Cost of living comparison

Bangkok, Thailand

compared to

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur vs. Bangkok Cost of Living Summary

Kuala Lumpur is 6.6% cheaper than Bangkok.

Restaurants: pay 38.5% more in Kuala Lumpur
Groceries: pay 8.9% less in Kuala Lumpur
Transportation: pay 41.2% less in Kuala Lumpur
Housing: pay 14.0% more in Kuala Lumpur
Childcare: pay 46.4% less in Kuala Lumpur
Entertainment and Sports: pay 6.7% more in Kuala Lumpur
Clothing: pay 9.1% less in Kuala Lumpur

The cost of restaurants, housing, and entertainment and sports in Kuala Lumpur are more expensive than in Bangkok. Expenses including childcare, transportation, clothing, and groceries are lower in Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur vs. Bangkok Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kuala Lumpur instead of Bangkok, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 38.5% more for restaurants

	Bangkok	Kuala Lumpur
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.91 THB98.21	$4.54 MYR20.09	+56.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.83 THB196.42	$4.54 MYR20.09	-22.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.62 THB20.76	$0.84 MYR3.73	+36.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.29 THB9.84	$0.53 MYR2.36	+83.1%
Average			+38.5%

Bangkok vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of restaurants

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pay 8.9% less for groceries

	Bangkok	Kuala Lumpur
Bread 1 loaf	$1.52 THB51.32	$0.95 MYR4.19	-37.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$11.74 THB395.81	$7.58 MYR33.51	-35.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.32 THB246.75	$7.22 MYR31.92	-1.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.27 THB76.61	$2.36 MYR10.42	+3.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.31 THB44.32	$1.94 MYR8.56	+47.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.47 THB49.61	$1.24 MYR5.48	-15.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 THB24.49	$0.69 MYR3.06	-4.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.04 THB34.90	$1.25 MYR5.53	+20.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 THB27.13	$0.63 MYR2.77	-22.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 THB24.02	$0.47 MYR2.06	-34.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 THB20.98	$0.51 MYR2.27	-17.7%
Average			-8.9%

Bangkok vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of groceries

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pay 41.2% less for transportation

	Bangkok	Kuala Lumpur
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.47 THB150.55	$1.77 MYR7.84	-60.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$39.32 THB1,325.83	$11.36 MYR50.23	-71.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$55,345.18 THB1,865,988.62	$37,478.71 MYR165,768.31	-32.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.34 THB348.65	$10.22 MYR45.21	-1.2%
Average			-41.2%

Bangkok vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of transportation

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pay 14.0% more for housing

	Bangkok	Kuala Lumpur
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$15.36 THB517.87	$25.27 MYR111.75	+64.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$571.31 THB19,261.82	$536.30 MYR2,372.04	-6.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$301.88 THB10,178.12	$371.69 MYR1,643.98	+23.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$67.33 THB2,270.09	$50.02 MYR221.25	-25.7%
Average			+14.0%

Bangkok vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of housing

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pay 46.4% less for childcare

	Bangkok	Kuala Lumpur
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$632.63 THB21,329.53	$250.80 MYR1,109.31	-60.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,191.37 THB444,753.10	$8,920.55 MYR39,455.60	-32.4%
Average			-46.4%

Bangkok vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of childcare

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pay 6.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Bangkok	Kuala Lumpur
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.33 THB78.57	$4.09 MYR18.08	+75.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.58 THB87.11	$2.92 MYR12.91	+13.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.20 THB141.67	$4.09 MYR18.08	-2.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$54.58 THB1,840.13	$44.75 MYR197.92	-18.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.28 THB245.52	$4.77 MYR21.10	-34.5%
Average			+6.7%

Bangkok vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.1% less for clothing

	Bangkok	Kuala Lumpur
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.27 THB1,863.40	$57.74 MYR255.38	+4.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.84 THB1,174.61	$35.00 MYR154.81	+0.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$97.10 THB3,273.63	$76.75 MYR339.48	-21.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$92.12 THB3,105.89	$73.25 MYR324.00	-20.5%
Average			-9.1%

Bangkok vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: March 2025

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