2025 | — | $449 | — |
| Mar 2025 | — | $442 | — |
| Feb 2025 | — | $439 | — |
| Jan 2025 | — | $445 | — |
| Dec 2024 | — | $438 | — |
| Nov 2024 | — | $435 | — |
| Oct 2024 | — | $445 | — |
| Sep 2024 | — | $453 | — |
| Aug 2024 | — | $420 | — |
| Jul 2024 | — | $409 | — |
| Jun 2024 | — | $408 | — |
| May 2024 | — | $405 | — |
| Apr 2024 | — | — | — |
| Mar 2024 | — | — | — |
| Feb 2024 | — | — | — |
| Jan 2024 | — | — | — |
| Dec 2023 | — | — | — |
| Nov 2023 | — | — | — |
| Oct 2023 | — | — | — |
Safety
Numbeo crime survey. Both indices run 0 to 100; they are two sides of the same answers.
Country-level: the livability score uses Thailand's safety figure
No crime survey has been published for Cha-am yet.
Quality of life
Numbeo's published indices for Cha-am. Listed as Numbeo computes them, next to this index's own figures above.
Numbeo has not ranked Cha-am on quality of life.
Climate
Monthly means from NASA POWER climate normals. Temperature bands use the same scale on every city page.
No monthly climate normals for Cha-am yet.
- Annual mean
- —
- Warmest month
- —
- Coldest month
- —
- Rain a year
- —
- HumidityRelative, annual mean
- —
- SunshineSolar energy per day
- —
- Clear-sky daysA year
- —
- Comfort score0-100, 100 at 14-22 °C
- —
Air, internet and housing
The last 30 days of air, the latest month of broadband tests, and the property survey.
Air
Country-level estimateNo air-quality readings for Cha-am.
Internet
Thailand median; city not listed- Upload
- 242Mbps, fixed
- Latency
- 6ms, fixed
- Mobile download
- 134Mbps
- Mobile latency
- 20ms
Speedtest Global Index, Aug 2026.
Housing
No property survey for Cha-am yet.
Cities like Cha-am
In other countries, with the closest livability score and cost of living index.
About these numbers
What the figures on this page rest on.
- Confidence
- Medium confidence
- Contributors
- 8Numbeo price survey
- Latest prices
- Sep 20261 readings that month
- Months with prices
- 2 of 12Last 12 months
- Items priced
- 95%1 basket items from the country median
- Location
- Matched to the extended GeoNames list
- Index rebuilt
- 24 Sept 2026